A TechSession Kickoff: Summit Recap, State of the Org, and More

1. A TechSession Kickoff:Summit Recap, State of the Org, and More Don JonesPresident and CEO, PowerShell.org, Inc.

2. What We Do • TechSessions • TechLetter • Summit (+recordings!) • Q&A Forums • Podcast • VERIFIED EFFECTIVE exams • Free eBooks • Local user group support

3. TechSessions • Scheduled monthly • Will appear in Events calendar on PowerShell.org • Advanced reg will be required; up to 250 may register and up to 100 may attend live • Recordings will be posted to new PowerShell.org YouTube channel http://youtube.com/user/powershellorg

4. Upcoming TechSessions • June: Get to Know DSCDon Jones • July: Best Practices for Script DesignDon Jones • August: Writing and Testing DSC ResourcesSteve Murawski • September: Trend Reports in SQL and SSRSDon Jones • Actively seeking presenters and topics. You don’t need to be an expert, just willing to share something you’ve done or discovered. Email techsessions@powershell.org.

5. Summit N.A. 2014 • HUGE success! ~150 attendees, incredibly positive feedback • Great Tuesday evening of Lightning Demos and almost the entire PowerShell team mingling with the crowd • @Jsnover did first demo of JEA and DSC-on-Linux • If you missed this, you are sad.

6. Summit Europe 2014 • Membership will open in July 2014 • 3-day event in September in Amsterdam; one track; up to 60 attendees max • Mix of US and European speakers and PowerShell team members

7. Summit N.A. 2015 • Membership will open in Fall 2014 • April 20-22 2015 at Microsoft campus in Charlotte, NC • Max ~150 people – rapid sellout expected so start lining up your budget now. • Mix of speakers and PowerShell team members

8. Association for Windows PowerShell Professionals • Anyone who pays for the Summit will now be a member of AWPP • Associate - $300 – VERIFIED EFFECTIVE exam and script peer review system access • Full – $800 – exam, review system, and one annual Summit • Global - $1450 – 2 exams, review system, and two annual Summits • See May 2014 TechLetter for more details, and AWPP page on PowerShell.org • Full/Global memberships will be limited to the number of people we can accommodate at each Summit

9. Why AWPP? • Running live events often incurs tax situations, especially in Europe • Joining a professional association where the Summit is a free benefit helps avoid tax snarls… • …but as we started looking at it, we started thinking a professional association is actually the right thing to do • Education… Peer review… examination… a lot of what people have been asking for are commonly what a professional association delivers

10. VERIFIED EFFECTIVE • Goes online in July or August 2014 • You basically get a shell transcript of someone running a tool, and must duplicate that tool • You’re graded by humans for style, and your transcript is compared to the model transcript for functionality • Full guide will be online and reviewable before you take an exam. • Initially open to Summit N.A. 2014 alumni with voucher code, then AWPP members.

11. Exam Questions • Will there be a way to upload my answer and “test” it to see if it passes? • No – that kind of defeats the purpose of it being an exam. Your math teacher didn’t do this, and we won’t either. • You get no feedback – it is pass/fail. This is intended to verify whether or not you meet a standard, not help you achieve it. • This isn’t a training tool – it’s a verification of your skills. • What if I failed but I think I should have passed? • You and every student, anywhere, ever. • You can challenge your score but are required to pay a deposit to do so. That is refunded only if a panel of 3 experts agree to reverse your score.

12. Paid Books • Toying with the notion of a paid tier of ebooks • These would be longer and more in-depth, and remain updated continuously • You’d pay a yearly subscription to get access to the current edition (think $5-$20 depending on how many books are on offer) • Authors would get $1-$2 per subscriber per year • Would likely be included with AWPP membership of any level

13. State of the Org • IndieGoGo campaign raised $10k+ for Summit recording equipment; purchasing and integration now underway • Annual org budget ~$18k (will be posted on PowerShell.org soon); primarily funded through AWPP membership dues, reducing sponsor dependencies • Currently stable and self-funded; will continue to offer advertising to interested sponsors but should be less dependent • Shareholder meeting coming up June 9th – will elect Board of Directors

14. THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. • You’re going to have a tough time keeping up. We’d like to help, but you have to at least connect. • PowerShell.org’s front page, in the right column, has social links. Twitter is best and easiest, but use whatever you like. If you’re not “checking in” we’ve no other way to keep you informed. At the very least, the monthly TechLetter lets us send you an e-mail with the latest happenings in the community. • Also make sure you’re reading tier-1 resources like PowerShellMagazine.com on at least a monthly basis.

15. Q&A • We’ll be wrapping up in a minute with some final details and tidbits, but have set aside a few minutes to answer questions. • Ask ‘em. • We will likely use this venue for other “State of the Org” Q&A sessions from time to time, in additional to technical TechSession webinars.

16. Thank You • TechSession schedule will be going live today – we’ll publish 30-60 days out, and tweet via @PSHOrg • YouTube channel will be going live this week • Check the “Events” menu on PowerShell.org for TechSession information and schedule and YouTube URL • Please consider submitting a session to techsessions@powershell.org; that’s the only way these will continue.