The other day Chris Sutton posted about the growing .NET community in Iowa. I was definitely impressed by the turnout at the last Iowa Code Camp, where I saw Chris’s talk on ASP.NET MVC as well as top-notch SharePoint presentations by Todds Klindt and Bleeker, and am looking forward to more at the upcoming camp on Nov. 8.
While there’s general .NET growth in the area, the Iowa SharePoint scene seems rather quiet. The Iowa SharePoint User Group has been on hiatus for a while and other than Todd Klindt, the only other Iowan I can find is Darrin Bishop, who presented at the October IADNUG meeting. The SharePoint sessions at the last code camp were full and there are several scheduled for this next one, so I know we’re not alone…
I guess I have two questions:
- Is there anybody out there?
- Is there any interest in getting the user group up an running again?
Solutionizing .NET 
October 26, 2008 at 10:15 am
Hey Keith,
I’m with you, we need more SharePoint excitement in Iowa. The IADNUG guys have been kind enough to let me have one SharePoint session each quarter. I’m hoping to use that to generate more buzz about SharePoint. I can’t tell if it’s working or not. :)
Oh, and Darrin’s from Illinois. He just came to Iowa to chat with us.
tk
December 2, 2008 at 11:48 am
My company is trying to figure out the best way to move forward with SharePoint, but internally and as a customer portal site.
I am interested in any groups and/or resources that might be available in IA.
Thanks,
Sean
December 2, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of SharePoint-specific resources in Iowa. I definitely recommend you check out the Iowa SharePoint User Group, which meets bimonthly in West Des Moines (including tomorrow). As Todd mentioned, the IADNUG or CRINETA occasionally have SharePoint sessions. There are also user groups in Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago, and probably others. And of course you can engage a Microsoft partner (I recommend Inetium) to get specific guidance.
Hope this helps ~
Keith