Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP has published a new SharePoint book called “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques“. He have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. His technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites. He is also the founder of SharePoint Pakistan User Group, which is the first and only SharePoint related user community in Pakistan. Click here to view MicrosoftFeed interview with Saifullah.

SharePoint is a powerful collaboration platform. It gives users power to implement content management and search solutions. It helps in information sharing. SharePoint can be used to create sites quickly, sites that can provide complex business intelligence and records management solutions. This book is a recipe book that gives you ready-to-use recipes to implement complex solutions in your organization. It contains full length articles as well as small tips that will come in handy at some point during your development cycle. SharePoint learning curve is steep; books like these enable you to learn SharePoint quickly. Book contains tons of information on InfoPath. Remember, using InfoPath with SharePoint gives you a powerful platform to create business applications. You can create electronic forms easily with InfoPath and publish them in SharePoint where users from across the organization can easily access them. Browser-enabled forms is another excellent feature that InfoPath 2007 provides. Not only InfoPath but SharePoint integrates well with the Office 2007 suite. The book shows you how you can use products like Groove and OneNote with SharePoint. It also gives you examples on how to use it with Access.

You will find lots of walkthrough exercises in this book that will help you get up to speed with topics like web services, web service deployment and consuming web services. More information about this book is available at http://sharepoint2007tips.com. Users can download free sample chapters from the book site. Book is available in both paperback and ebook editions.

Related posts:

1. Meet Saifullah Shafiq – SharePoint Server MVP from Pakistan Tell us who you are? My name is Saifullah Shafiq. I am a SharePoint Server MVP. I am a SharePoint consultant and author. I have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. My technical articles have been published on...
2. SharePoint Pakistan User Group – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch SharePoint Pakistan User Group is arranging a “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” that will be held on 5th of December, 2009 at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. Technical Communities play very important role in helping developers stay in touch with...
3. Meet Evren Ayan – Sharepoint Services MVP from Turkey Tell us who you are? My name is Evren Ayan, I am an active blogger and Regional Evangelist of ISPA (International Sharepoint Professionals Association) since 2008. I’m currently working as Solution Architect for Ceviz Information Technologies. My areas of...
4. HP helps organizations reduce business risk with transparent records management using SharePoint HP introduced a records management solution that enables customers to significantly reduce the business risks associated with the growing regulatory compliance and legal discovery demands. HP TRIM 7 – an advanced records management solution built on 24 years of experience...
5. Pakistan – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch in Pictures SharePoint Pakistan User Group recently arranged “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. During the event the speakers covered latest technologies like Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Team System and...

SharePoint Pakistan User Group recently arranged “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. During the event the speakers covered latest technologies like Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Team System and provided real world guidance on Developing Application on top of SharePoint 2007, ASP.NET, Exploring Implementation and Integration scenarios and getting ready for SharePoint 2010.

Thanks SPUG for the pictures.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our feeds, twitter or facebook page to get notified about any Microsoft related events and activities in Pakistan in future.

Related posts:

1. SharePoint Pakistan User Group – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch SharePoint Pakistan User Group is arranging a “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” that will be held on 5th of December, 2009 at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. Technical Communities play very important role in helping developers stay in touch with...
2. “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques” by Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP has published a new SharePoint book called “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques“. He have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. His technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites....
3. Meet Saifullah Shafiq – SharePoint Server MVP from Pakistan Tell us who you are? My name is Saifullah Shafiq. I am a SharePoint Server MVP. I am a SharePoint consultant and author. I have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. My technical articles have been published on...
4. Pakistan – Microsoft “Bloggers Day” in Pictures Microsoft Pakistan recently organized a bloggers meetup named as “Bloggers Day” to showcase Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8 at Microsoft Innovation Center, Karachi. This event was especially organized for the bloggers community of Pakistan. Here are some pictures...
5. “Deep Dive – SharePoint 2010″ by Riyadh SharePoint User Group Riyadh SharePoint User Group will be organizing their next User Group event to be held on February 18, 2009 at the Microsoft Innovation Center, Alyamama University, Riyadh. The event will provide deep knowledge about SharePoint 2010, Administration, Development and...

As reported by MicrosoftFeed that Microsoft’s premier technical education and networking conference TechEd is coming to the Middle East. So, public website is now Live for registration. Connect one-on-one with Microsoft insiders and IT peers, get your toughest questions answered and hear expert advice – right from the source, right in your region.

