Scripting Clinic - what would you like to know?

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I'm considering putting together a full day UK based event, either in Reading or London probably in early July. The provisional title is the "Scripting Clinic" . This would be a full day of scripting for IT Pro's (rather than developers - no offence intended!). There would be four or five sessions ranging from basic to intermediate level. We could finish off the day with a troubleshooting clinic which could start touching more advanced "stuff".

I'd probably base most of the day around VBScript as it's arguably a relatively easy language to learn and wouldn't detract from the techniques being taught. It's also robust enough for production use (especially if you used defensive coding and other error handling techniques which I would also like to include on the day). Here's a few ideas for sessions

  • Fundamentals - concentrating on the language constructs in VBScript and an introduction to the Windows Scripting Host (WSH). No prior experience necessary.
  • Scripting best practices - ways to make your scripts more robust including error handling, logging and debugging techniques
  • ADSI and WMI - using ADSI for Active Directory administrative tasks and taking advantage of Windows Management Instrumentation
  • Other handy object models - Use CDO to send emails, ADO to access databases, WScript built-in objects for parsing command line arguments, running scripts on remote machines and creating desktop icons (for example)
  • Clinic - Share your experiences and bring your real world problems to a panel discussion.

I was also considering a "futures" slot focussing on Monad if there was enough interest. If this event is something you'd be interested in attending or shaping, I'd love to hear from you (please!) - either post a feedback comment to this entry or use the "Contact" link at the top of my blog. I'd like to shape this in the direction you tell me, rather than the other way around. I have no content prepared as yet, so now is your opportunity to influence both content and technical level directly.