In this issue of ColdFusion conference and training news: * Schedule Change * New Sponsor * Take our survey by Friday 5/12/06 and win a free ticket! * CFUNITED 2006 will be available on video after the event! * Prizes from our sponsors * Coming Soon - NEW scheduler program and Saturday sessions * Order a DVD copy of CFUNITED 2005 recordings and materials/laptop bag * CFLive - Thursday 12:30pm - Maxim Porges Secrets of Top Notch Teams * Interview with Kelly Tetterton on Managing a Project: From the Developer's Point of View
CFUNITED is the premier ColdFusion Conference near Washington DC 6/28-7/1/06 (Four whole days!) Check out speakers and topics at http://www.cfunited.com/ - Michael Smith TeraTech, Inc "Application development involves rapidly evolving technologies. Anyone in the industry who does not actively pursue expanding their knowledge will quickly become obsolete. CFUNITED looks to provide the best value for my education dollar." -Clay Ma., CFUNITED Alumni Exciting Opportunity Available! TeraTech is seeking a creative and energetic ColdFusion Intern to help maintain the CFUNITED website. For more details: http://cf.teratech.com/index.cfm?go=About.JobDetail&JobID=11 Conference and training news **************************** * Upcoming TeraTech classes Cost $59 - $349 see http://www.teratech.com/training/ for more details and registration Location: TeraTech Office CF201 - Intermediate ColdFusion May 16 2006 FB101 - Intro to Fusebox May 23 2006 FB201 - Intermediate Fusebox Jun 6 2006 CF209 - Upgrading to CFMX 7 Jun 13 2006 * CF209 - Upgrading to CFMX 7 (new class) Are you new to CFMX 7? Do you want to learn all the new features fast? This class will get you upto speed on it all: Flash forms, XML forms, PDF generation, headers and footers, the report builder, sub reports, event gateways, CFC new features, Web Services, Verity enhancements, CF Application Framework, CF Administrator API and what is new in CF Administrator. * Pre-conference classes Cost $449 see http://www.cfunited.com/classes06.cfm for more details and registration Location: Bethesda North Marriott and Conference Center CU210 Leader of the Pack (strategies for building better software) - Simon Horwith - Monday 6/26 CU211 Fundamentals of Relational Database - Kurtis D. Leatham - Monday 6/26 CU212 ColdFusion Server Administration: JRun J2EE Deployment - Adam Wayne Lehman - Monday 6/26 CU213 Testing ColdFusion - John Paul Ashenfelter - Monday 6/26 CU214 Ajax intensive for ColdFusion Developers - Rob Gonda - Tuesday 6/27 ----!!! CU214 - this class has only 5 spots left CU215 XML, XPath, and XSLT for ColdFusion Developers - Jeff Peters - Tuesday 6/27 CU216 Domain Modeling - Hal Helms - Tuesday 6/27 CU217 Beyond Basic SQL for CF - Nate Nelson - Tuesday 6/27 CFUNITED NEWS! * "Creating Reusable Components in ColdFusion" by Jeff Houser is CANCELLED. We will be announcing a replacement speaker and similar topic soon. The talk at 9:30am is replaced by Nate Nelson's "Beyond Basic SQL for CF" His topic was switched from Friday at 2:45pm. That session is now TBA. * We have a new bronze sponsor! WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW - http://www.cfunited.com/sponsors.cfm#thewhir Thanks for sponsoring CFUNITED. FYI, we still have sponsorship opportunities available. * We want to see what you think about our topics this year. Take our survey (even if you haven't registered for the event) and submit by May 12th and you will be entered into a raffle to win a free ticket! http://www.cfunited.com/survey.cfm * CFUNITED/Video! http://www.cfunited.com/video_recordings.cfm Can't make it to the event? Attending but want to see sessions that you can't get to? Want to see a favorite session again to learn even more? Buy CFUNITED/Video and watch whenever you want from you own computer! $649 includes the show bag and goodies that attendees receive. Sample video and more information coming soon. This price is a license for one named individual to view the video - if you need a site license for multiple viewers contact Liz at liz (at) teratech.com CFUNITED 2006 Attendees get $400 off the price! Already registered for CFUNITED but want the videos too? Upgrade for just $200 to both attend and get videos of all sessions. * See list of prizes from our sponsors. http://www.cfunited.com/prizes.cfm * We apologize for the inconvenience. Our scheduler program has been slightly delayed and it will be running very soon. See the CFUNITED site for information about this new feature coming soon! We will also have all Saturday sessions picked on May 15th. Again, sorry for the delay. * Order a DVD copy of CFUNITED 2005's recordings on MP3 http://www.cfunited.com/dvd_recordings.cfm All sessions were