Community Night

Developer User Group 2014 Survey results

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Thu, 04/24/2014 - 21:01

This year we launched the first annual user group and let me say thank you to every single one of you for taking the time to help us improve the group. For this survey all questions were optional so you may see some differences in the numbers. This post is meant to share the data and I am not going to speculation about what this could mean or how we will adjust the group based on it at this point. Lets have a look at the data!

Comments

The final item in the survey is the first I want to discuss – the comments. Many where along the line of congratulations which is awesome but there are four I want to highlight here.

more code please, e.g. everyone has talked about 'everything must be unit tested', yet not once have i seen the actual code. I AM UNIT TESTING, BUT I FEEL THE COVERAGE IS NOT ENOUGH, SO IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE A REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF 100% COVERAGE REGARDING TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT.

We will be having the awesome Martin Cronje in June doing a talk exactly on this! Another idea would be to attend the CodeRetreats where this is a major focus of the events. A personal comment based on the talks I have given; the time for a presenter is limited so if they are talking on SignalR adding unit tests not only takes time away from the talk but can also confuse the audience.

A suggestion to some of the discussions is to have a practical aspect where coders can code

I love the scenario where the audience can code with the talk but there are logistical reasons this doesn’t work well in our format. The presentation style is the one that works best.

Have more advice for novice/beginners to programming

Below I will talk about what type of events we run most often, and while the bulk of our talks are technology focused which can be very tough for novices we have a big chunk that are about methodologies, theories, stories and patterns. These are PERFECT for a novice since they share valuable information which doesn’t rely on technical understanding.

I haven't attended for some time due to other commitments, but for some time I thought it would be beneficial to have a bit more conversation / talks about the open-source languages and projects. I understand that the group was initially primarily started around Microsoft products, and that's great, but in my field open-source is more dominant. It's just an observation, though, nothing against the setup of the group per sé

I disagree with this view – having a look at our past events the break down of the sessions is as follows:

image

Looking at the numbers – we are more about open source technology and developer improvement than Microsoft.

Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the Developer User Group?

The first and most important was how satisfied or dissatisfied people are, on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being bad – 5 being great) and we hit at an average of just over 4! Smile

How likely are you to recommend the Developer User Group?

Second is very important for us, because we want to grow the group and being recommended is the best way for that. Here we did a scale from 1 to 5 and did even better scoring over 4.4!

Overall, how do you find the complexity of the sessions?

Third is  how members are finding the content – with this also on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 being too simplistic content and 5 being too complex content. 3 is the just right spot and we came in almost exactly at that!

 

Start time

imageThe most discussed issue in the group is the start time – it is brought up almost every month in the comments. Keeping the time the same really smashed the other options, both individually and if you group the times into early (16h00 + 16h30), medium (17h00 + 17h30) and late (18h00 + 18h30). We are planning to use the early start time to allow for longer sessions with multiple topics going forward so hopefully that will enable people to get the best of both worlds.

  • Keep it at 16h30: 49%
  • Start earlier at 16h00: 6%
  • Start later at 17h00: 15%
  • Start later at 17h30: 10%
  • Start later at 18h00: 15%
  • Start (really) later at 18h30: 5%

What do you hope to gain from the developer user group?

imageThe only item to allow multiple options to be selected, is also one of the most important – what do you want? Almost everyone said learning new skills and networking.

  • To learn new skills: 95%
  • Networking with other developers: 93%
  • Free drinks & pizza: 37%
  • To find potential employees: 20%
  • To find a new job: 12%

Age

imageMoving into the demographics for the group – the first one is age with the majority between 26 – 35.

  • 26 – 35: 75%
  • 36 – 50: 16% 
  • 18 – 25: 6% 
  • 51 – 65: 1% 

What is your level?

imageThe next item is the level, which shows a strong slant to the senior level.

  • Senior: 70%
  • Intermediate: 22%
  • Junior: 6%

What is your primary programming language?

imageThe third demographic which is vital for us in planning content is around primary development language and we have a GREAT mix of languages but the strongest community is c#.

  • C#: 59% 
  • Java: 9% 
  • C++: 3% 
  • JavaScript: 4%
  • Visual Basic: 1% 
  • I'm a QA: 1%
  • Python: 1%
  • PHP: 1%
  • Objective C: 1%
  • SQL: 1%
  • Many of the above: 1%
  • Scala: 1%
  • I'm a novice wanting to learn: 1%
  • Project management: 1%

What is your primary type of development work?

imageIn line with  planning content, knowing what people are doing is vital. Web work (internal and external) is a strong lead followed by integration and mobile.

  • Mobile apps: 11% 
  • Internal web sites or Intranets: 30% 
  • Integration projects: 19% 
  • External/Public web sites: 27% 
  • Coaching: 1%
  • UI/DB/Platform: 1%
  • Many of the above: 1%
  • Internal Projects: 1%
  • I'm a Novice wanting to learn: 1%
  • Server side development: 1%
  • Data warehousing: 1%

Organisation size

imageHow big are the companies that developers come from? Here it looks like a strong split between small (less than 20) and large (more than 90). Which I think is pretty accurate for the industry as a whole in South Africa.

  • >200: 25% 
  • 11-20: 8% 
  • 1-10: 29% 
  • 21-40: 12% 
  • 91-200: 14% 
  • 41-80: 9% 

Role in purchasing?

imageFinally, a question we can use when discussing with sponsors is what role people have in purchasing. Here there is some influence or none.

  • None: 37% 
  • I can suggest/influence purchases: 51% 
  • I make the final say: 11%

Raw data?

Want the raw data – you can download it below.

