This past weekend I attended the Alberta TechFest (an event put on by Calgary .Net User Group). TechFest resembled a code camp, but provides more seminars / sessions geared at a higher level. The sessions were geared towards: project management, the big picture of the Agile process, open source alternatives, as well as some in depth (show me the code type) presentations on Mock objects (using Rhino Mocks), Microsoft’s new Acropolis framework, Test Driven Development (TDD), and Refactoring.

My highlights:

• The session on Agile Project Planning With User Stories, and Refactoring Automated Unit Tests Using Test Smells and Patterns presented by Gerard Meszaros. I’ve been on a couple projects that could be characterized as “Bad Agile”, so Gerard’s presentation hit many chords, one of the comments he made really stuck out. He said something like: “it’s not about the Agile process, it’s about the results, it’s about delivering…don't be dogmatic”. Sure it’s obvious, but it’s nice to hear it from someone else.  I’m currently in the process of purchasing Gerard’s book: xUnit Test Patterns: Refactoring Test Code.
• Mock objects  with Rhino Mocks was another great session, the presenter Shane Courtrille is a Rhino Mock ninja. I’ve been using Rhino Mocks for a couple months now, but there’s always so much to learn from someone with more experience.

I’m trying to make it a point to attend more of these events in an effort to expand my community.