One of the things I came away with from the Alt.Net conference was
that many of the participates found themselves being the sole voice in
their organizations who wants to improve the software they build using
tools outside of those traditionally offered by Microsoft. Another
thing I took away was that everyone is empowered to do just that
through the Alt.Net community. So as I head back to work on Monday I
will no longer be surround by like minded individuals and will again
be the sole voice in my organization. I'm okay with that but I do find
myself wishing I had someone to discuss my ideas with and get feedback
that will help me to create a better software.

I know that the community already has resources that provide help and
guidance. I know that the community itself is always there to share
their knowledge through their blogs and the community's mailing list.
In the closing comments I heard someone mention how much they learned
sitting in the various discussions compared to what they glean from
the internet. That echoed my experience too. It has been said that a
picture is worth a thousand words. This weekend I found that a
face-to-face conversion or group discussion is worth more than getting
information from the internet.

I have been programming for many years now and I know that I have much
to share with others. I am not a programming 'super-star'. I am open
to new ideas and know that continuing to grow my skill set is an
ongoing endeavor. The point of this is that I live in the
Seattle-Redmond area. I know there are a lot of others in this area
that find themselves in a similar situation because I talked to some
of them. I would like to propose setting up an informal discussion
group where we can hold more face-to-face conversions about our ideas
to improve the software we build. There are lots of tools available on
the internet that we could have 'face-to-face' conversions. We could
have informal meetings too. The company I work for does a lot of these
virtual face-to-face using Skype, GotoMeeting, ooVoo and others. If
others are interested in setting up a virtual group of Alt.Net'ers
where we can mentor and learn from each other and if you are in the
Seattle-Redmond area and are interested in having an informal
'support' group then email me at alanb at starband dot net.