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WHAT'S NEW THIS MONTH?
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Staying on top of the development world is difficult to say the least. Not
only do developers need to do things better in today's environment, they
have to do it with fewer resources, at a lower cost and generally with less
return.
Besides searching the Net and reading books for the latest development
trends and tips I personally like to go to developer events and talk to
other developers to see what they are doing and exchange ideas and
techniques.
Interaction is the key at events, whether it be a user group meeting, a
technical breakfast, webinar or a conference. However one thing I detest
at developer events is the sell. There is nothing worse than hearing Joe
from marketing give a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation about his new
product to developers and show benchmark tests that amazingly "prove" that
his product came out No.1. against all the competitors.
One of the better developer events that I have attended over the past year
was the Linux Conference in Perth. Why? It had nothing to do with the
food, venue, hotel or the company of the Linux community; rather it was the
amount of interaction that was scheduled into the event. With BOF
sessions, Q & A sessions, a wireless lab and the willingness for speakers
to hang around and talk to the punters it was certainly one of the
highlights of the developer calendar over the past year.
In August the team at Builder AU will be covering Microsoft's annual Tech
Ed conference in Brisbane. In terms of volume it is Australia's biggest
developer conference and disappointingly looks to be the only large vendor
conference to make it's way to Australian shores this year. Stay tuned for
our full coverage of the event from August 10-13. As an exclusive
promotion to our members, Builder AU are giving away one free registration
to the event. Scroll down this e-mail to find out how you can be there.
What do you think are highs and lows of developer events these days? What
is your favourite developer event of the year? Is there a developer event
that you would like to us cover at Builder AU? Drop me a line with your
thoughts at brendon.chase@zdnet.com.au