After another smooth day of studying databases, I went out with a couple of the other Tech Elevator Students to a Tech Meetup.
There is an amazing network of programming groups throughout Pittsburgh. The more I look into it, the more I am amazed at how strong and minutely detailed these groups are. This meet up was hosted by Steven Hook, the organizer in charge of the Pittsburgh .Net User Group.
Since the database homework has been so freaking easy, we were able to cut out at 4:00. I went with Craig, my table-mate whom I’ve written about before and Jason, a tall, former-chef versed in many things food and video game-related. We grabbed a drink at Ten Penny downtown and then headed over to the Microsoft offices in the Strip District.
As you might guess, the Microsoft offices are amazing. Everything is clean and futuristic yet somehow homey–imagine the Enterprise, but as a cruise ship. The meet up was in a conference room to the left, screens everywhere, multiple plugs at every table, a view of the Monongahela and the Fort Pitt Tunnel from 14 floors up.
And there was pizza!
A company called Jarus bought the pizza and sponsored the event. The co-Founder, Bala Kumar, spoke to the group and I was able to talk to him personally after about his business, which builds software frameworks for the insurance industry.
The main speaker was a young man named John VanSickle. He spoke about SignalR, a library for Asp.Net concerned with hubs and messaging. Some of the talk was over my head, but I was able to follow the code for the most part and definitely found it interesting.
I plan to go to more of these meetups in the future. I think I enjoyed it because it was specific to .Net and I will continue to target C#, .Net, or particular companies that I’m interested in, rather than just hitting the meet ups when I have time. With a little research, these events are definitely worth your while.
From Retail to Programming 