The Windows Phone 8 Bootcamp Experience

I discovered the WP8 Boot camp on Facebook while going through the Microsoft Developer Evangelism – Indian Ocean Islands Facebook group. There were lots of photos of previous events which seemed very nice. Some weeks later, I saw the WP8 boot camps, and I said why not register, I always wanted to learn about these stuff.

So, on D-Day I arrived at Microsoft Office a bit early, met some colleagues and Arnaud started to chat a bit waiting for everybody to arrive. Then it was decided that we shall work in team. Ironically, nobody wanted to be in my team, so, I just teamed up with the other people who didn’t get a team and I volunteered to be the team leader since I already have some experience of the .NET framework.

 During the first week, I had the opportunity to coach my team on C# and Windows Phone technologies, this is when I discovered that I indeed had some coaching skill. This continues for two months where we worked together and build 13 Apps

Below are some of the best parts of the boot camp experience:

Networking

Had the opportunity to meet other passionate developers, MSPs and other university students. It was good to share ideas, brainstorm on solutions to problems and share our knowledge.

Experienced Coach and Developers

Had the opportunity to meet Arnaud and Wasiim who both have good experience in Apps development. I also learnt some more advanced coding techniques from Deepak, an experienced .NET developer. Thanks for sharing your knowledge guys!
 

Team Work

Working in teams was definitely a great experience, had more ideas and knowledge combined – graphics and coding. Working the Apps was a lot easier with a team, it was more fun too!
Thanks for making this possible Nads, Anoo and Hema.

Improved Soft Skills

I had the opportunity to lead and coach a team of 3 university students on C#, XAML and Windows Phone technologies. This was really great to share my knowledge and also uncovered my teaching skills. Also, had the chance to present and pitch about my Apps and ideas.

Xbox!

XBOX and Kinnect! Yeah! The pics speaks for themselves 😀
 

     

I recommend everybody to join us for our next events! This is really a life changing opportunity!
Most probably WP8, W8 and Azure boot camps soon. Stay tuned, I’ll post all details here.