Mr. Hoffman has been working with SharePoint for three years.  He has delivered solutions for clients in academic, pharmaceutical, financial, insurance retail, non-profit and marketing sectors.  These solutions include implementing SharePoint in heavy SOA based architectures, document management systems, and web site strategy.

Mr. Hoffman is a Consultant at Ambassador Solutions and is an MBA candidate at Indiana Universities, Kelley School of Business.

 

 

Microsoft is making it easier for the knowledge worker to own and manipulate their data in SharePoint 2010.  Access Services poses new challenges to IT departments and value propositions to business users.  Learn how the new features of Access and Excel services empower information workers to own and manipulate data.

Chris Geier is a 15 year veteran of the IT industry, specializing in security and Microsoft product lines.  For the past four years he has been working in the workflow and business process management (BPM) space.  Chris also dabbles in community development and Social Media.

 

 

This session will be about the key values of workflow in a variety of forms.  Much is out there about workflow and it can be confusing and overwhelming.  What do you need to know?  What can you do?  How can SharePoint and workflow in combination be of tremendous value to you and your organization, especially in today’s economic climate?

I have spent the last two years as an instructor with Mindsharp teaching both the Administration and Designer SharePoint tracks in both public and private classes. I am currently involved with answering questions in the Microsoft public SharePoint forums as well as developing courseware for SharePoint Designer 2010 for Mindsharp. I am also working on my first book, also on Designer 2010 as a co-author with Paul Stork. Based out of the St Louis area, I try and participate in events with the local user group, but often find myself out of town during meetings.

 

 

In this session we take a look at the new integration capabilities of Visio 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010 and how this really makes your work, flow.

Darrin Bishop is a speaker,  author and developer focusing on Microsoft SharePoint Technologies. Darrin is the president and lead developer for Darrin Bishop Group, Inc. a Midwest-based Microsoft Partner focusing on SharePoint Technologies, portals and collaboration. He is the author of The Rational Guide to Building SharePoint Web Parts published by Rational Press as well as several articles in various magazines. Darrin is an international speaker and  speaks at many  SharePoint conferences, SharePoint Saturdays, MOSS Camps and User Groups. Darrin has been working with SharePoint Technologies since the release of SharePoint Portal Server 2001.

 

 

Haven’t taken the time to learn PowerShell yet? Does it seem too developer-ish for an admin tool?  Well now is the time to learn how to use PowerShell to manage your SharePoint 2010 environment. In this session we will cover the basics of PowerShell, how to call native SharePoint PowerShell commands, use scripts, variables and functions while working with SharePoint 2010.

From desktop support to IT Director, Dave Petersen has seen IT from just about every conceivable vantage point. For the last few years, Dave has worked exclusively with organizations planning and implementing SharePoint solutions.

 

 

I wish I knew that before I implemented SharePoint!

 

I have heard that statement many times. In fact, I have uttered that exact phrase at least once! Because of the different ways SharePoint is introduced into organizations, sometimes things just don't go right. This session will help you formulate a plan and give you pointers to successfully implement SharePoint in your organization.

Enrique Lima has over 18 years of experience in training, application development, database development and management,  IT solutions architecture and project management. In his role as a Solutions Architect at Apparatus, Enrique focuses on providing quality, informative, and engaging solutions and service to clients.  As a speaker and presenter he brings in the lessons learned from the field to provide guidance in how to best leverage the tools clients will be using and exploring as they move forward with their Microsoft SharePoint Technologies and supporting tools.  Enrique has been involved in architecting and developing solutions that leverage the integration of SharePoint Technologies, BizTalk, Commerce Server and Content Management Server with other Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms. 

 

 

Fabian Williams is a Technical Lead and SharePoint Architect for CDW Advanced Technology Services SharePoint Practice. He is based out of Herndon Virginia. Mr. Williams has a Bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems from Strayer University, Washington, D.C. and is 9 Credits and a Capstone away from Masters in CIS at Johns Hopkins University in Columbia Maryland. In addition, he is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) and a Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA). Prior to CDW., Mr. Williams was the Chief Technology Officer for WING, Inc. Recently, he was the Chief Internet Developer for the Department of Defense’s Global Emerging Infections System and a Sales Engineer at Citrix Incorporated.

Hope Foley is a SQL Server DBA and analyst for Perpetual Technologies, Inc. (PTI) in Indianapolis, Indiana.  PTI provides mission-critical database and information systems support for SQL Server and Oracle environments nationwide.  PTI experts plan, design, develop, deploy, and manage database environments and applications to achieve the best combination of tools and services for each client need.  As a respected member of the PTI team, Hope brings 7 years of IT experience to PTI and is responsible for database design, administration and support, data warehousing and data mining, and custom database solutions for business enterprises across the United States. 

 

 

Description:
We will arm you with information to protect the performance, recoverability, and integrity of the backbone of SharePoint . . . the databases.  Database maintainability starts with a solid deployment, and your DBA(s) will be happier if you start them off with a well-planned database strategy. We will show you best practices for the accidental DBAs out there or ammunition for discussions with your DBA(s).

