Why SPC14 Is So Valuable For Developers

A couple weeks ago I talked about the On-Premises Developer Sessions at Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2014, and Dan Holme just recently weighed in on What Makes the SharePoint Conference 2014 Different, and Valuable? 

Today I’m going to follow up on both of these articles a little bit and help you understand why the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2014 is so valuable--for developers, in particular.

SPC 14 Developer Track

Over the last couple of weeks I have been fortunate enough to work with Microsoft to help provide input and perspective for the SharePoint Developer Track at SPC14.  Working with Microsoft on this process has me really excited about the upcoming conference and what it means for developers!

During this process, Microsoft solicited feedback from myself as well as other folks in the industry who have worked with SharePoint for the last decade.  I know for sure that Scot Hillier and Ted Pattison provided feedback, and there very well may have been others involved as well.

As a result of this process, Microsoft has tailored the sessions in the SharePoint Development track to include a lot of content related to existing SharePoint implementations.  That’s a big change from the last SharePoint Conference which was mainly focused on the new Cloud App Model (CAM) and functionality in SharePoint 2013.

Go check out the SharePoint Development track session list for yourself, and you'll see what I mean.  Not only are you going to be able to attend sessions that teach you about SharePoint, but you'll also learn how to incorporate technologies such as MVC5, HTML5, CSS3, MVVM, Angular, REST, ASP.NET Web API, and OData.

In addition to this fantastic selection of sessions which address current real-world implementation patterns with SharePoint, Microsoft is supplementing with other sessions that help you understand how the new CAM works, how to prepare your current applications to migrate smoothly to it, and how to develop net new functionality in SharePoint with the CAM.

It’s the best of both worlds!  This is a fantastic combination of content and technologies that will truly benefit developers and make the sessions well worth your time to attend whether they are working with on-premises SharePoint or O365 environments.

You’ll also notice there really isn’t a lot of overlap between the sessions in the SharePoint Developer track--what more could a developer want? 

Two Specific Developer Sessions

I’m excited to be presenting two of the sessions in the SharePoint Developer track as well.  In my first session, I’ll teach you how to make Internet-facing web sites with SharePoint on-premises or with an Office 365 Public Site.  This session will include a review of how we built www.whymicrosoft.com on O365 and lots of other goodies related to on-premises SharePoint 2013 Internet sites we've built.

In my second session, I’ll be presenting an extremely polished, end-to-end demo that illustrates how to use Apps for Office in Word, Excel, and Access, and also how to supplement them with Office 365 SharePoint web sites, workflow, notifications, Windows Phone 8 apps, notifications, and Windows Azure. 

If you saw the Building end-to-end apps for SharePoint with Windows Azure and Windows 8 I co-presented with Donovan Follette last year at SPC you’re probably familiar with the level of polish and depth that the demo and session will contain.  You can learn more about both of the sessions I will be presenting by visiting my personal blog.

Personally, I believe the session docket for the SharePoint Development track is the best it has ever been at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference.  I applaud Microsoft for reaching out to the community to take the pulse of the SharePoint developer--what they are currently working on, what challenges they are facing, where they are heading--and then pulling together a set of content that addresses these exact things.

Last, but certainly not least, is the quality of the speakers who will be presenting the sessions. 

Take a look at the lineup for yourself and you’ll see that all the presenters have been working with SharePoint for a half to a full decade and they include MCMS, MVPs, and folks on the product marketing and engineering teams at Microsoft.

The only down side I see to the conference is the fact that it occurs during what is typically one of the snowiest weeks in Colorado, and I might end up missing out on a powder day or two on the slopes.  However, I‘m sure the excellent content at the conference and the opportunity to network and reconnect with my friends and colleagues in the SharePoint industry will make it well worth it.

Hope to see you there!