The Visual Basic Special Interest Group (VB SIG) is a subgroup of the WI .NET Users Group that focuses on VB specific topics.  Because of a strong interest within the members we will also be focusing on certification preparation.

Keep an eye on this page for more news as it develops, and feel free to contact us with any questions or comments at vbsig@wi-ineta.org.

At the July 22nd meeting we discussed the interest in Microsoft Certification and found that the majority of people were interested in pursuing certification.  Therefore we will include certification preparation topics within our meetings.  We will be using the Microsoft Training Kit for the 70-536 test as our basis for the presentations and certification preparation.  The book is available from various book stores and sources such Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.  Do a search for 70-536 and it should show up.  We are using the official Microsoft Training Kit.

The plan for how we will cover the entire materials hasn't been completely determined yet.  But our August meeting will include a presentation on at least a portion of the first chapter.  At the meeting we will further discuss how to cover the remainder of the book's topics.

It should be noted that the Training Kit covers both the VB and C# languages.  If any C# developers are interested in participating in the certification preparation you are more than welcome to participate.  All we ask is that you try to use VB for any samples you present.

It was the concensus of the survey and the people at the organizational meeting that the VB SIG meeting should be on a night other than the regular Users Group Meeting and on a different week. They also felt Mondays and Fridays were not good nights. Based on feedback in a second survey we will have our meetings on the 4th Tuesday of each month.

It was unanimous that we include a question and answer session where you could ask help from the other members.  Another portion of the meeting would be one or more presentations - these could be short in length if that is all that is required to cover the subject.   The length of the meeting would be from 1 to 2 hours depending on how much material there was to cover.

It was also suggested that we might work on a project jointly as a way of learning.  A suggested approach was:  Those that want to work on projects gather into small groups of 2 to 4 members.  Those that don't want to join a group can either work on their own (or just skip the 'project' thing altogether).  Each group makes all their decisions themselves ... they pick a project goal, design it and work on it as a team (even how they communicate between themselves).  The end result is hopefully a 1/2 hour presentation as to how, what, where, et cetera ... of how it all came together.  Let everybody know what methods were used and what methods were newly introduced.  Even projects that failed can be presented as a learning experience. 

I've gotten approval to have the meetings at Exacta's offices which are at 165th and Bluemound Road (16595 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield, 53005)

If you weren't at the organizational meeting on Thursday, June 12th but are interested in the VB SIG, please send your name and e-mail address to vbsig@wi-ineta.org so I can include you in correspondence.