nxtgen Oxford has a bunch of events to take you into summer;

What:Even More Mobile with Roger Whitehead
This talk will builds on the introductory talk Roger gave last year on Windows Mobile Development. This new talk will cover general issues when developing Windows Mobile applications as well as demonstrating specific features of .net Compact Framework 3.5 and Windows Mobile 6. Roger will use Visual Studio 2008 during his presentation and will also cover the important new features this offers for Windows Mobile developers. Roger will cover the basics of form design, navigation, data handling, unit testing and deploying Windows Mobile applications for this technology area which is continually growing in significance. This talk assumes a basic familiarity with Windows Mobile development using .Net although this is not essential
When:Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where:Research Machines
183 Milton Park
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SE
What:SQL Server 2008 Unplugged with Simon Sabin
There is so much stuff in SQL Server 2008 that we thought it best for you to decide what you want to hear about. Simon is putting himself at your mercy by letting you decide on the night what great SQL Server 2008 features he is going to demo. Some topics that might be of interest are, TSQL improvements, Table valued parameters, service broker priorities, SQL CLR enhancements, Spatial data, hierarchical data, filestream, integrated full text search, sparse columns.... There were also be launch swag; lots and lots of swag.
When:Tuesday, April 1, 2008 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where:Research Machines
183 Milton Park
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SE
What:ADO.NET Entity Framework with Mike Taulty
Mike continues his nxtgen Entity Framework tour. ADO.NET Version 3.0 raises the level of abstraction at which we deal with relational data in applications by adding a new managed provider which uses a conceptual model which it maps to the actual tables and views of your database schema. This has the advantage of providing the Entity Relationship model that application developers want to code against whilst isolating the application code from the specific language (e.g. T-SQL, PL/SQL) and engine (e.g. SQL Server, Oracle) of the store. In this session we’ll take a good look at the Entity Framework from its mapping layer through to its EntitySQL language and on to its Object Relational Mapping capabilities and LINQ.
When:Tuesday, May 6, 2008 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where:Research Machines
183 Milton Park
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SE
What:To MVC or not MVC with Alan Dean
Alan will be providing an introduction to the new ASP.NET MVC Framework Preview and, by way of association, usage of some new .NET 3.5 features such as LINQ. The talk will cover the MVC design pattern in outline, and demonstrate usage of the ASP.NET MVC Framework itself with a simple RESTful application.
When:Monday, June 9, 2008 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where:Research Machines
183 Milton Park
Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SE

It’s also conference time; DDD is on tour; over the water for DDD Ireland, on the 3rd of May in Galway and going north of the border for DDD Scotland on the 10th of May. Registration for DDD Ireland is now open and DDD Scotland is taking votes on sessions.

And finally nxtgen fest08 on the 12th June at Microsoft Reading; a free conference for nxtgen user group members and only £49 for non-members. This year we’re focusing on Data Today, Data Tomorrow and of course there will be another swag gameshow.

What:NxtGenUD Fest08
Join NxtGenUG on the 12th June 2008 for a unique one day event featuring top Speakers as we look at "Data Today - Data Tomorrow" ... This one day event will be held at Microsoft Reading and is FREE to all NxtGenUG members. Non-members are welcome and there is a special early-bird price to take advantage of. NxtGenUG is a non-profit organisation, all monies paid go towards event costs and to help pay for the regular meetings of NxtGenUG which are held in Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford, Cambridge and Southampton
When:Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Where:Microsoft UK
Thames Valley Park
Reading, West Berkshire RG6 1WG