Guelph Coffee and Code

Since its inception Guelph Coffee and Code has been about learning, it was a place for Developers to debug, problem solve, troubleshoot issues with the eventual hope of developing Community Projects. It was a noble idea, however, over the year and a half of running Guelph Coffee and Code I have come to understand that there needs to be a driving force, a target, and a purpose for doing something. An amazing project that was conceived of thin air and a love for technology for the simple purpose of learning a new technology looses priority, momentum, and eventually all meaning.

With that being said, I think I have come up with a way to offer knowledge, a goal, a purpose and this will actually help advance your career! So I ask you one Question:

The Proposal

For those of us that are Microsoft Developers [sorry Open Source folks, feel free to create your own movement and join our adventure]

I propose that we continue to meet for Coffee and Code events which will be extended to 6pm – 9pm. The first hour of the event will be social, this will allow some de-stress time, keep up the networking aspect, and allow time for consumption of food. This leaves 7pm – 9pm for Presentation, Discussion, and Hands-On Labs.

The First Topic

Considering our youthful group, I believe the logical first topic would be starting at the entry level [don’t take entry level lightly] Certification Platform, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist [MCTS].  We can have break out groups to cover different competencies however I believe the Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Application Development Foundation self paced training kit for MCTS Exam 70-536 is the first stepping stone towards an MCTS Certification for the .NET Framework.

Candidates for this exam work on a team in a medium-sized or large development environment that uses Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. Candidates should have at least two to three years of experience developing Web-based, Windows-based, or distributed applications by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0, the .NET Framework 1.1, the .NET Framework 2.0, or the .NET Framework 3.5. Candidates should have a working knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008.

The Application Development Foundation book is exactly that the Foundation of the MCTS Certification, in order to become Certified you have to select One Additional Exam [70-561,70-562,70-503,70-505,70-502,70-504].

The Second Exam is where the break-out groups would come into effect. As the majority of the group are Web Developers, my recommendation would be the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – ASP.NET Application Development self paced training kit for MCTS Exam 70-562.

Candidates for this exam use Microsoft Visual Studio in a team-based, medium-sized to large development environment. Candidates should have a minimum of two to three years of experience developing Web-based applications by using Microsoft ASP.NET. Candidates should also have a minimum of one year of experience with web services, state management, ASP.NET configuration, monitoring web applications, debugging, page life-cycle management; security, membership & roles, JavaScript, and Internet Information Server (IIS). Candidates should be very familiar with Visual Studio 2005 or later and the .NET Framework classes that are related to ASP.NET and ADO.NET. In addition, candidates should have a good grasp of ASP.NET AJAX.

The Cake

Prometric and Microsoft have a pretty sweet deal on right now, which gives extra incentive to start the process now and this cake is not a lie.

The Lettuce

In the end everything always comes down to money. Unfortunately this is no exception, however I am trying my best to get funding to help us out along the way. I will not be able to pay for your exams, but I am looking to comp the Literature [I have submitted my plea, and will comment on this post when I receive the answer].

A Microsoft Certification Exam costs $125.00 USD [Source: Prometric’s Website] in Ontario, Canada.

If you get a 2-exam pack you save 20% 15% and have the safety of the second shot.

The last item that will cost money is food, if we meet at our typical location, The Albion Hotel, they have been nice enough to allow us to have our meetings without a venue cost. We should be sure to eat a meal in good faith for them hosting our Study Group for 3 hours. Just be sure to include food in your budget.

The Challenge

Earlier today I contacted Microsoft Canada on twitter asking if they would be willing to put up 2 Certification Vouchers if we could get a group of 10 Certification Study Members. I will be following up with Microsoft Canada via Email [seems more appropriate] to see if they would be able to provide the prizes.

Track the list of interested Study Members on the MS-Cert-StudyGroup Twitter List [we’re currently at 6].