Special Southwest Fox Rehearsal in Lansing, MI

Southwest Fox is the best FoxPro conference in North America and this year, 8 of the 16 speakers live in the Great Lakes region. We’re proud of this fact .. but .. it’s created a problem because they’re all vying for limited user group slots to practice their sessions. To overcome this issue, the three FoxPro user groups in Michigan have banded together to create a special one-day event as a platform for these speakers to practice their conference sessions. Please join us for this wonderful event!

Info at a glance:

Southwest Fox Rehearsal

Saturday, August 29, 2009

8:30 – 5:30

Springhill Suites Marriott, Lansing, MI

Cost: $20.00 donation to cover beverages, snacks and lunch

Speakers/Sessions:

Mike Feltman – HTML and Visual FoxPro

Toni Feltman – Data Driven Applications

Walt Krzystek – SQL Server Tips & Tricks

Jody Meyer – Speak to Me: Applying MS Office Automation to Real Business Needs

Paul Mrozowski – Refactoring Legacy Code

Cathy Pountney – Making the Most of VFP 9 SP2 Reports (Part I)

The FoxPro Community Gives:

The organizers and speakers are all donating their time to this event. In addition, MMFUDG, GRAFUG, and White Light Computing are donating money to cover the cost of the room and equipment. All we’re asking from you is a $20 donation to cover the cost of snacks, beverages, and lunch. All profits above our expenses will be donated to the Ceil Silver Ambassador Fund.

The Ceil Silver Ambassador Fund is intended to raise money from the VFP community to bring a developer to the Southwest Fox conference as an ambassador for the developers in his or her country. This gives the recipient the opportunity to meet and share experiences with developers attending Southwest Fox and gives other attendees the opportunity to learn about VFP development in the recipient's country. The Fund is named in memory of Ceil Silver, a long-time member of the Visual FoxPro community, who passed away in January, 2009. Read more about the fund here: http://www.swfox.net/ambassador.aspx.

You can help too by making an additional donation to the Ceil Silver Ambassador Fund. To sweeten the pot the organizers of the Southwest Fox Conference have made a generous offer. Any person who is not already registered for Southwest Fox 2009 and makes a donation over the $20 will receive a dollar-for-dollar discount off their registration for Southwest Fox (over the $20, up to $125). It’s like getting the Super-Saver Early Bird discount AFTER the deadline. In fact, the organizers will even throw in a free pre-conference session for those who donate $50 or more above the $20 food cost.

Registration:

Only 40 seats are available so please register soon to ensure your spot. To register, please send an email confirmation along with your lunch choice (see below) to Rick Schummer (DAFUG) and send payment of $20 (or more) by check or paypal.

PayPal:

rick@rickschummer.com (No credit cards please / Use the “Personal” option)

Check:

DAFUG

c/o Rick Schummer

42759 Flis Dr.

Sterling Heights, MI 48314

Hotel:

For anyone interested in staying at the hotel, a room rate of $89 has been negotiated. Just mention that you’re attending this special one-day seminar.

Springhill Suites Marriot

111 South Marketplace Boulevard

Lansing MI 48917

Schedule:

Here’s the planned schedule (order of the speakers will be determined at game time).

8:30 – 9:45 1st presentation

10:00 – 11:15 2^nd presentation

11:30 – 12:45 3^rd presentation

Lunch (30 mins)

1:15 – 2:30 4^th presentation

2:45 – 4:00 5^th presentation

4:15 – 5:30 6^th presentation

We hope to see all of you there!!

Rick Bean (MMFUDG), Rick Schummer (DAFUG), Jody Meyer (GRAFUG), Cathy Pountney (GRAFUG)

LUNCH CHOICES:

You have the choice of a sandwich or wrap.

If you want a sandwich - Choose one from each category:

Breads: White / Wheat / Marble Rye / Roll / Croissant

Meats: Ham / Roast Beef / Turkey / Salami / Pastrami / Chicken / Liverwurst

Cheeses: American / Cheddar / Swiss / Provolone

If you want a wrap – Choose one of the following:

Caesar Salad Veggie Wrap

Italian Veggie Wrap

Available Condiments – Choose as many as you want:

Mustard / Dijon / Mayo / Miracle Whip / Lettuce / Tomato / Onion / Pickle / Banana Peppers

Side choices – Choose one of the following:

Chips (default) / Fruit Cup / Cottage Cheese / Applesauce / Coleslaw

Deli spear – Available upon request.

Beverages

Coffee, tea & bottled water will be available throughout the day.

A selection of pop will be available as well (feel free to offer suggestions).

Southwest Fox 2009

I hope you'll consider joining everyone at Southwest Fox 2009. The Visual FoxPro conference for Visual FoxPro developers will be held October 15-18, 2009 at the Arizona Golf Resort and Conference Center. Register by July 1st for the Super Saver registration that offers $125 off the conference fee and includes one free pre-conference session.

Southwest Fox includes a terrific selection of sessions from great presenters. Each of the 28 regular conference topics will be offered twice and the conference materials will include a white paper for each, so you can learn about the topics you can't fit into your schedule. There will be four sessions to choose from in each of the regular conference slots, so you'll always be able to find a topic that appeals. Plus the four pre-conference sessions give you a chance to come up to speed in areas you know you need.

You can find the complete list of speakers (http://www.swfox.net/speakers.aspx) and topics (http://www.swfox.net/sessions.aspx) on the Southwest Fox website.

Going to a conference is one of the best investments you can make in your career. The opportunity to learn about Visual FoxPro and related technologies from industry experts is worth the cost of admission. But a conference also gives you the chance to interact with your colleagues, renewing old relationships, turning virtual friendships into live ones and forming new ones. The time you spend talking with people between sessions, at meals, and in the hotel bar or lobby after hours turns out to be as valuable as the sessions themselves.

If you've never been to a VFP conference or to Southwest Fox, make 2009 the year you give it a try. If it's been a while since you made it to a conference, I urge you to come back. And if you were at Southwest Fox last year, you know why you shouldn't miss this year's edition.

On top of all the benefits Southwest Fox offers you personally, there's also a benefit for your local user group. For each member of a user group who attends, their group will receive $25. That will help run the group, contributing toward bringing speakers in from elsewhere, and providing occasional meeting refreshments. Please let your local user group know if you plan on attending so they can let the organizers know you are a part of the group.

FoxPro User Groups

The value of FoxPro User Groups is tremendous. I've learned so much from them, made so many contacts, improved my skills, learned about many third-party & productivity tools, made lots of friends, and even obtained a job through them.

Sadly, FoxPro User Groups are a dying breed. Our local group (GRAFUG - Grand Rapids Area FoxPro Users Group) is struggling to stay alive. Attendance has dropped and we're trying to figure out how to attract more people. The core people that attend each month don't want to let it go. We consider the meetings extremely valuable, and a resource that must be kept. We'd like to "market" the group and make sure all FoxPro developers in our area are aware of the group.

I'm asking for suggestions from everyone on places to post a blurb about our group in hopes of attracting new attendees. If you're running a successful FoxPro User Group, I'd like to hear from you too. What do you do to advertise the group. I'm looking for any and all ideas on how to boost our local user group and keep it alive!