In this #SPC11 Series:

Hello everyone and welcome to yet again another report on the SharePoint Conference 2011. This morning I was too tired to wake up early for breakfast so I got up just before the first sessions and got ready to head there just in time. These long days are getting to me.
Here is a list of the sessions I attended today:

Morning sessions:

Session Title: Advanced SharePoint Data Access with Silverlight
Session Code: SPC400
Speaker(s):  Robert German , Ryan Sockalosky
Presented By: Microsoft
Level: 400
Abstract: SharePoint and Silverlight make an unbeatable combination
for building great web applications. In this session, you will learn how to
develop these solutions more easily than ever with Visual Studio 2010 and
SharePoint’s new client object model and WCF Data services. We’ll cover all
aspects of data access from Silverlight in Sharepoint, such as how to deal with
large datasets, working with shared services, piggybacking data on the web page,
external data access and more

Comments: This session was probably one of the best sessions I attended so far at the conference. They essentially threw out the slide deck and dove right into the demos. They went through demo after demo and provided explainations on the different parts of the code. This was definitely a great session for me and I will be doing a lot more Silverlight in the near future. Thanks Robert and Ryan for the great technical presentation and keepoing it fun along the way.

Session Title: Setting up and Configuring PowerPivot v2 for SharePoint
in SQL Server 2008 R2 and “Denali”
Session Code: SPC386
Speaker(s):  Dave Wickert
Presented By: Microsoft
Level: 300
Abstract: In this session we’ll explore how you can use PowerPivot
for SharePoint 2010 to enable your users to share meaningful insights with
powerful analysis and rich reporting while providing governance and control.
We’ll walk through the installation and configuration, management, and new
capabilities in the next generation PowerPivot for your users.

Comments: This session was a lot of technical information but barely any demonstrations. I was a bit disapointed. Not much more to say here.

Sessions after lunch:

Session Title: Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications for SharePoint
Session Code: SPC339
Speaker(s):  Paul Stubbs
Presented By: Microsoft
Level: 300
Abstract: Take your SharePoint business applications on the go with
Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 has great integration with SharePoint via the
Office hub, but how do access your custom line of business applications on the
phone? In this session you will learn how to build your first Windows Phone
application for SharePoint.  Learn the fundamentals that will give you a running
start for your own applications

Comments: This session introduced the base concepts to get started setting up the development environment and how to get SharePoint integrated in the programming flow. I thought this was an interesting session and even though I have no Windows Phone 7 device, I think I will still take a crack at building a few apps. Thanks Paul.

Session Title: SharePoint, Azure and Claims Integration for Developers
Session Code: SPC412
Speaker(s):  Steve Peschka
, James
Petrosky
Presented By: Microsoft
Level: 400
Room: ACC:
207
Abstract: Learn how to use the Claims Azure and SharePoint
Integration (CASI) kit to connect, integrate and take advantage of Windows Azure
services in SharePoint.  The CASI Kit provides a set of guidance and code to
help you easily work with data in Windows Azure from SharePoint using web parts,
custom code, timer jobs, etc

Comments: This session introduced how to use CASI Kit to leverage Azure as a storage platform for external data to SharePoint. I was impressed how simple this toolkit makes this integration possible and will definitely be blogging more about Azure integration with SharePoint 2010.

 

Session Title: Deep Dive on SharePoint Ribbon Development & Extensibility
Session Code: SPC402
Speaker(s):  Chris O’Brien
, Andrew
Connell
Presented By: MVP
Level: 400
Room: ACC:
213
Abstract: Take advantage of the Ribbon in your SharePoint
applications for a tightly integrated and great user experience! Developers can
customize and extend the ribbon for custom solutions. In this session we’ll
examine the different components of the ribbon as well as how to create page
components, asynchronous callbacks and prompt the user with intuitive dialogs.
Best of all you can do all this from the sandbox and avoid getting admins
involved in deploying farm solutions!

Comments: This session presented the multiple custom ribbon items you can add to the SharePoint Ribbon. A very popular session, the room was paked! It was a good session with a lot of valuable information that will be useful later on – specifically with the Ribbon being integrated everywhere nowadays with Windows 8 and all Office products. Thank you Andrew and Chris it was a very good session.

After-hours

The after-hours party today was the OktoberFiesta. The party was being hosted by Axceler at Tortilla Jo’s Restaurant in Downtown Disney, with the following sponsors: Apptix, Pointbridge, BAInsight, Jornata, Syntergy, Kodak, K2 and Bluerooster. There was a lot of people in this small restaurant and everyone was having lots of fun. Thanks Axceller for hosting this great party.