TechDays 2012 - wrap up post

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 20:13

Thank you so much for those people who came to my talks in Johannesburg & Cape Town – from all accounts we broke some size records for the event which is very awesome. Not just for my ego, but also it shows Microsoft that while we are excited about the new awesome stuff – we NEED to hear about the more normal things, you know cause we get paid to work with that and all.

With that said on to the usual post event blog post where I share my slides. In addition my demo script (those masses of paper I used to remind myself what to type) is up, and finally are completed builds of the demo apps for you to look through. About the demos, two things need to be remembered:

  • These are demos – they are not meant to best practise. They are as close to that as I can get in 5min, so disclaimer on using them.
  • These demos are not the same as on stage, and have no help – so if you did not attend the session the script maybe a better starting point.

btw download the slide deck, there is hidden slides with more info!!

Completed Demos

Large (file size) demos

Small (file size) demos - below

Community night in September 2011 - IMPORTANT INFO

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 10:26

Community Night, the best way to meet, mingle and learn (if you don’t know about it – read here) happens on the second Tuesday of the month… except in September due to an event at the venue on the Tuesday which can’t be moved.

So for September it will take place the Monday before, in other words Monday the 12th September. Please help get the word out to the various user groups and communities!

See you there!

Community night in August

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 15:35

Important Notice for August 2011

Community night is normally the second Tuesday of the month, however since that is a public holiday it has been moved to Monday the 15th of August!

What is community night?

For those who do not know this is a FREE event that happens monthly where a variety of user groups get together at Microsoft's offices. User groups are not influenced by Microsoft, they just use the facilities. User groups that are there on a regular basis:

  • Information Worker: Technical focused SharePoint & Office
  • Business User Workshops: User group that looks at the issues that face power users in enterprises. This month the understanding where a portal ends and CRM begins.
  • Game Dev: One of the biggest with plenty of game developers & artists getting together.
  • JavaScript: For all you JS fixes
  • Mobi: My good friend Rudi Grobler hosts this group focused on mobile (iPhone, Android, Symbian and Windows Phone)
  • UX: For those who understand there is more than 16 colours
  • Architecture: For architects of any IT systems!
  • Languages: For developers who are interested in learning the pros & cons of other languages.
  • SQL: The fantastic Gail Shaw runs the best SQL user group anywhere!

There is also FREE beer, cool drinks & pizza!

Where is Microsoft’s offices?

Microsoft Bryanston Office
3012 William Nicol Drive
Bryanston
2191 Johannesburg
South Africa

Click here for map and more details.

Times?

Various user groups starts at different times. I think the first UG kicks off at 16:00 and it can run to 21:00.
However depends if you attend multiple UG, stay for passage conversation, etc…

So up to you, I have nights where I arrived after 17:30 and other times left at 18:00, no pressure!

Community Night: BE THERE

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 08:54

Clipboard01Tomorrow is another community night, and I realised that there is MANY people who do not know about this fun event. This is a gathering of communities (or user groups or interest groups if you prefer) who meet on a regular basis. This is a totally free event which takes place the 2nd Tuesday of every month at Microsoft’s offices in Bryanston.

*Yawn* another Microsoft marketing session? WRONG! This is run by communities and Microsoft has NO say in the content or agenda, unless a community allows them Smile with tongue out Microsoft is really trying to help all communities by providing the facilities – not the content!

MobiZATo give a concrete example MobiZA, a user group focused on mobile development is doing a session on Android! talk about not Microsoft marketing there!

There is also a variety of communities in a attendance so you can also see things you would not have seen before, for example the business user group or the game developer group! And of course there is plenty of corridors for interesting discussions and some even contain food & drinks!

Hopefully I have given you a taste of what is in store and why you should attend and you can find more details on the DPE team blog.

mapFinally, if you have a user group maybe you should think of joining us at community night? Free venue, projectors, seating, food & drink. Plus plenty of people attend, could be a great way to grow your group. I would personally love to see some Linux & PHP groups there because it would allow those who have not had a chance to see the non-Microsoft world an opportunity and hopefully learn that it isn’t so cut & dry out there.

Remember, tomorrow 12th April 2011 @ Microsoft (map to the left) from first sessions kick off at 16:30 and second sessions get started between 17:30 & 18:00!

Bring your hard drive to Community Night

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Mon, 12/13/2010 - 12:48

Blue Male Student in a Graduation Cap, Reading a Book and Leaning Against a Stack of Books Clipart IllustrationIf you are coming to tomorrow’s community night, you want to bring your hard drive along because I will have some stuff to fill it up with:

Plus I hear that some prizes may be given away at the events too Winking smile

CommNight December - Some interesting events

Submitted by Robert MacLean on Tue, 12/07/2010 - 10:07

Happy Blue Man Partying With a Party Hat, Confetti and a Bottle of Liquor Clipart IllustrationIn the middle of the company parties, you should take one night off to do some fantastic learning and networking at CommNight (Community Night) on the 14th December! You can read about all the details on the Microsoft DPE Blog.

There are two groups which I want to highlight which will be at CommNight:

S.A. Developer

S.A. Developer is a user group for developers and in December will be hosting the following topics:

  • Tool of the month: This short (10min to 15min) session is where someone can present their favourite developer focus tool or add-on.
  • Unit Testing WPF & Silverlight – Tools & Techniques: Silverlight and WPF can be used to create truly immersive UI experiences for users.  Testing these UI components and the logic around it can become complex – especially when using frameworks like PRISM.  Join us in this session as we take a look at a few tools and techniques that can be used when unit testing WPF and Silverlight applications. 

Really looking forward to this session!

Information Worker

Information Worker is a user group for those in the IW space, not just developers but everyone even people who job just involves Excel and Outlook! This month we are looking at:

  • Lync – Microsoft’s Unified Communication System
  • Windows Phone 7 – What does this give the IW user? Things like Office and SharePoint integration will be discussed