We're only one week away from SharePoint Connections Fall 2007 @ the Mandalay Bay resort & casino in Las Vegas (November 5-9). I'll be there... will you?

I've got three sessions I'll be presenting in Vegas:

• HDV302: Building an Internet site with Web Content Management in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
  Web Content Management (WCM) is a new addition in the release of MOSS 2007. In this session we will build take a look at building custom field types and field controls, ASP.NET 2.0 Web Parts and incorporating custom navigation controls. At the end of this session, you will walk away with a good understanding of what WCM is all about as well as what’s involved in building and managing websites in MOSS 2007.
• HDV303: Prescriptive Guidance for Developers Building Publishing Sites with WCM in MOSS 2007
  Most of the information available covers how to create, brand and customize Publishing sites. Unfortunately developers are left to figure out how to best implement these changes in their environments on their own, such as implementing source control, change management, and migrating code from development to testing to staging and finally into production. In this session we'll look at how you can best structure your development environment and practice to fully utilize your organization's source control management solution and move code and site structure changes (site columns, content types, page layouts, mater pages, images, CSS, etc) from environment to environment all the while staying in full compliance with Microsoft's official guidelines.
• HDV301: Building & Incorporating Custom Applications in SharePoint v3 Sites
  Were you aware you can build custom applications and deployment them within a SharePoint v3 site? Not only is this possible and fully supported, but it's also very easy! In this session I'll show you how to build an ASP.NET 2.0 application and incorporate it into your SharePoint v3 site, including leveraging the Web Part framework & have your application pages leverage the same master page and permission settings within your SharePoint site.

In addition I'm hosting a little SharePoint happy hour on Tuesday early evening: SharePoint by Day, SharePint by Night (see that post for location, time & more details). We've already got a decent RSVP list going and if you're interested in stopping by, please make sure you drop a comment on that blog post linked above. I called Mandalay and asked for their best recommendation for a bar for the meet-up and the Coral Reef Bar was what they said for 15-50 folks. Oh... "hosting" doesn't mean I'm picking up the tab. I mean jeez... Bob is going to be there, I've got to have some money for the tables!

When the expo hall is open you'll likely find me at the Ted Pattison Group's booth (#733) talking to customers about our various SharePoint v3/2007 training options. Stop by and say "hi"!

Aside from the usual conference stuff I'm looking forward to (seeing old friends, geeking out by day, partying at night), I'm REALLY looking forward to hitting the blackjack tables at night. I love the game and last time I was in Vegas (Connections last year as a matter of fact) I found a whole pit of single-deck blackjack tables in New York New York. If you play blackjack, you know that's where you can make a ton of cash if you know how to... um... well count. ;) Meredith (my wife) and had a ton of fun in that pit that week not to mention fattening our wallets quite a bit. Let's just say, if that pit is still there, you'll know where to find me at night! :)