MVP Summit

[brad jones]

We have a number of Microsoft MVPs. As a 'heads up', I registered to attend (registration is open). A number of Codeguru people were talking about staying at the Westin. That is where I am currently registered to stay. Be cool to get the VBForum MVPs that are going all in the same place too!

Brad!

[Paul M]

Good luck at the summit guys

Hopefully the rest of us will make it there one day but on the other hand we get some time to post without rob and the others answering all the questions asked here

[mendhak]

Being in a country that isn't the US, it's been a pain to get a visa, the administrative overhead and hassle involved with the embassy is almost equivalent to grief, so I'm hoping to prepare well, well in advance next time. I'm hoping, even more, that the next global summit occurs in some Asian country where it's easy for everyone to go to.

[penagate]

Aren't you in the UK? If so, you shouldn't need a visa.

[mendhak]

Unfortunately, not a citizen. (Or 'subject of the queen', as they refer to it).

[penagate]

Ah, c'est la vie.

[brad jones]

I'm hoping, even more, that the next global summit occurs in some Asian country where it's easy for everyone to go to.

Global summits happen in Redmond/Seattle. There are other events that happen at places around the world that are more localized. Microsoft has stated that it would take too much to have all the product teams shipped to another country (500+ people from just Microsoft). Having the event partially "on campus" makes the disruption to all the teams easier...

Brad!

[kleinma]

I am sure its also good for the Seattle economy filling up several hotels with a few 1000 computer geeks.

I will be there, although I will be at the Renaissance hotel.

[Kasracer]

Sounds like fun. Perhaps one day I will be able to join.

Have fun!

[Atheist]

Yeah like kasracer said, someday it would be great to be able to join. But 'til then, have fun

[Merrion]

I'm no longer an MVP this year so won't be there but as a heads-up to foregetful techies , you can get UK-US socket adapters at the luggage shop (name escapes me) that is just down the street from the convention centre.

Also - as a heads-up to any Seattle based muggers, there is usually a small crowd of techies with their laptops standing outside the luggage shop just before opening time on the first morning of the summit :-)

[brad jones]

So who is going from VBForums?

Brad!

[kleinma]

I will be there 100%

[Techno]

I will be there 100%! I'm heading out on Saturday 12th April to get there on the same day, sunday sleep...and register for the event....then well, busy days and nights.

im in the sheraton hotel, only a block away from the conference center...unlike some folks who need to get a bus .... awwww *tries to rub it in* - I hope we all can meet up afterwards some point. I'm heading back on the Saturday, the week after the summit.

[brad jones]

Make sure you track me down and say Hi. Some of the MVP Leads can help point me out.

Brad!

[Techno]

I see. Help point you out? oo....is that a bad thing?

[Techno]

well im at the hotel now!
funny - the same cabin crew on the flight are also staying at my hotel - they are following me

flight was surprisingly pleasant and BA did NOT loose my luggage! :O *shock*

[brad jones]

I just want to say it was a great MVP Summit. Hopefully we can have more Microsoft MVPs from VBForums make it next year! (March 1st - 4th, 2009).

Brad!

[Techno]

indeed it was great, wish we could have met Brad

[kleinma]

I met Brad finally (it only took 2 summits )

Already planning for next year.

Techno, are you a VB MVP?

[brad jones]

I did briefly meet Klienma and dglienna. Meetings were brief as the week was a whirlwind. Next year I'd like to see double to triple the number of VBForum people be MVPs and be at the summit. Codeguru has nearly doubled its number of people the last couple of years. There were like 12 people from Codeguru at the event. Next year we need at least 6 from VBForums just to keep up

We need to nominate a few more people for the award!

Techno - were you in the VB Community presentation? If so, I'm the 'other guy' in the back of the room that caused a little trouble. (Not Paul Kimmel who caused most of the trouble )

Brad!

[Paul M]

I can't comprehend how every MVP didn't go!

Probably because i ain't one and it seems like a big deal to an outsider.

[brad jones]

Probably because i ain't one and it seems like a big deal to an outsider.

I'm lucky because I get to go to a number of events and conferences. If I could only go to one event in an entire year, this summit would be the one. It is a big deal to an insider too.

[Paul M]

My first well experience will be Remix08 here in Australia

Were there many DirectX/XNA MVP's there by the way?

[brad jones]

Were there many DirectX/XNA MVP's there by the way?

There were over 1700 MVPs at the summit (with about half being from outside the US. I would speculate that there were lots of MVPs in all the categories!

Brad!

[kleinma]

I can't comprehend how every MVP didn't go!

Probably because i ain't one and it seems like a big deal to an outsider.

Many times it is simply not the choice of the MVP to not go.

You have to worry about getting time off from your job, taking time away from your family, paying for airfair. I live on the east coast, and my plane ticket was 430 bucks to Seattle round trip. I can only imagine some of the MVPs from over seas, and how much it must cost to fly to Seattle.

I am in the lucky position where I can go to these events, but if I were to change jobs, I don't know if it would be so easy.

[Techno]

haha ! nice

no im a C# MVP.... but can fluently code in VB.NET also

[kleinma]

haha ! nice

no im a C# MVP.... but can fluently code in VB.NET also

That's pretty surprising... Most C# MVPs could care less about VB and can't even read it... On the other side of that coin, MOST VB MVPs can look at any given C# code and convert it to VB.. Of course many C# coders think they are high and mighty over VB developers. I can tell that is not the case with you though, which is good.

[Techno]

haha

well hey im not the guy that bashes other people on their chosen language but I do have arguments why C# can be better than VB.NET

funny thing, we want to this dinner on tuesday I believe and sat at a table with around 6 VB.NET developers...and me being C# as well as one of the Program leads for the community programs at my desk.

one of the guys said to me "heal my child, heal".... and he was a vb.NET MVP lol.

its not about the language but the .NET Framework. most people dont get it but everything gets compiled down to the same CLR - its just the language being different in terms of syntax.... meh.

but I do both, can convert VB.NET to C# or the other way without any problems.

[kleinma]

I agree, and with the birth of several other CRL languages like pyton, ruby, F#, etc... I believe perhaps that will help to keep VB on an equal playing field with C# since VB and C# are going to be considered the most robust of the .NET languages (not counting C++/CLI which is pretty much still its own beast)

I personally just enjoy VB coding more than C#, but I will do C# if I have to.

[brad jones]

one of the guys said to me "heal my child, heal".... and he was a vb.NET MVP lol.

Yes - it is *totally* about the Framework....

The problem is....
Microsoft gave in and provided some backward support for some of the older vB 6 constructs and ways of doing thing. As such, a number of people continue to use such features rather than pushing their apps Totally to the Framework (and out of the VB namespace). This means that for those people, they have not fully made the transition and that it isn't as simple of a transition to C# as it *should be*.

If you know the Framework, the VB versus C# is primarily a syntax question and not a detailed knowledge question. I believe this will become more true in the future.

It is to those that are carrying around VB 6 baggage that we should be saying "Be healed...."

[kleinma]

The biggest problem with it all, is ill informed IT execs who make decisions without a real basis to make those decisions. They see C# and think "oh its Cish, its new, it must be great!"

They see VB.NET, and all they think of is VBs rep as a "toy language" that is only object based, and can't do all the things a fully OO language can do. That was true, about 8 years ago when VB6 was still the newest VB product.

Anyone who really knows about .NET and the framework, and the languages, should know better than to bash one language over another.