Only Tech·Ed combines knowledge, expertise, inspiration, connections and friendship all at the one event. Tech·Ed Middle East delivers the experience on which great careers are built. No other event provides such in-depth knowledge in such a short time. Get hands-on training via Instructor Led Labs. Connect with International and Local Technical Experts, Microsoft Staff, Partners, MVPs, community influencers and industry peers and see Microsoft product demos and participate in interactive sessions.

When : Monday, 1 March – Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Where : Dubai World Trade Centre

Visit http://www.teched.ae/ and discover all that Tech·Ed Middle East will offer IT Professionals and Developers in the region. Learn of the 130+ exciting technical sessions that will be delivered through this event. Build your own agenda on the topics that interest you most. Discover more about the impressive speaker line-up comprising of international and local technology experts. Get informed on the instructor led and hands-on labs. Connect online with Microsoft insiders and your industry peers through blogs, chats and much more.

Special Discounts

Register between Tuesday, December 01, 2009 to Sunday, December 27, 2009 to avail Super Early Bird Offer which entitles you to a $230 discount off the regular price. Don’t wait; this offer is available for a limited period only. Visit http://www.teched.ae/ to avail of this offer and obtain more updates about the event.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our feeds to get notified about all the news and events related to Tech-Ed Middle East in future.

Related posts:

1. “Tech.Ed Middle East 2010″ website goes live Tech.Ed Middle East 2010, Microsoft’s premier technical education and networking conference is coming to the Middle East. Connect one-on-one with Microsoft insiders and IT peers, get your toughest questions answered and hear expert advice – right from the source,...
2. [Competition] Want to attend Tech.Ed Middle East for FREE? Let us know why? So, you want to attend the first ever Tech.Ed in Middle East? MicrosoftFeed team in association with Microsoft is giving away One Free Entry Pass to attend this 3 day conference. This is one of the biggest competition that...
3. TechEd coming to the Middle East Microsoft’s premier technical education and networking conference is coming to the Middle East. Connect one-on-one with Microsoft insiders and IT peers, get your toughest questions answered and hear expert advice – right from the source, right in your region....
4. Tech.Ed Middle East 2010 – Be a part of the Experience We are almost a month away from the first ever TechEd in Middle East. This will be no doubt the biggest IT event of the region. It is Microsoft’s premier technical education event that takes place across select locations...
5. Tech.Ed Middle East 2010 in Pictures – Part 01 Tech.Ed Middle East is Microsoft’s premier, global platform that provided hands-on learning, deep product exploration and opportunities for IT professionals to connect with the industry and Microsoft experts. It is Microsoft’s technical education event that takes place across selected...

Creating User Group or technical groups is not easy step. It requires lot of time and resources to find people who are interested in working with you as volunteers and successfully creating a trust in your group members minds. But once everything is up and running the result is great. So while answering the question I was able to note down the things and resources to get help from. It is given below.

• Name the User Group and define your scope, objectives and target audience.

• Get Volunteer/Community Geeks on board – You need to define a Board build a relationship between the volunteers who are interested to be part of such a group and designate positions and responsibilities.

• Distribute Roles according to Skills and availability

• Create Check Lists of Tasks

• Design Group Logo and Moto

• Try to find a Local Microsoft Community Lead or MVP to guide you and present you some contacts.

• Do board meeting in the early weeks to discuss user group topics and vision for 6 months at least.

• Create a Facebook/Online Group Site and publish your Group with basic introduction to get peoples interest and on-board.

• Start online discussions and sharing information e.g. videos, blogs, links etc. using YouTube or your personal blog sites.

• Register your user group to INETA, GITCA, UGSS, SQL Pass, ISPA or any other type of organization related to your UG.

• UGSS provides around a good amount as financial support and link to lot of community events including community members site which helps to user groups to do offline events. This will also provide you’re a free SharePoint Based Web Site as your website placeholder on the internet to upload and manage group information other than Facebook. Create a Signup page on this site to get people register for the event.

• Try to arrange some sponsors for your community e.g. Top IT Companiess or contact Local Microsoft Office to arrange giveaways and MS Marketing/Reading Material.

• Prepare for Offline event or user group meeting. Define period of meetings like monthly or bi-monthly.

• Create account at www.eventbrite.com to manage your Event invitations and events (e.g. http://rcsoctober.eventbrite.com).

