Musing #17 on DeveloperSmackdown.com Mark and I talked about a few techniques \ thoughts on how we handle conferences like Mix. We’re not pro’s, but over the years they seem to at least work for us.
Conferences are a great place to network with all kinds of people. I usually try to plan on both formal and informal visits with people. I like to start planning “formal like visits” as much as three months out. Now of course, that all depends on what type of event your going to. At this years MVP summit, I knew I would be going 3+ months out and since it was at the mother ship it was a great opportunity to meet with different members of the product groups.
As for this trip to Mix, I have the following lined up:
- 7 podcasts
- 1 tentative podcast
- 1 formal party
- 1 tentative dinner event
- Pre-Conference day long training event
I guarantee this will change the minute I get off the plane. You have to be flexible at any event because things are always changing.
Ironically, I don’t pay to much attention to the conference sessions until about a week out. Honestly like everyone else, I have to many other things going on to try and worry about it. Things change so why waste the time. In fact things can change up to the minute. Given that about a week out I start to make my plan my schedule. I always plan 2 to 3 session per track. A session might end up to full or hell even miss leading. If you get in and it’s not what you want, CUT BAIT and LEAVE.
So what do my days look like ( FWIW my session picks are not stack ranked )?
Sunday – Travel and Pre-Conference
I am taking the first flight out. I have family matters to take care of on Saturday so I will be rushing to get out to Vegas. Once I land I will get checked in and head to my pre-conference session. I will be spending the entire day doing a little training. Things will end around dinner. At which point I am sure I hook up with a number of guys for dinner and drinks.
Monday – Conference Kick Off
Session 1
- Robots at MySpace: Massive Scaling a .NET Website with the Microsoft Robotic Studio
- Microsoft Silverlight 4 Overview: What’s in Store for Silverlight 4?
- Changing our Game – an Introduction to Windows Phone 7 Series
Session 2
- Understanding the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern
- Authoring for Microsoft Silverlight 4 with Microsoft Expression Blend
- Overview of the Windows Phone 7 Series Application Platform
Session 3
- 10 Ways to Attack a Design Problem and Come Out Winning
- Copyright: A Cloudy Subject
- Build Your Own MVVM Framework
- Lap around the Windows Azure Platform
- Windows Phone UI and Design Language
Tuesday – Sessions
Session 1
- Touch in Public: Multi-touch Interaction Design for Kiosks and Architectural Experiences
- OData: There’s a Feed for That
- Six Things Every jQuery Developer Must Know
- An Introduction to Developing Applications for Microsoft Silverlight
Session 2
- The HaaHa Show: Microsoft ASP.NET MVC Security with Haack and Hanselman
- Unit Testing Silverlight and Windows Phone Applications
- Building Windows Phone Applications with Silverlight, Part 1
Session 3
- Implementing OData: How to Create a Feed for That
- Microsoft Silverlight Optimization and Extensibility with MEF
- Building Windows Phone Applications with Silverlight, Part 2
Session 4
- Windows Phone Application Platform Architecture
- Improving the Usability and Security of OpenID
- An Hour With Bill Buxton
- Modern Web Form Design
- How jQuery Makes Hard Things Simple
Wednesday – Sessions and Conference End
Session 1
- Advanced Web Debugging with Fiddler
- Development and Debugging Tools for Building XNA Games for Windows Phone
Session 2
- Building Innovative Windows Client Software
- Developing Natural User Interfaces with Microsoft Silverlight and WPF 4 Touch
- Dynamic Layout and Transitions for Microsoft Silverlight 4 with Microsoft Expression Blend
Session 3
- Building Windows Phone Games
- Accessing Web Services in Microsoft Silverlight
- Prototyping Rich Microsoft Silverlight 4 Applications with Microsoft Expression SketchFlow
- IronRuby for the .NET Developer
- Web Deployment Made Awesome: If You’re Using XCopy, You’re Doing It Wrong
- Search Engine Optimization for Microsoft Silverlight
Session 4
Session 5
- Improving Software Quality for the Modern Web
- Building a Next-Generation Web Application with Microsoft ASP.NET MVC 2 and jQuery
Thursday – Travel Date
Basically a travel day. Once home I will try to spend a few minutes gathering my thoughts while things are fresh in my head. Then I will try to build out a plan of the stuff I either want to re-review or plan to see at some point.
Oh man, it’s going to be a busy week. I hope to see you at Mix
