Leeds Sharp

Last night was the first Leeds# Microsoft Developer's User Group. Matt Ross and I have been wondering for a while why there were no .NET user groups near us and we decided to stop wondering and talking about it and just start one.

The idea is that by joining forces with other local developers we can all become smarter and make some new friends. At our first meeting we had an interesting mix of people working on .NET projects involving a range of things from cows to parts for planes. We want to make sure that we respond to what the group wants and that's why we've set up a range of ways to keep in touch and share things with the group:

  • Suggest and vote on topic ideas using our Uservoice page. We'll use this to find what people want to learn about and we'll either get members from the group to talk about it, or we'll see if we can find an expert to come and see us.
  • Start a discussion on our Google User Group.
  • Tweet us at @LeedsSharp and let us know about news using #LSharpNews.

I think this an exciting time to be a programmer on any platform and I've noticed a resurgence of local user groups. If you're closer to Sheffield than you are to Leeds, we'd still love to see you, but you might want to check out the new Sheffield .NET user group.

The preview release of Windows 8 was released during our first meetup. Surely that's a good omen for exciting things ahead. So if Windows 8 and all things .NET floats your boat then make sure you come along to the next Leeds# User Group.