Are you interested in Cloud Computing generally, or specifically Cloud Computing using the Windows Azure Platform? Listed below are the upcoming Azure-related events in the Greater Boston area which you can attend in person and for FREE (or at least inexpensively).

Since this summary page is – by necessity - a point-in-time SNAPSHOT of what I see is going on, it will not necessarily be updated when event details change. So please always double-check with official event information!

Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Have any more information or corrections on the events listed? Please let us know in the comments.

They are listed in the order in which they will occur.

[10-June-2011 - added the New England ASP.NET Professionals User Group talk on June 15; I am the featured speaker. Moved Kyle Quest's cloud hackathon to new date: June 16.]

1. 24 Hours in the Cloud – Cloud Scalability Patterns for the Windows Azure Platform

Note: GITCA’s 24 Hours in the Cloud event begins on Wed June 1 and ends on Thu June 2. This post just highlights the talk I am giving. There are MANY OTHER talks you may wish to check out. Many of the talks are IT Pro-oriented.

• when: Thurs June 2, 5:00 – 6:00 AM (yes, in the MORNING, Boston time) [changed to earlier still! I was rescheduled to begin at 5:00 AM!]
• where: Online – see below for registration
• cost: Free
• what: Talk on scalability patterns that are important for cloud applications; my session consists of a 40 minute (pre-recorded) talk, followed by 20 minutes of live Q&A. Since the talks are pre-recorded, speakers will be able to respond to questions from Twitter during the talk (then again in the live Q&A at the end) via the #24HitC hashtag. My twitter handle is @codingoutloud.
• more info & Register: http://sp.gitca.org/sites/24hours
• twitter: #24HitC

2. CloudCamp Boston

• when: Thu 02-June-2011, 5:30 - ??? PM
• where: NERD Center in Cambridge
• wifi: yes
• food: (unknown)
• cost: FREE
• what: Vendor-independent bar camp-style conference on whatever in the cloud is interesting to the audience
• more info: http://www.cloudcamp.org/boston
• register: http://cloudcamp-boston-2011.eventbrite.com/
• twitter: (not sure)

3. Beantown .NET Meeting – Architecture Patterns for Scalability and Reliability

• when: Thu 02-June-2011, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• where: NERD Center in Cambridge
• wifi: yes
• food: (I think there will be pizza)
• cost: FREE
• what: Talk by Bill Wilder (me) on architecture patterns that will help your applications scale and be more reliable.
• more info: http://blog.benday.com/archive/2011/05/27/Beantown-NET-Meeting-on-622011-Bill-Wilder-quotArchitecture-Patterns-for.aspx
• register: See instructions to send an email here
• twitter: (not sure)

4. Hack the Cloud – Cloud Platform Bake-Off

Moved to June 16th – see below

• when: Thu 02-June-2011, 6:00 PM – ???
• where: Nokia – 5 Wayside Road Burlington, MA
• wifi: (unknown)
• food: (unknown)
• cost: FREE
• what: Hacking event on multiple cloud stacks in order that they can be compared
• more info: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-The-Cloud/
• register: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-The-Cloud/
• twitter: (not sure)

5. New Hampshire Code Camp – Concord, NH

• when: Sat 04-June-2011, 8:00 – 4:00 PM
• where: New Hampshire Technical Institute 31 College Drive Concord, NH 03301
• wifi: not sure
• food: I think they do dinner afterwards
• cost: FREE
• what: In the Code Camp spirit, come learn many things from many people!
• more info: here or at www.nhdn.com
• register: here
• twitter: (not sure)

6. The Architect Factory

• when: Thu 09-June-2011, 1:00 – 8:00 PM
• where: Hosted at NERD Center
• wifi: Wireless Internet access will be available
• food: (not sure of details yet)
• cost: FREE
• what: Real, Practical Guidance on becoming and Architect, or becoming a Better Architect
• more info: http://architectfactory.com/
• register: http://architectfactory-eorg.eventbrite.com/
• twitter: #architectfactory or #af3 (not sure which is “official”)

7. New England ASP.NET Professionals Group

• when: Wed 25-June-2011, 6:15 – 8:30 PM
• where: Microsoft Office on Jones Road, Waltham
• wifi: no
• food: group does to dinner afterwards
• cost: FREE
• what: A talk that introduces Cloud Computing and the Windows Azure Platform and shows how it relates to the ASP.NET developer – tools, libraries, and how to build and deploy.
• more info: http://neasp.net/
• register: see http://neasp.net/
• twitter: (not sure)

8. Hack the Cloud – Cloud Platform Bake-Off

• when: Thu 16-June-2011, 6:00 PM – ???
• where: Nokia – 5 Wayside Road Burlington, MA
• wifi: (unknown)
• food: (unknown)
• cost: FREE
• what: Hacking event on multiple cloud stacks in order that they can be compared
• more info: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-The-Cloud/
• register: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-The-Cloud/
• twitter: (not sure)

9. 4th Annual Hartford Code Camp

• when: Sat 18-June-2011, 8:00 – 5:30 PM
• where: Hosted at New Horizons Learning Center (Bloomfield CT)
• wifi: Wireless Internet access will be available
• food: Pizza and drinks will be provided
• cost: FREE
• what: In the Code Camp spirit, come learn many things from many people!
• more info: http://ctdotnet.org/
• register: see http://ctdotnet.org/ until a direct link is published
• twitter: (not sure)

10. Boston Azure User Group meeting: Rock, Paper, Azure Event!

• when: Thu 23-June-2011, 6:00 – 8:30 PM (come at 5:30 if you need help getting set up)
• where: Hosted at NERD Center
• wifi: Wireless Internet access will be available
• food: Pizza and drinks will be provided
• cost: FREE
• what: Bring your Windows Azure-ready laptop (or get a loaner, or pair up with someone) as we go head-to-head in an Azure programming contest (it is a simple game, but you will compete with others in the room). Also, there will be prizes – like an Xbox 360, Kinect, and other goodies.
• more info: See Boston Azure cloud user group site for details or see Jim O’Neil’s blog post on the event. Of special note is to request your free account (no credit card, etc. – easy), following details on Jim’s post - takes only a minute of YOUR time, but will help make sure you don’t need to wait for it on Thurs night – do it NOW!
• register: here
• twitter: #bostonazure

11. Maine Bytes: Azure State of the Union

• when: Thu 30-June-2011, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• where: Unum’s Home Office 3 building at 2211 Congress Street in Maine
• wifi:
• food:
• cost: FREE
• what: Ben Day will give a talk: “Microsoft’s Azure platform moves fast and new features get added all the time. It can definitely be tough to keep up. In this session, Ben will give you a tour around the current features and offerings in Azure with some tips on how to use them in your applications and how to integrate Azure into your software development process.”
• more info: See http://www.mainebytes.org/ for details
• register:
• twitter:

Coming in July:

• Boston Azure User Group meeting on July 28
• And more? Please let me know in the comments if you know about an event relevant to those who care about the Windows Azure Platform

Omissions? Corrections? Comments? Please leave a comment or reply on the Twitters!