recorded at CFUNITED-05, but there were technical problems that left a portion of the session's MP3 recordings inaudible. This disc includes all the audible recordings. We apologize if any of your favorite sessions are not available for your listening. Also, you can order your own copy plus the 2005 bookbag and materials! -Limited Supply- * CFUNITED SPECIAL EVENTS ColdFusion Celebration Hosted by Adobe, TeraTech, and Hostmysite Drinks, games, raffles. Join us for another year of ColdFusion Fun. Location: Bethesda North Marriott Terrace Starting time: 7:15pm Thursday, June 29th MiniMAX 4 http://www.minimaxconference.com/ Can't go to CFUNITED? Come to this FREE event! Hosted by Adam Bell Location: Brookside Room, Bethesda North Marriott Conference Center, Lower Level Starting Time: 8:00pm Attendee Get Together http://www.cfunited.com/attendee_dinner.cfm See old CFUNITED buddies before the big show! Make new friends! Hosted by CFDynamics Location: Dave and Busters, Approximately 3 blocks from Bethesda North Marriott Time: 5:30pm-7:30pm * 38% of our Pre-Conference Classes are full. Be sure to reserve your seat today! Class CU214 is almost full! http://www.cfunited.com/classes06.cfm * The First 750 registrations will get our cool new laptop book bag, courtesy of our platinum and gold sponsors! Don't settle for the tote, register today! See photo at http://www.cfunited.com/bag.cfm * 561 people are already registered for CFUNITED-06 and the main hotel is full! See overflows. (That is more people than the same time last year). * We have overflow hotels: Bethesda Marriott (approx. 1.5 miles from conference center) --This hotel has about 20 rooms left per night-- $170 per night 5151 Pooks Hill Road Bethesda MD 20814 To make reservations call: 1.800.228.9290 Use the group code: CFU The only dates that are provided under the group rate are June 27th - July 1st, 2006 A shuttle bus will be available back and forth from the conference center to this location. Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Rockville (approx. 2 miles from conference center) --Plenty of space in this hotel still left-- $249 per night 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville MD 20852 To make reservations call: 1-301-468-1100 or go to http://www.doubletree.com/ Use the group code: TER The only dates that are provided under the group rate are June 27th - July 1st, 2006 The metro line is located across the street. Take the metro line from Twinbrook to White Flint for the conference center. *CFLive Hear CFUNITED speakers from your office via breeze talks every Thursday 12:30pm - 1pm EST. Learn new tips and ask questions live. CFLive! Maxim Porges Secrets of Top Notch Teams Thursday, May 11, 12:30 PM US/Eastern http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/events/4893860/ Future talks: 5/18/06 John Paul Ashenfelter Agile Programming http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/events/4893861/ 6/1/06 Nate Nelson Advanced SQL Programming http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/events/4893862/ 6/8/06 Rob Gonda CLASS Ajax intensive for ColdFusion Developers http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/events/4919519/ 6/15/06 Doug Ward Fundamentals of Good Usability http://coldfusion.meetup.com/17/events/4919541/ * Only 7 more weeks until CFUNITED (48 days). * Can't afford to come for 4 days? Or can't take time off work during the week? Come to our Saturday only CFUNITED event. * Full time students and umemployed programmers substantial discounts available - email liz (at) teratech.com for your discount code. ****************************************************** And now our CFUNITED spotlight interview. This time we are talking with Kelly Tetterton about her CFUNITED-06 talk "Managing a Project: From the Developer's Point ofView". Michael Smith: So why should a developer come to your session Kelly? Kelly Tetterton: Most developers become developers because they have a creative passion for programming -- and most of us would rather be left alone to code in peace. In the real world, however, we *aren't* left to code in peace -- clients want answers and feedback, colleagues want updates, etc., etc. -- and we need to be able to cope with that. But assuming that someone else will take care of all of it, or that updating clients and colleagues is only a one-time event is a mistake that many of us make -- and it's the sort of mistake that ultimately can lead to project disasters. My session will provide some practical tips on how to manage a project from the point of view of the developer. The goal is not to turn yourself into a Project Manager, but rather to manage the project just enough so that you can focus