Janet asked me to pimp REAL World this year, and so I shall pimp. For those of you already coming, feel free to comment on your past experiences as well.
But for those of you who aren't coming -- here is my pimping:
This is not like a normal conference where all the people in charge show up for a keynote, then are whisked away in their private jets. You can go bend Geoff's ear on whatever topic you want to -- from programming to Star Trek. The CEO of REAL Software is around for the entire conference, as is every other employee.
So not only can you bend upper management's ear on all the reasons you feel I deserve a raise... ;-) But you can also sit and talk to every one of the engineers who make REALbasic. So you can pick Mars' brain about how the compiler works, or my brain about networking questions, and so forth.
I've been to enough conferences to know that this sort of opportunity is rare and something every serious developer should be jumping all over.
But! That's not all that's cool about RW!
Not only do you get to meet the staff, but there's going to be a ton of people out there just like you -- interested in REALbasic and thirsty for knowledge. So if you want to ask Charles Yeomans about declares, go mob him. If you want to know how Dave Wooldridge manages to run RBGarage while doing the awesome Amazon stuff. If you want to talk to Stephen Tallent about what it's like to be in a band, then go right ahead. I think you get the picture though. A lot of the "big names" from the community are at REAL World, and it's a good chance to pick brains.
So what if you're not interested in doing nothing but learning? That's fine too! Austin is a great city with a ton of good night life. The hotel (which is *extremely* reasonably priced for a 4 or 5 start hotel since the conference is being held right in it, is really close to 6th street, where all the action is at. You can walk from the hotel to the bars/nightclubs/etc, that's how close you are. Austin is the live music capital of the world, so you're bound to find some live music you enjoy, and the bar district is always a hopping place. If you're not into that sort of thing, then you can also go to some great eating establishments: Hut's hamburger joint or Angie's Pizza (both right on 6th), Hula Hut, the Broken Spoke (where Willie Nelson got his start) and a ton of other great places.
Oh, and if you think that RW is nothing but a bunch of smelly boys crammed into rooms together -- there are going to be beautiful women there this year. For instance, I know that Elissa is coming (hands off though boys, she's spoken for). :-)
Don't take my word for how awesome REAL World is -- come to it this year and find out for yourself! If you have questions, just ask me! This is an event that can only be experienced "live", so come check it out!
I hear there is going to be a RBLibrary.com Hospitlaity Party also.
It will definately be fun!
And what would the RBLibrary.com "Hospitality" party be without the legendary bad spelling? ;) Just kidding.
I'd be at REAL World, but I have college. I know there are lots of considerations for scheduling the event, but maybe next year it could be coordinated with common weeks for Spring Break? It would certainly help out, and it would only move it by about a month.
I promise, at the hospitality party, to try to spell any word that anyone throws at me, if I spell it wrong, the beers on me.
I'll start looking in the dictionary for hard words now. :)
This will be my first year at REAL World and I am looking forward to it. Looking at the schedule I'm glad that I arranged for one of my staff to come with so we won't miss anything.
Ah, the hard words are easy, it is the small words thaat befuddle me.
Yeah, stump Bill with complex words like "the", "ok" and "juxtaposition."
;-)
@Adam -- Part of the issue with scheduling is making sure there's enough hotel space for people, not conflicting with major holidays, etc. Spring break constitutes a major holiday where hotels start to fill up, I'd imagine. ;-) You'd have to take scheduling up with Janet, but I'd say "college" is a good enough reason to miss. But just barely. ;-)
RW rocks. This will be my third time. Can't wait!
I can't wait! I'm going to joe's talk so hopefully I'll learn something. I wish I could see your talks, but I'll be in class during all of them. :( Lots of people should come! I don't even know what RB is, and I'm still excited about it, so if I'm going to be there, all you users should too.
Wait....I don't think I was supposed to admit that I don't know anything about RB.
That's ok babe, we all gotta start somewhere. And Joe's "10 things every n00b should know" talk would be a great starting place.
Hey, I am going to be taking copious notes at the "10 thing" class, try not to distract me ok?
Darn - free beer if I make Bill misspell... makes me wish I could go.
Unfortunately, convincing my boss that I'm not needed is like convincing him that I should be CEO of the company I work for: He may like or even entertain the idea, but even if he gave me the ok to do so, too many others would block my way down there. Need to make myself a bigger asset first.
I'll try not to Bill, but I can't help it if you distract yourself with my dazzling personality.
Wait, is that "the beer's on me" as in "he pays for the next round", or as in "we dump beer on him"?
Both. He'll buy the beer and you can either drink it, or throw it on him. ;-)
@Lis -- lol! I don't think I can allow you into my talks then. ;-)
RW was great last year. I'm looking forward to it this year, too. I e-mailed custserv at RS but haven't gotten a response. Are there going to be outlets for us to plug our laptops into at the Omni during the sessions or should I invest in a new battery for my iBook?
I'll be there! I had so much fun last year I wouldn't miss it for anything. I just wish I could drink with everybody. >:P
Does Austin have 24h nightlife? I.e, can I party all night? That could save me from using a hotel, which are a bit expensive for my budget ... I could stay up all night, and sleep over the session (I should not miss much there, right?) :)
But seriously - I consider taking one of the less expensive hotels on I-35 2 miles N or S of downtown, near the university areas. I can expect to find public transportation (bus, not taxi) there to downtown, right?
@Christian -- Janet's working on rounding up a ton of power strips for the conference. So it shouldn't be as bad as last year.
@Thomas -- you'll find bus travel, but it's not always the easiest solution (Austin's bus service was kinda thrown together IMHO). But you should be fine.
You can always go to the bus website to see what bus lines will take you where you want to go and at what times. http://www.capmetro.org/ I don't think it's nearly as bad as Aaron says, he's never even taken the bus, and I used to get around it all the time before I had a car.
WHAT UP!!!...it's been a long ass time since I've been here...sorry man...just letting you know next thursday (2/9) at the press at 10pm...birthday...even if you can only come for 1 drink...it'd be great to see you there.
Gee, how'd I take the "r" out of main name above? Oh well. :)
@Aaron -- Thanks for the input.