personal

The Kalamazoo X Conference 2011

12 Apr
by mjeaton, posted in business, personal, programming   |  Comments Off

On Saturday, April 30th, we’ll be holding the 3rd Kalamazoo X Conference in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. The event continues to focus on “soft skills” – all the things I like to say developers are typically bad at doing. :-)

It’s amazing how much time developers will spend learning the latest “shiny” tool or technology, but when it comes to improving their soft skills, they spend almost no time trying to improve. It’s something we’re trying to fix with the X Conference.

This year we have another great line-up of speakers including Joe O’Brien, Leon Gersing, Jim Holmes, Tim Ford, Jeff Blankenburg, Jeff McWherter and Laura Bergells. I have a couple other speakers in the pipeline, but I don’t want to announce until I have a firm commitment.

The talks this year range from “Rocking Your Body Language” to “Design Skills Every Developer Should Know” to a talk about what DBAs believe developers should know and do. I’m looking forward to each and every talk because I know the speakers are all extremely passionate about their topics.

We are continuing with our single-track format with talks ranging anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. We’re also going to have what I think will be an *awesome* panel discussion on interviewing!

Here are some pictures from last year’s event and an interview I did with my friend Dave Giard for his Technology and Friends show.

You can register for the event here!

Updated at 9:23pm on 4/12 – fixed date.

I’ll be speaking at Codestock 2011!

12 Apr
by mjeaton, posted in personal, programming   |  Comments Off

When the Codestock voting ended, two of my talks ended up in the top 4! I’ll be delivering “Simplify your WPF / Silverlight Applications with Caliburn.Micro and Re-thinking the (Desktop) User Interface.

Codestock has always been one of my favorite events. If you haven’t signed up, do it now!

Going Independent with Deep Fried Bytes

06 Apr
by mjeaton, posted in business, personal, programming   |  2 Comments

Shortly before the MVP Summit, I received emails from Keith and Chris asking if I’d like to be on DFB to talk about WPF or going independent. While I really dig WPF, I told them I’d prefer to talk about being an independent developer for the past 10 years or so. A couple weeks ago, we recorded this episode. After Keith edited out an epic amount of “umms” (from both of us) and some of my so-called “tangents”, here is the result: Episode 67 – Tips on how to be an Independent Software Consultant with Michael Eaton

Enjoy!

Codestock 2011

20 Feb
by mjeaton, posted in personal, programming   |  Comments Off

Smartphones, tablet computers, and televisions running applications; the future is in motion. The technology landscape is changing and it can be hectic for developer and IT professionals to keep up. At the same time, opportunities for technology entrepreneurs are huge and it has never been easier for small independent startups to reach the consumer market. Join us in the future at CodeStock 2011!

  • Keynote by Author Charles Petzold
  • Sessions for Developers, IT Professionals, and Entrepreneurs
  • 100+ break out sessions + Open Spaces (self-organizing sessions)
  • Panel discussions and live podcasts
  • CodeStock Social Event to meet and make connections

Space is limited so register today at CodeStock.org

Also, please vote for my sessions! :-)

Reading List

16 Aug
by mjeaton, posted in personal   |  Comments Off

Sarah recently tagged me about what I’ve recently read and what I’m currently reading. I’ve been busy with work and conferences, but I finally had a chance to sit down and think about it.

full disclosure: I am using Amazon affiliate links, so if you click and buy, I earn a little cash. :-)

I’ve actually got a stack of books on my nightstand and try to read every night, but sometimes it’s tough. I’ve really gotten away from reading hardcore technical books, mainly because I find them *really* boring. :-) I do have a couple on my desk that I refer to, but I’m not actively reading them cover-to-cover.

For years, I read nothing but non-fiction, but a couple years ago, I decided to read all those books I *should* have read in high school and didn’t. ;-) It’s actually been really cool and I’m continuing to add to my collection.

Currently Reading: I’m making my way through The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Rand is definitely one of my favorite authors, and it’s a great book, but since it’s so freakin’ huge, I decided to break it up by reading some other books at the same time. My current “in-between” book is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. This has been a tough read so far, but I’m making my way through it. I’ll probably watch the film when I’m done. :-) I recently tried to get through a couple Seth Godin books, but honestly, I get tired of all the “YOU CAN DO IT!” crap.

To Read (currently on my nightstand): The Grapes of Wrath and Dante’s The Inferno.

Recently Read (over the last couple of years): I finished Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut a couple weeks ago. This was such a bizarre book, I couldn’t put it down. I think my next Vonnegut book will be Cat’s Cradle based on suggestions from friends. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – one of my top 5 favorite books. 1984 by George Orwell. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Anthem by Ayn Rand. Metallica: This Monster Lives: The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster by Joe Berlinger. The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Niki Sixx. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin.

I’m not gonna tag anyone, but if you want to share your reading interests, please do so and link back to Sarah’s original post. :-)

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