Portland User Experience Group

March 25, 2009 - All future meetings of PDXUX.Net have been canceled. During the next few months we'll be deciding what to do with the group, if it should continue on, and if so then in what manner. We hope you understand. Thanks for your support.

January 14, 2009 - Throughout the year of 2009 we'll be focusing on helping members make the transition from building basic webform/winform applications and move into the realm of rich application development. We're talking about WPF and Silverlight, and not just multimedia applications and banner ads, but rather line of business applications.

You see, after a year of presentations on Silverlight and WPF, we realized there just aren't enough people actually using these technologies. When asked, many people have replied that they still just don't know where to begin. We want to help our members get hands-on experience by working on real world projects. Once these projects are complete we encourage the teams to present their projects at PDXUX.Net and the upcoming Portland Code Camp (later this summer).

So how about you? Are you looking for a reason to get involved? Are you looking for an excuse to really learn these new technologies? Maybe you want to expand your skillset and increase your market value during this time of economic uncertainty? Be sure to check out PDXUX.Net this year. Don't just attend a presentation, but come get involved on one of the projects. You'll be glad you did.

August 28, 2008 - Wrox / John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is now the newest sponsor of PDXUX.Net. We definitely appreciate their generosity in helping us benefit and grow our group.

Wrox Press is proudly part of the John Wiley & Sons stable of educational and reference books. Contact Jeff Parker at jparker@wiley.com, mention promo code WRXU2 to explore Wiley’s User Group discount and support program.

August 20, 2008 - Silvertail Software has just signed on as a Platinum Sponsor and will be providing the food and beverates for our meetings. Other opportunities for sponsorship still exist and are needed. Learn more about how to become a sponsor of PDXUX.Net.

Silvertail Software is a software consultancy focused on combining rich user experiences with traditional line of business (LOB) applications. Their areas of expertise include Microsoft Silverlight and AJAX technologies.

June 30, 2008 - A huge thanks goes out to our new sponsor, InformIT / Pearson Education. From now until the end of the year we'll be giving away at least two books during each meeting.

March 28, 2008 - From the website:

Video Announcement

Save the date for Saturday, April 12th. The Code Trip will be in town and we're planning a fun event for the whole family.

Details are scattered throughout the site, but what you need for planning is included below:

When: Saturday, April 12th
12:00pm to 7:00pm

Location: OGI School of Science and Engineering (map)
20000 NW Walker Rd
Beaverton, OR 97006

Be sure to sign up to the rss feed for future updates.

March 14, 2008 - Next week the PDXRIA group will be hosting an event where Mike Culver from Amazon will be in town talking about what's possible with the Amazon Web Services stack. Details can be found below and at http://pdxria.com/asug/index.cfm?event=page.meetings.

WHAT: March PDXRIA Meeting
WHERE: PCC Sylvania, Library Room 112
WHEN: March 20, 2008
5:30 - 6:00 Networking and Setup
6:00 - 8:00 Presentation

TOPIC: What's possible in a post Web 2.0 world? with Mike Culver
Innovation continues at a mind-bending pace, and this presentation will showcase some thought-provoking new ideas built on Web Services. You will also learn how others, empowered by technology advances—known as "Web Scale Computing"—created businesses that weren't practical until recently. The session will include a demo in which you'll learn how to set up a virtual server in the Cloud.

Amazon spent over a decade developing a world-class technology and content platform that powers Amazon web sites for millions of customers every day. Most people think "Amazon.com" when they hear the word; however developers and entrepreneurs are excited to learn that there is a separate technology arm of the company, known as Amazon Web Services or AWS. Using AWS, software developers can build applications leveraging the same robust, scalable, and reliable technology that powers Amazon's retail business. AWS has now launched ten services with open API's for developers to build applications, with the result that almost 330,000 developers have registered on Amazon's developer site to create applications based on these services.

Speaker Bio
Mike Culver joined the Developer Relations Group of Amazon Web Services in 2006, and brings with him fifteen years of technology leadership experience, including at companies such as Microsoft. In addition he has a strong background running an IT organization, with over a decade of experience in the Electrical Wholesale Distribution industry. And as a Web Services Evangelist at Amazon, he helps developers take advantage of disruptive technologies that are going to change the way we think about computer applications, and the way that businesses compete.

February 24, 2008 - Mark your calendars for April 10th - 12th because that's when Jason Mauer, Tim Heuer, Mithun Dhar, and other Microsoft Developer Evangelists are scheduled to be bringing The Code Trip to Portland.

They'll be podcasting, video blogging, creating applications on the fly, streaming from the bus, hibachi-night Wednesdays (heh, the 9th is a Wednesday), and other great ideas. Their mission is to talk about some of the great stuff Microsoft has coming out and demonstrate the technologies, but they also know we want to be heard. They're interested in hearing our stories and this will be a great opportunity to get some hands-on advice.

They'll be building a couple of applications along the way before they get to Portland, and are excited to show them off to our community. They'll also be bringing the latest from MIX08, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, Silverlight, etc.!

Be sure to subscribe to their main feed for updates. Also, expect to see live updates on the Twitter feed as they tour through the different cities. The current route/schedule is posted online, so if you're not in Portland, check it out and see when they'll be visiting in your area.

February 22, 2008 - Erik Mork has just launched a new Podcast called Sparkling Client which focuses on Silverlight and other RIA Technology. The site for the podcast can be found at http://www.sparklingclient.com/. The first two episodes are already up, with much more promising content sure to be released in the immediate future. Be sure to check this out and subscribe to their feed.

Erik is a very active member of the .Net community here in Portland. He has presented at PADNUG, PDXUX.Net, the Portland and Boise Code Camps, and Innotech. You can reach him at http://www.silverbaylabs.org/.

January 25, 2008 - Robert Half Technology has just signed on as a Platinum Sponsor and graciously offered to host our meetings at their auditorium in the KOIN Center. The group will begin meeting at this new location starting in May. The March meeting will still be held at the Corillian Cafe (Map).

Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. They specialize in initiatives ranging from web development and systems integration to network security and technical support.