Paul Litwin, who is the Conference Chair for ASPConnections which is a subset of the entire DevConnections conference, has a blog about coordinating a conference. It is a lot of work. As a speaker I can add that we are asked to submit abstracts long in advance which in this era of evolving betas is quite a challenge. In fact, we had to submit abstracts right after PDC when things like LINQ and Atlas and SO much more had been shoved into our brains, yet, it is very important to keep the bulk of talks to technologies that developers can use currently or very soon. It is an interesting challenge to balance because it is really fun to work with the latest and greatest and show off that you are so bleeding edge, but it is also important to remember that not everyone is interested in the bleeding edge or even prepared for very advanced talks. I love to play both sides of the fence: fiddling with the bleeding edge, but also trying to make sure that people don’t get left behind on the basics.
DevConnections is an amazing conference and I am really proud to be speaking at my 3rd one in a row next month in Las Vegas as well as to be listed among a very impressive roster of experts and fantastic presenters. It is also very nice because they take such great care of the speakers and make it so that all we have to think about is doing a great session.
Don’t Forget: www.acehaid.org