Microsoft has certainly been ratcheting up the community involvement over the last few years. In a down economy like this one, free training opportunities suddenly take on even more significance. Local user groups, Code Camps, product release events, and occasional "just because" events all provide opportunities to get together with local developers and maybe add a tool or two to your toolbox. One such initiative is the Fire Starter Event series.
These events are one day, free-to-attend, community produced deep-dive immersions on particular technologies. FireStarters are opportunities to learn about some technology in the MSFT stack that you may not be familiar with and would like to see the essentials needed to get started.
Think of FireStarters as mini Code Camps dedicated to specific technologies. Nice!
Currently scheduled FireStarters include:
- ASP.NET MVC in Pittsburgh, PA, Dec. 18th
- ASP.NET MVC in East Windsor, New Jersey, Dec. 13th
- Windows Development in Redmond, Dec. 12th. Attend this one via Live Meeting!
- Test Driven Development in Tampa, FL, Jan. 17th
Previous FireStarters have focused on Silverlight, ASP.Net + AJAX, and SQL Server. If you would like to see a FireStarter event in your community, contact your local MSFT Developer Evangelist and see what can be arranged.