Join us for another UK SQL Server User Group meeting.

5.30pm – 6:00 Registration and networking + Tea/Coffee with biscuits.

Meet and greet.

6:00pm – 6:30pm Round Table discussion and Nuggets - ALL

Take stock and get the latest news in the SQL Server field. This is also a great opportunity to ask any burning questions you have, may be a problem at work.

It's also a great opportunity to share your knowledge and gain exposure in the industry by giving a short 1 - 6 minute "nugget" demo/tip.

6.30pm – 7:30 Mike Taulty, Microsoft

Understanding ADO.NET Data Services

In this session we'll explore ADO.NET Data Services ( formerly "Astoria" ) that shipped in .NET Framework V3.5 Service Pack 1.

We'll take a look at what the framework does for us in exposing data as XML or JSON payloads over HTTP and offering CRUD access based on HTTP verbs of GET,POST,PUT,DELETE. We'll look at how we can serialize any custom data that we like and also how this framework ties in with the recently released Entity Framework (LINQ to Entities) and LINQ to SQL frameworks.

We'll explore the options for plugging in our own custom code into the services that ADO.NET Data Services generates for us.

If time permits, we'll take a look at how we can use client libraries to build both .NET clients and AJAX clients for the services that "Astoria" lets us build and we might even find some time for some serious arm-waving about the commonality between these services and other offerings that we see in areas like the Windows Azure Services platform.

7:30pm – 7:50 BREAK: Light refreshments

More time to network and ask questions...

7:50pm – 9.00pm; James O'Neill and Viral Tarpara, Microsoft

Windows 7 indepth

Join James and Viral who are IT Professional Evangelists for Microsoft as they take us through in-depth the features in the soon to be released Windows 7.