• Take pictures during the board meetings and events and publish the agenda and outcome of the meeting on the group website.

• Create a YouTube Channel to upload video, trainings and interviews. SharePoint Hosting is very expensive to upload this stuff. Use Facebook Group pictures to upload pictures.

• Try to contact Local MS Developer Evangelist to get Official MS Support for taking your UG to next level.

• Link your groups with publishing groups like SAMS, O’Reilly etc to get free books for your community and discounts for your members.

• Once your user group has done something send some information to MicrosoftFeed. The reach of this group is deep inside Microsoft.

This all looks like a long list of things but as I told you earlier UG creation is a long process. What I have described above is what I have leant myself but If you think that we should add more thing please do let me know or post as comment. I am sure this will add more value. One last thing this procedure applies anywhere in the world

This post is written by Jerry Yasir. Jerry is Founder and President of Riyadh SharePoint User Group (RSUG.NET), Co-Owner of SharePoint Pakistan User Group and SharePoint Consultant at EJADA, Saudi Arabia. He hold a master degree in Computer Sciences and has nearly 8 Years of experience working in Microsoft Technologies including SharePoint, Microsoft .NET and Project Server. He is currently responsible of executing and managing many large scale SharePoint implementations in Saudi Arabia. He is a keen speaker and SharePoint trainer with interest on speaking on planning, implementation, customization and developing applications on top of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Enterprise Project Management solutions. He also holds MCPD, MCTS SharePoint 2007, MCITP (EPM) and MCSD.NET.

Related posts:

1. SharePoint Pakistan User Group – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch SharePoint Pakistan User Group is arranging a “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” that will be held on 5th of December, 2009 at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. Technical Communities play very important role in helping developers stay in touch with...
2. “Deep Dive – SharePoint 2010″ by Riyadh SharePoint User Group Riyadh SharePoint User Group will be organizing their next User Group event to be held on February 18, 2009 at the Microsoft Innovation Center, Alyamama University, Riyadh. The event will provide deep knowledge about SharePoint 2010, Administration, Development and...
3. Pakistan – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch in Pictures SharePoint Pakistan User Group recently arranged “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. During the event the speakers covered latest technologies like Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Team System and...
4. Introduction to “SharePoint 2010″ by Egypt SharePoint User Group Microsoft Egypt recently hosted the first event introducing SharePoint Server 2010 by Egypt SharePoint User Group and SharePoint4Arabs.com. ESPUG is the first user group in Egypt dedicated to SharePoint technology founded by Marwan Tarek. SharePoint4Arabs is the only online...
5. Saudi Arabia – Riyadh Community Summit in Pictures Riyadh SharePoint User Group, DevLifeStyle and CodeBetter communities recently collaborated to conduct the first ever Riyadh Community Summit on October 22, 2009 at the Microsoft Innovation Center, Alyamama University, Riyadh. During the event the speakers disclosed the latest technologies like...

SharePoint Pakistan User Group is arranging a “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” that will be held on 5th of December, 2009 at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. Technical Communities play very important role in helping developers stay in touch with other developers, learn latest technologies and getting solutions to the problems they are facing in the their working environments This event will help reigniting the communities in Lahore as well as help restructuring SharePoint Pakistan User Group and related Microsoft User Groups.

The event will exclusively disclose the latest technologies like Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Team System and while providing real world guidance on Developing Application on top of SharePoint 2007, ASP.NET, Exploring Implementation and Integration scenarios and getting ready for SharePoint 2010.

Why you should attend?

• First Ever Look at SharePoint 2010 & Windows 7 and Its Launch
• Learn how to write application using Visual Studio 2010 and SharePoint 2010 and exploring the new features of SharePoint.
• Learn about Microsoft ASP.NET MVC
• Learn about ASP.NET 4.0

Who are the Speakers?

• Saif Ullah Shafiq (MVP – Founder and Owner – SharePoint Pakistan User Group) - Saifullah Shafiq is SharePoint Server MVP, SharePoint consultant and author. He has been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. His technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites. He have also written for magazines, both paper-based and online. He is the founder of SharePoint Pakistan User Group which is the first and only SharePoint related user community in Pakistan. this group was started back in 2006. Currently it has over 450 members.

