All I have to say is WOW! Dave Totzke has lined up a some very impressive speakers for the upcoming meetings of the Kitchener based Canada's Technology Triangle .NET User Group (CTTDNUG).
On March 31, Rick Byers of the Microsoft Common Language Runtime (CLR) team will come up to talk about C-Omega. C-Omega is an experimental language from Microsoft Research which extends C# with new constructs for relational and semi-structured data access. Rick is a former member of CTTDNUG who joined the Collective a short time ago, please don't gawk at his cybernetic implants as he's still a little sensitive about them.
On April 28, Ted Neward will be in town to deliver the Java/.NET Interop material he helped create for the MSDN Canada User Group Tour. Ted is a prominent author and speaker and is known for his outspoken and sometimes controversial nature. Ted is one of the rare individuals who is an expert in both the Java and .NET spaces so you'll be sure to get the straight goods from both sides.
Finally, (as if the other meetings aren't enough) another rock star speaker, Michele Leroux Bustamante, will be stopping in on July 11 on her way to TechEd Europe. The topic for the presentation hasn't been chosen yet but rest assured it will be a meeting you won't want to miss. Michele is another Canadian who flew the coup for the west coast, she is a Microsoft Regional Director, a Microsoft MVP and is a principal Software Architect at IDesign Inc. When you see Michele at the meeting make sure to ask her to tell you the joke about the man who had a bad reaction when he drank Tequila.
The travel costs for both Ted and Michele are being covered by the International .NET Association (INETA). They are members of the INETA Speakers Bureau, a organization that ensures that top-notch speakers are available to all INETA member groups regardless of size or location.