I am native to Indiana, and I’ve been programming since the 90’s.  I started working with SharePoint since 2007 beta and haven’t looked back since.

 

 

This will be an intro to the Client Object Model for SharePoint 2010 that shows how to natively connect to the SharePoint API via CLR, JavaScript and/or Silverlight

Jeff has been in technology for the past ten years with a sweet spot for social computing and collaboration.  He is originally from New York and has been in the Midwest for 20 years where he has built long standing relationships with CTO’s, CIO’s and all levels of people within technology and marketing departments.

 

 

This session focuses on best practices when creating MY Sites and Team Sites around the tools that sit on top of SharePoint such as Newgator.  I will show demonstrations of best practices around what companies throughout the country are doing to make it easier to collaborate within the four walls. I can also touch upon some of the newer social features around SP 2010.  I will walk through best practices using Twitter, Facebook, Yammer and Linked In outside the four walls.

Jennifer Martinez has been consulting, educating, speaking, and writing about Office products for over 10 years.  Her combination of training skills, work experience, passion for the end user, and her understanding of business, people, and software make her ideally suited to work with SharePoint End Users. Jennifer loves to share her knowledge about SharePoint, Office, VBA, metrics, best practices, governance, user adoption, and much more. She has most often worked "on the front lines of business" and loves to help others who are "in the trenches". Originally from Indiana, Jennifer and her husband now live in Puebla, Mexico from where she regularly commutes to work throughout the US.

 

 

The Site Collection Administrator role in the SharePoint product is often misunderstood and even more often inappropriately assigned. Companies either don't respect the incredible amount of power and access or they assume that IT will have time to manage the backend and perform this frontend duty as well.

Most organizations focus on the SCA support responsibilities which include restoring documents and permissions (Site Owners have been known to remove themselves from a site on rare occasion). However, SCA's have the potential to greatly influence the success or failure of a SharePoint implementation. For one thing, their creation of search scopes and Best Bets go a long way in supporting a successful search strategy.

This session looks at (1) the SCA role in the product as well as (2) carefully weighing the risk and the rewards of turning the ‘keys of the kingdom' over to a business person and (3) how to pick an SCA and set them up for success.

Jennifer has spent the last several years providing consulting services around SharePoint Technologies and is currently working with the team at SharePoint 911. Her focus has been on strategy, planning, governance and best practices for implementing business solutions using SharePoint Technologies. She has worked with a range of companies each one being in a different lifecycle of their SharePoint implementation. She has experience with both MOSS and WSS implementations. Prior to her consulting work she was a team lead who was responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of several SharePoint environments. She is passionate about SharePoint, and loves using the out of the box features to bring immediate ROI to the organization. Jennifer is also one of the founding members of the Columbus Ohio SharePoint Users group.

 

Jim is the IT Delivery Manager at Perpetual Technologies, Inc. (PTI) in Indianapolis, IN. Beginning with a strong foundation in software development, Jim has performed in a variety of roles including Web development, database administration, developer training, and project management for large-scale software integration projects. Jim has been working with SharePoint technologies for over 4 years beginning with Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and he is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist for SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. With a focus on software development courses, Jim earned a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

 

 

We will arm you with information to protect the performance, recoverability, and integrity of the backbone of SharePoint . . . the databases.  Database maintainability starts with a solid deployment, and your DBA(s) will be happier if you start them off with a well-planned database strategy. We will show you best practices for the accidental DBAs out there or ammunition for discussions with your DBA(s).

A recognized Microsoft SharePoint thought leader, evangelist, consultant, author and blogger, Joe is also the Founder and Managing Partner for The Portal Group, LLC, an Indianapolis-based consultancy, and SharePointSupport.com, which provides off-site SharePoint administration, support and maintenance services.

As a consultant and solution architect, Joe has been working with SharePoint for over 5 years and has more than 75 successful SharePoint engagements to his credit, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 customers.  His company, The Portal Group, also provides knowledge management and business intelligence consulting services.

 

John is a Solutions Architect for Apparatus, Inc. in Indianapolis, IN, with over five years of experience administering and supporting SharePoint technologies and has spent over eleven years working in the information technology consulting industry. He co-authored the “SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Guide”, published by Charles River Media in January, 2009 (http://is.gd/da9q). He is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in the installation and configuration of Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v3, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, and Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007.

 

 

Description:
This session examines the options available for preserving your SharePoint environment and why disaster recovery is so much more than using a tool or running regular backups. John L. Ferringer and Sean P. McDonough, co-authors of the "SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Guide," will be discussing disaster recovery concepts and strategies, explaining terms such as recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives.  They will also cover the capabilities and limitations of the Microsoft tools that can used for backing up, restoring, and making SharePoint highly available for disaster recovery purposes.  Some of the changes that are coming with SharePoint Server 2010, and how they affect DR planning and implementation, will also be covered.

