Speaking

All of my presetations, slides and code, are available in the presentations section on my google code site. I'd love to speak at your next user group meeting, conference, or company user group - just contact me to work out the details.

Speaking Dates

East TN .Net Users Group - When: Tue Sep 29, 2009 6pm to Tue Sep 29, 2009 9pm EDT

XNA: From Concept to Cash

You've heard that the last 10% of a project is where you spend 90% of your time? No where is that more true than in game development, where "polish" is an official phase of development! Ben Farmer of Cyragon, LLC, along with Dylan Wolf and Michael Neel of FuncWorks, LLC will discuss what it takes to create an XNA game for sale on Microsoft's

RDU Code Camp - When: Sat Sep 19, 2009

I will be speaking at the RDU Code Camp
http://codecamp.org/

Lucene: Search We Can Believe In!
Disappointed in your database's full text search? Too slow, or did the end users not grok the syntax? Maybe you need full text search over content not in a database. Wouldn't it be nice if you could download a GIAB (Google-in-a-box)? Well, thanks to the Apache Foundation's open source Lucene you can! The session will give an intro to the Lucene API (available in many flavors, including .Net and Java) as well as some tips on using Lucene in your websites and applications.

DevLink - When: Thu Aug 13, 2009 to Sat Aug 15, 2009

I will be speaking at DevLink!
http://devlink.net

Lucene: Search We Can Believe In!
Disappointed in your database's full text search? Too slow, or did the end users not grok the syntax? Maybe you need full text search over content not in a database. Wouldn't it be nice if you could download a GIAB (Google-in-a-box)? Well, thanks to the Apache Foundation's open source Lucene you can! The session will give an intro to the Lucene API (available in many flavors, including .Net and Java) as well as some tips on using Lucene in your websites and applications.

Presentations

DataSets: Code Less, Do More - DataSets are Evil. They will hog your CPU, steal your RAM, and rob your home. This is the story surrounding DataSets, but what is fact and what is myth? In this session we will look at DataSets and the tools that go with them to see how they can save you development time while not crashing the server. We’ll also dive into DataSets in 2008 with LINQ to DataSets and Unit Testing with DataSets.
From Zero to XAML - Windows Presentation Foundation is "the most significant technology to come out of Microsoft. Ever." according to Mark Miller. We've all seen the demos of Visual Studio 2008 with Blend to create breathtaking UIs, but what is under the hood? Is WPF useful to the average developer cranking out WinForms applications for internal corporate use? To answer this question we will take a close look at WPF code - without Design Mode or Blend. Warning: This is a no Technotainment Zone!
SOA: Building the Arch - Anyone who has tried to build a Service Oriented Architecture can tell you the dangers are many. Just defining the meaning of "SOA" can take weeks. This session will offer guidelines and tips all based on real world developer experience in building and maintaining a Service Oriented Architecture.
Welcome to the Church of Agile - Agile is hot - there is no denying it. Odds are your IT department has gone agile or seriously considering it. New terminology, tools, and rules; it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, the core idea of Agile is very simple. This session will take you though the "why" that's often over looked, and help you learn to "think Agile".
Zen and the Art of Website Maintenance - ASP.NET provides a wealth of time-saving data components, functional UI widgets, and methods for consistent template layouts. While understanding each of the pieces is key to being a great ASP.NET developer, true mastery comes from knowing how to use them together. This session will cover using Master Pages, Themes, Skins, CSS, Web User Controls, Site Maps, Navigation Controls, Role and Profile Providers, and Dynamic URLs together for effective website architecture.
Lucene: Search We Can Believe In! - Disappointed in your database's full text search? Too slow, or did the end users not grok the syntax? Maybe you need full text search over content not in a database. Wouldn't it be nice if you could download a GIAB (Google-in-a-box)? Well, thanks to the Apache Foundation's open source Lucene you can! The session will give an intro to the Lucene API (available in many flavors, including .Net and Java) as well as some tips on using Lucene in your websites and applications.
Dependency Injection: Way of the Ninja - Adopting Agile for software development means allowing and embracing change, but what does it mean for code? How do we write code in an agile process than can change as easily and as quickly as the requirements? How do we keep to good practices among all this change? Answer: Dependency Injection (DI). DI will allow us to keep our code in loosely-coupled, highly-cohesive components that can be taken apart and reassembled like Lego bricks. We’ll end with a look at using the DI framework Ninject. Using DI our code becomes easier to write, reuse, test, and modify - in short, more ninja-like!