• Jerry Yasir (Co-Owner SharePoint Pakistan UG, SharePoint Consultant, EJADA, KSA) - Jerry is Founder and President of Riyadh SharePoint User Group (RSUG.NET), Co-Owner of SharePoint Pakistan User Group and SharePoint Consultant at EJADA, Saudi Arabia. He hold a master degree in Computer Sciences and has nearly 8 Years of experience working in Microsoft Technologies including SharePoint, Microsoft .NET and Project Server. He is currently responsible of executing and managing many large scale SharePoint implementations in Saudi Arabia. He is a keen speaker and SharePoint trainer with interest on speaking on planning, implementation, customization and developing applications on top of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Enterprise Project Management solutions. He also holds MCPD, MCTS SharePoint 2007, MCITP (EPM) and MCSD.NET.

• Ahmed Muneeb (SharePointPUG Lead & Technical Lead – Hira Software Solutions) - Ahmed is Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist with 4 years of experience and currently working as a SharePoint Consultant with primary area of interest in team collaboration, Project Management, and automation of business processes. He is a am a strong believer of bringing cohesiveness and more productivity in team and have proved it on number of occasions with help of Microsoft’s latest collaboration tools including Project Server and SharePoint Server.

• Matloob Ahmed (SharePointPUG Lead & Technical Lead – Sunstar Technology Group, LLC) - Matloob Ali is .NET Developer and holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science from RIPHA International university and has 3+ years of experience in different working on different Microsoft Technologies including Microsoft Content Management Server, Microsoft.Net, Windows communication framework, MVC and SharePoint. He also is MCP for .NET Framework 2.0 – Web Applications. He loves research and development and leading teams on developing enterprise applications.

Related posts:

1. Pakistan – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch in Pictures SharePoint Pakistan User Group recently arranged “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. During the event the speakers covered latest technologies like Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, ASP.NET 4, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Team System and...
2. “Deep Dive – SharePoint 2010″ by Riyadh SharePoint User Group Riyadh SharePoint User Group will be organizing their next User Group event to be held on February 18, 2009 at the Microsoft Innovation Center, Alyamama University, Riyadh. The event will provide deep knowledge about SharePoint 2010, Administration, Development and...
3. Starting a New Microsoft User Group or Community – Guidelines and Links Creating User Group or technical groups is not easy step. It requires lot of time and resources to find people who are interested in working with you as volunteers and successfully creating a trust in your group members minds....
4. “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques” by Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP has published a new SharePoint book called “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques“. He have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. His technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites....
5. Introduction to “SharePoint 2010″ by Egypt SharePoint User Group Microsoft Egypt recently hosted the first event introducing SharePoint Server 2010 by Egypt SharePoint User Group and SharePoint4Arabs.com. ESPUG is the first user group in Egypt dedicated to SharePoint technology founded by Marwan Tarek. SharePoint4Arabs is the only online...

Tell us who you are?

My name is Saifullah Shafiq. I am a SharePoint Server MVP. I am a SharePoint consultant and author. I have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. My technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites. I have also written for magazines, both paper-based and online. I am founder of SharePoint Pakistan User Group, which is the first and only SharePoint related user community in Pakistan. We started this group in 2006. Currently it has over 450 members.

Tell us about your MVP history, when were you first awarded?
I got my first MVP award in 2007. I got renewed in 2008 and 2009. It felt really good to be honored with an award. I have been doing volunteer work since 1999 but this was the first time I was recognized by the Microsoft for my community work. There were only a handful of MVPs in Pakistan in 2006. The most prominent were Saqib Ilyas, Adnan Hashmi and Hammad Rajoub.

What do you do in order to keep up with latest tools and technologies?
I read books and blogs to keep myself up to date. Technical blogs are an excellent way of keeping oneself up to date. I also attend conferences and technical events.

What does being an MVP mean to you?
It’s an honor. It keeps me motivated. Honestly speaking, it’s not easy to be an MVP. It requires lot of hard work and commitment on your part. You don’t do it for money. You do it as a passion, to help the community. Many people ask me these questions. How do you become an MVP? Is it easy? Is it difficult? I tell them it’s all hard work and your love for the community. You share your knowledge with the community. You help them by answering their technical questions. You have to spend time.

What do you do when you are not building software’s?
I am an active blogger. I write technical blogs. I write articles. I try to learn new tools and techniques. I love going to technical events. Personally, I like dining out. I like music. I was very fond of watching Pakistani TV dramas, now I don’t get enough time. I love Pakistani pop music. When I am not writing software, I am listening to music. Honestly speaking, I sometimes also listen to music while writing code.

