Private Sub FillNameList()
 
NameList.Items.Clear()
 
'Define the Select statement.
Dim selectSql As String = "SELECT name, name_ID FROM tbNames"
 
'Define the ADO.NET objects.
 
Dim con As New SqlConnection(connectionString)

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand(selectSql, con)

Dim reader As SqlDataReader

'Try to open database and read information.

Try

con.Open()
reader = cmd.ExecuteReader()
'For each item, add the name to the displayed list box text, 

'and store the name ID in the Value property.
Do While reader.Read()

Dim newItem As New ListItem()

newItem.Text = reader("name")

newItem.Value = reader("name_ID").ToString()

NameList.Items.Add(newItem)
Loop

'I want the default value in my dropdownlist be.
NameList.Items.Insert(0, New ListItem("---Choose One---", ""))

reader.Close()
Catch err As Exception

lblResults.Text = "Error in reading list of names. "

lblResults.Text &= err.Message
Finally

con.Close()
End Try

End Sub