As Vice President of Innovation and Education at Ambassador Solutions, Kevin is responsible for trailblazing new technologies and insuring that both our consultants and customers are up to speed on how these new technologies impact existing investments as well as how they can be leveraged on new solutions.  As a 15 year veteran to the IT industry with a heavy focus on SharePoint technology in the last five, Kevin is extremely excited to integrate his passions for SharePoint and Social Computing as we move forward towards the release of SharePoint 2010.

 

 

In this session we’ll explore the many social computing features in the new platform including improvements to MySites, Search, Blogs and Wiki’s as well as looking at new features such as Social Bookmarking, Tagging (folksonomies), Comments, Ratings, and the Activity Feed. In addition to the feature review, we’ll also discuss the business case for social computing within the enterprise and key considerations as you formulate your plans.

Marcy is the SharePoint Branding Lead for a national consulting company and specializes in architecting content management and branding solutions for medium to large organizations. She has an extensive background in visual design, web content management, relational data modeling and psychology. She has been advocating user centered implementation of SharePoint since 2006, working as a consultant, technical lead, and branding specialist.

 

 

Users not doing what you want them to?   Can’t get them to use your site the right way?  Are you spending too much time clearing help tickets because your users just aren’t getting it?  

Learn how to harness the principles of visual design and usability best practices to make your SharePoint site easier to use and more intuitive to your audience.  

Ram is a sharepoint architect for Microsoft Consulting Services based out of central region. Ram’s primary focus is on SharePoint Architecture, Web Content Management, Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Search, and SharePoint Development. Ram has been working with SharePoint since version 2001 and is also a Microsoft Certified SharePoint Master for SharePoint 2007

 

 

This session will cover why taxonomies and information organization is critical for enterprise. SharePoint 2007 out of the box does not have any capability around organizing information (“Tagging”), this session will cover how to build a custom enterprise taxonomy solution and integrate with Search and some suggestions on improving the search user experience.

Rob Wilson is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, MCTS in SharePoint Configuration and leader at the Evansville SharePoint User Group.  He is a senior consultant and Business Unit Director of Microsoft Applications at Keller Schroeder (www.kellerschroeder.com) – a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner serving Southwest Indiana and Western Kentucky.  His 16+ years in IT consulting include developing in PowerBuilder, Java/Struts, Access, VB.NET and C#.  Rob began working with SharePoint in 2005 and has primarily focused on it since.  Rob also shares his enthusiasm for Microsoft technologies with his students and peers at Vincennes University where he is adjunct faculty and serves on the Tech Advisory Board.

 

 

Real world examples of InfoPath forms and state-based workflows show you how to give your users the information they need right at their fingertips and reduce the number of clicks needed to perform a task.  Both InfoPath 2007 and 2010 will be covered.

Sean McDonough is a Managing Consultant and the SharePoint Team Lead for Cardinal Solutions Group, a consulting company based in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Sean has over a decade of experience in the IT industry and has spent the past couple of years as the architect for a Fortune 50 company’s MOSS-based Internet presence.  Sean is an MCPD, an MCTS, and the co-author of the "SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Guide" (http://tinyurl.com/spdrbook)

 

 

This session examines the options available for preserving your SharePoint environment and why disaster recovery is so much more than using a tool or running regular backups. John L. Ferringer and Sean P. McDonough, co-authors of the "SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Guide," will be discussing disaster recovery concepts and strategies, explaining terms such as recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives.  They will also cover the capabilities and limitations of the Microsoft tools that can used for backing up, restoring, and making SharePoint highly available for disaster recovery purposes.  Some of the changes that are coming with SharePoint Server 2010, and how they affect DR planning and implementation, will also be covered.

Steve Pietrek, MCP, MCTS, is a Managing Consultant at Cardinal Solutions Group, a Microsoft Managed Partner, with offices in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Charlotte. Steve is a SharePoint Architect/Developer at Cardinal Solutions and is active in the SharePoint community through his blog, public speaking at user groups and conferences, MSDN, and Twitter. He has been working with the Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies since SharePoint 2007 Beta. Prior to joining Cardinal, he was the lead User Interface developer for thirteen years at Exact Business Analytics, a business intelligence software provider.

 

 

Learn how Silverlight 3 can be used to integrate rich, powerful applications into SharePoint. Walk through Silverlight basics (XAML, styles, layouts, and application settings), retrieving data from SharePoint lists and document libraries, managing code using the MVVM development pattern, and deploying the Silverlight controls to SharePoint.

Woody is a technology trainer and consultant with more than twenty years’ experience in a variety of roles, allowing him to see problems holistically and come up with appropriate solutions. His SharePoint experience started even before SharePoint became a product, with predecessors such as Site Server, the Digital Dashboard Resource Kit, and the earliest versions of Microsoft FrontPage. Since then Woody’s been deeply involved in the SharePoint community — first having been awarded Microsoft SharePoint MVP from October 2005 through September 2007, and again in 2009. He spent a year working directly for the SharePoint product team. He’s active in several online SharePoint communities, including the TechNet forums.