Retired Sessions

What's New in ASP.NET 3.5 - .Net 3.5 is here, and we have a shiny new Visual Studio 2008 bicycle - so what gifts did Santa bring leave for ASP.NET developers? We'll find out by taking a look at things like the ListView control, play with JavaScript debugging, and see what the ASP.Net Merge Tool does. We also might sneak a peek in the old man's magic sack and see what gifts are on their way!

Below are blog entries focused on speaking:

August 2009

DevLink 2009 – Good News Everyone!
- Monday, August 17, 2009 6:14:03 PM

May 2009

CodeStock: An interesting chart
- Monday, May 25, 2009 12:06:11 AM

April 2009

CodeStock 2009: We Want You!
- Thursday, April 23, 2009 3:23:50 PM

A Letter to the Community on CodeStock 2009
- Friday, April 03, 2009 6:22:13 PM

February 2009

CodeStock 2009 “Call for Speakers” is Open
- Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:14:22 PM

January 2009

Speaking at the Knoxville Agile Practitioner's Group
- Tuesday, January 06, 2009 2:27:25 AM

October 2008

Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP)
- Thursday, October 02, 2008 10:31:43 PM

August 2008

PostStock
- Monday, August 11, 2008 12:32:11 AM

July 2008

Where's Mike?
- Thursday, July 03, 2008 1:18:43 AM

CodeStock After Party!
- Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:23:51 PM

June 2008

Join me at CodeStock 2008!
- Sunday, June 22, 2008 8:24:20 PM

May 2008

Birmingham Slides and Code
- Friday, May 16, 2008 12:04:06 AM

Birmingham Software Developers Association, May 14th
- Friday, May 09, 2008 12:33:46 AM

Announcing CodeStock 2008
- Monday, May 05, 2008 2:34:19 PM

April 2008

Speaking in Maryland this weekend
- Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:10:40 PM

March 2008

Back home after my tour of the South
- Monday, March 31, 2008 10:28:58 PM

Presentation: From Zero to XAML
- Monday, March 31, 2008 10:00:38 PM

Presentation: Welcome to the Church of Agile
- Monday, March 31, 2008 9:56:04 PM

More Speaking Dates
- Thursday, March 27, 2008 2:53:46 AM

Upcoming Speaking Dates
- Friday, March 21, 2008 2:36:01 AM

February 2008

Presentation: SOA, Building the Arch
- Sunday, February 24, 2008 4:21:40 AM

Presentation: What's New in ASP.NET 3.5
- Sunday, February 24, 2008 4:19:03 AM

Presentation: DataSets - Code Less, Do More
- Sunday, February 24, 2008 4:16:20 AM

I luvs me sum stage
- Sunday, February 24, 2008 3:45:05 AM

January 2008

Upcoming speaking dates
- Sunday, January 27, 2008 3:04:35 AM

November 2007

Speaking in Memphis November 10, 2007
- Thursday, November 01, 2007 2:25:55 AM

October 2007

Presentation: Zen and the Art of Website Maintenance
- Sunday, October 14, 2007 1:52:30 AM

September 2007

Presentation: WTF is WPF?
- Wednesday, September 26, 2007 2:56:09 AM

Speaking Dates
- Wednesday, September 19, 2007 2:12:33 AM

March 2007

Published and on Tour
- Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:10:25 AM

About Me

Michael C. Neel, born 1976 in Houston, TX and now live in Knoxvile, TN. Software developer, currently .Net focused. Board member and President of ETNUG, and organizes CodeStock, East Tennessee's annual developers conference. .Net speaker, a Microsoft ASP.NET MVP and ASPInsider. Founder of FuncWorks, LLC and Feel The Func podcast.

Proud father of two amazing girls, Rachel and Hannah.

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