If you could ask Steve Ballmer one question about Microsoft, what would it be?
What’s Microsoft’s planning for the future? What will Microsoft do to keep itself competitive in the market?

Had a chance to attend “MVP Global Summit”? When and how was your experience?
Yes, I attended MVP Global Summit in 2008. It was a wonderful experience. I met MVPs from all over the world. It was an excellent socializing event. Visiting Microsoft campus during the summit and meeting different IT teams was also an interesting experience.

What makes you a great MVP?
Well, I don’t know if I am a “great” MVP or not but I know one thing for sure that I work very hard. I write technical blogs and articles for the users. I answer their questions in newsgroups, forums, and in my own user group.

What you think about the MVP’s role in promoting technology in Middle East?
Well, I know lots of MVPs from the Middle East. They are very hard working and they are brilliant. Unfortunately, MVPs from the Middle East did not have the same opportunities to promote technology as MVPs in North America and Europe had. The number of conferences held in Middle East is far less than that of Europe or America. Still Middle East MVPs have been active on different fronts and they have been promoting technology by arranging and attending user group meetings, local events and through their blogs.

What is in your computer bag?
Business cards, pens, emergency medicine (pain killers, etc), print-outs of two chapters of my upcoming SharePoint book.

Who are your top 5 favorite Middle East MVPs?
This is tough. As I have mentioned earlier, all MVPs are brilliant. To name a few is really difficult. Ok, I will name five MVPs from my own field, that is, SharePoint. Shady Khorshed, Muhanad Omar, Mohammad Zaki, Marwan Tarek, Rehman Gul.

If you get a chance to suggest one conference in Middle East? What would it be and why?
Best Practices conference! This is the conference where experts share their real world experiences. You don’t learn mere theory in this conference. You get to know real world experiences that can save you lot of time when deploying products in your organizations.

What is the best thing that has happened since you have become an MVP?
Best thing is I have got more recognition. I get job offers from different companies. I get book writing offers.

Who are your top 5 technical experts in your professional circle (from your country)?
Ayaz Ahmad, Rehman Gul, Arsalan Ayub, Umar Khan, Adil Ahmed Mughal

What was the last book you read?
Professional Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Reporting

If there was one place you could travel to, right now, where would it be and why?
Turkey. I have a desire to visit Turkey at least once. I have been reading about Turkey since childhood. I had friends from Turkey when I was in college.

How can one be a part of MVP Club? Any suggestions for them?
Anyone can be a part of MVP club. Work hard, devote time for volunteer activities, share your knowledge, visit forums, help other users.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of MicrosoftFeed?
Share your achievements and success stories on Microsoftfeed. Let’s join hands and work together to expand the local communities.

Your contact information?

MVP Profile Link – https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Saifullah

Blog / Website – http://vspug.com/ssa , http://sharepoint.walisystems.com

Email – share.point [at] yahoo [dot] com

Twitter – @sshafiq

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/saifullah.shafiq

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/sshafiq

Related posts:

1. “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques” by Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP Saifullah Shafiq, SharePoint MVP has published a new SharePoint book called “SharePoint 2007 Tips, tricks and techniques“. He have been writing technical programming articles/tutorials since 1999. His technical articles have been published on 62 different programming related web sites....
2. Meet Abdul Rafay – BizTalk Server MVP from Pakistan Tell us who you are? I am a BizTalk Server MVP recently awarded by Microsoft. I am an active blogger and a participant on the MSDN BizTalk Server Forums. I am currently working as a SharePoint consultant in a...
3. SharePoint Pakistan User Group – SharePoint 2010 Community Launch SharePoint Pakistan User Group is arranging a “SharePoint 2010 Community Launch” that will be held on 5th of December, 2009 at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. Technical Communities play very important role in helping developers stay in touch with...
4. Meet Evren Ayan – Sharepoint Services MVP from Turkey Tell us who you are? My name is Evren Ayan, I am an active blogger and Regional Evangelist of ISPA (International Sharepoint Professionals Association) since 2008. I’m currently working as Solution Architect for Ceviz Information Technologies. My areas of...
5. Meet Adil Mughal – Visual C# MVP from Pakistan Tell us who you are? I’m Adil Mughal. I’m Microsoft MVP for Visual C#. I’m leading two most influential User Groups in Pakistan “DevNext” and “Emerging .NET Devs”. I’m Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist and participate actively in community through organizing...