An Architect's View

A few people have asked on Twitter and via email what is happening with submissions that have been sent in to Jim and myself. We're a bit behind. We hoped to have reviewed all the submissions last week and to have been notifying everyone this week about accepted and rejected sessions. Sorry! We're actually about two weeks behind (which is just as well for a few speakers that are still submitting their sessions!). We've had over a hundred submissions so far and we will only be able to accept about half of them. There are some fascinating topics being submitted - in addition to the great topics suggested by the Content Advisory Board for the first round of invited speakers. We've also had multiple submissions from a number of speakers (up to six submissions from a single person!) which helps us a lot because we have a fixed limit on the number of speakers we can accept (for budgetary reasons). We should be able to get through the reviews next week and then we'll be notifying speakers the week after (the holiday week). We're hoping to have a list of sessions posted by year end and a rough schedule posted the week after. Registration should be open next week for those who want to get cf.Objective() into this year's budget without waiting for a published schedule.

Updated with the PDF to download to make the process easier!

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cf.Objective() 2010 is ramping up and is ready for the public call for speakers and topics! We have the same broad tracks as last year:

• Architecture & Design in Software
• RIA: Flex/Ajax/AIR
• Process & Methodology
• Integration & Tools

If you're interested in speaking, download the speaker request form (PDF, 152KB), fill it out and then send it to Jim Louis per the instructions in the form. The PDF has all the delivery dates, speaker consent agreement and so on. Topics must be submitted by November 30th! You have about two weeks. Some background on the cf.Objective() selection process... As I previously blogged, we have a twelve person content advisory board this year who have already come up with suggested topics for about 80% of the schedule and invitations have gone out to an initial list of speakers (usually two or three per topic). Many of those speakers have already replied (they also have until November 30th) and we're starting to sift through their submissions to pick the best one for each topic. The public CFP will help us fill the remaining 20% of the schedule. This process us ensures we have a well-rounded set of topics as well as letting us get at least part of our schedule organized and posted before the end of the year to help folks decide to register with their company's year end budget!

The Content Advisory Board (twelve of last year's speakers) have just finished their initial selection of topics and potential speakers for the four tracks at cf.Objective() 2010. Best Meetings, the cf.Objective() conference planner, will be sending out invites shortly, asking a variety of speakers to submit on topics that we've picked. Since this all happens behind the scenes, I thought it would be worth a blog post to explain the process. The CAB start by approving the tracks (we'll have four in 2010, very similar to the 2009 tracks) and then pick about a dozen topics they think 'fit' in each track. Some of these topics are popular staples, some are deliberately bleeding edge and / or very advanced, in keeping with the conference's reputation. Next, the CAB pick up to three speakers for each topic so that we get a chance to see multiple submissions on each topic and can pick what we think sounds like the best content for the attendees. Some speakers get multiple topic invites, some get only one. An invite is not a guarantee that you'll be picked but it gives you 'first shot' at slots on the schedule (indeed, about half the submissions are rejected precisely because we invite multiple speakers to submit on each topic!). Our goal is to fill about 80% of the schedule this way. Once we have the initial responses in, we'll open a public Call For Papers for general submissions to fill most of the remaining 20% (the platinum sponsor gets four slots plus a keynote). I think the CAB have done a great job this year and we have some great topics lined up. As soon as we can confirm speaker submissions, I'll post a list. In the meantime, here's the CAB volunteers:

• Architecture & Design in Software
  • Brian Kotek
  • Brian Meloche
  • Matt Woodward
• RIA: Flex / Ajax / AIR
  • Laura Arguello
  • John Mason
  • Dan Wilson
• Process & Methodology (including Frameworks)
  • Mark Drew
  • Adam Haskell
  • Kurt Wiersma
• Tools & Integration
  • Jeff Coughlin
  • Peter Farrell
  • Bill Shelton

Thank you!

As I've been working on my Living in the Cloud talk for CFUnited (since I didn't have to complete it for Scotch on the Rocks), it occurred to me that this is a topic covering stuff I worked on in the middle of 2008 (Broadchoice Workspace, built for Amazon EC2 and S3) and the end of 2008 (migrating Broadchoice Workshop to Amazon EC2). Conferences usually want topics submitted a long way in advance of the conference, even tho' drafts and the final version of the talk can be delivered just before the conference. CFUnited 2009's deadline for topic submissions was December 1st, 2008, eight months ahead of the conference. MAX 2009 opened its call for speakers on March 3rd 2009 and closed it in late April, six months ahead of the conference. Conferences set deadlines far in advance so that they can offer a good roster of speakers and talks because that's what attracts attendees. I've been on the advisory for a number of conferences and getting a schedule out early is key in the battle to boost registration. Our industry moves very fast. Something that's hot in the Fall may not be on anyone's radar today. Something that's hot today may be old, old news by the Fall. Conference committees have to guess what will be attractive, many months in advance - which is extremely hard! And yet, one of the biggest complaints we hear about conferences is when they have the same topics every year - which is a natural consequence of trying to fill the schedule so early: how many brand new topics can you think of off the top of your head? How do you feel about conference schedules? Do you feel they manage to stay ahead of the curve? Do you think there's too much "safe" content? Do you have suggestions for how conference committees can balance the need to publish a schedule so folks will buy tickets against the desire to feature bleeding edge topics? Do you think I'm too concerned about this - and that maybe there's no real issue here?

I've almost recovered from this year's cf.Objective() so I wanted to get my thoughts on paper before the memory blurs too much. As usual, it was an excellent conference with top-quality sessions from top-quality speakers. It's the only conference that I would pay to attend - and would pay out of my own pocket if I had to. I learn plenty of new things at cf.Objective() every year and the networking is phenomenal because it's a relatively small, friendly conference (around 200 attendees this year).

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I just posted the slides (as a PDF) and the code example (account.zip) under PRESOS and SOFTWARE on my blog. You'll need to download cfSpec from RIAforge to run the sample code.

Due to a session cancellation and several requests from the community, the Railo team will be hosting a Q & A BOF at cf.Objective() at 3pm (Friday) in the Nicollet C room. This is all somewhat last minute so we're trying to get the word out. Gert Franz, Peter Bell and myself will be available to answer all your questions about Railo the CFML engine and Railo Technologies the consulting organization. Hope to see you there?

In the absence of a printable schedule - sorry, Joe Rinehart says it's a problem with the Media3 hosting and he's been trying to get them to fix it for months! - here is my schedule for cf.Objective() 2009:

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I've had a few people ask me whether Railo will be doing a session or a BOF at cf.Objective() 2009 - and my colleagues say they've also had similar questions. The content for cf.Objective() was picked some time ago, before our open source release and before the expansion of Railo into the UK and the US. Similarly, most of the BOFs were selected in early March and the only open slot is in the RIA track. Despite that, the Railo team will be there in force. Mark, Peter and I are all speaking at cf.Objective() and Gert will be there too. We'll be around every evening for any questions you may have - think of it as a Railo BOF in the bar! I look forward to seeing you there. All four of us are speaking at Scotch on the Rocks in London - I'm speaking at all three venues and I think some of my colleagues will be attending Manchester and Edinburgh as well. All four of us are speaking at CFUNITED as well. You'll be hearing plenty from us at future conferences!

You've all heard the huge buzz about applications on the iPhone. Maybe you've been curious about how to get started? Andy Matthews, Dan Vega and Joshua Cyr are heading down that path and they want to share what they've learned so far and answer your questions on how to approach this new opportunity! Come and join their BOF at 7pm on Friday night! If you're already developing iPhone apps, come along and share your experiences. If you want to learn how to get started, what books to buy and so on, come along and ask your questions!