on the real work (and fun) of coding. MS: So I assume you won't be requiring us all to be running a copy of MS-Project? :-) KT: Uh, no. Never! MS: So what tools do you use for developer project management? KT: Keep it simple: in the beginning, notepad is just fine to keep a running list of *your* tasks and dates -- anything more sophisticated is probably just going to be overhead (later in the project, you probably will need more tools, especially as your work converges with others' -- and we'll talk about that too). This simple suggestion assumes that there's already a larger project plan in place, of course -- one that's created either by your project manager, or by you working with the client directly. Those larger project plans are generally pretty high-level, though, and what you need to do is break that down further. Do your clients or your project managers care that you need to create a brand-new CFC (and a test-harness) to meet that first milestone? Probably not. But *you* need to know that if you don't get that in place by Wednesday of this week, then that Friday milestone release ain't gonna happen. So from the developer's point of view, you really only need to be looking a few weeks out and verify if you're on track. MS: You mentioned project disasters earlier - what are some examples of disasters that you have come across caused by poor project management? KT: There are so many to pick from! Unfortunately. Certainly some of the worst disasters (and I've seen this repeatedly...and I've even done it myself) are caused by going into Super Developer Hero Mode. For example, you need to finish a CFC by Wednesday to make a deadline on Friday. It's Thursday morning, and you still can't get past a particular bug. The impulse to just keep barreling through is so strong that it's almost impossible to squelch (I'm almost there! I just know it!) -- but it should be squelched. Because if you don't, you can run into any number of problems: you don't make the deadline after all (losing credibility because no one else had a heads-up, losing project time), or you "make the deadline" but you have no time to QA (so it blows up -- and you lose credibility & project time anyway -- or you're too exhausted to meet the next milestone). I've seen projects where that only had to happen 2 or 3 times, and the whole project is thrown into complete chaos. Arguing over contract verbiage kind of chaos. MS: Ouch! So any tips on avoiding these? KT: Again, keep it simple. In terms of dealing with project difficulties and avoiding a subsequent disaster, here's one solution: on that Thursday morning (in our mythical scenario above), the first thing to do is regroup. Let your PM know that this particular milestone is going to be missed, and then work to figure out what *can* be delivered for the Friday deadline. Is there some other bit of functionality that you can show off? Clients are very visual -- even simple eye-candy can make them feel that progress is being made. I'm not suggesting that the problem be papered over; unless you had lots of contingency built into the project plan to begin with, this will probably push your deadlines -- and that push has to be articulated to the client sooner rather than later. But even for small pushes like this, a spoonful of sugar will really help the medicine go down. I'll also be talking about how to avoid the crunch scenario above -- ways that you can plan a project, from a developer perspective, that will make things as smooth as possible. MS: Do you have any words for the project managers working with developers? KT: Trust us. Really. Project managers hear "I can't" or "Not by then" or "No" all day long (they must have special mental armor to be able to deflect or absorb that all the time). It's partly inherent to the roles that a developer and a project manager embody -- the PM is always pushing to get something finished on time and under budget, and the developer is always pushing for more time to get it done right (which is usually a hidden request for more time and more budget). But when developers come to you and say, "I'm not going to be able to make that deadline" or "I'm really worried that we won't be able to make the launch date in a month," you need to sit and listen. And then, after you listen, figure out with the developer what your options are. Because usually, the PM and the developer *can* come up with a good solution -- which leads to successful projects. MS: Makes sense - how do you get your PMs to listen like that? KT: It's an art, to be sure, but it can be done. First, if you do have options or suggestions, share them. That may sound obvious, but even if they won't work for whatever reason (the client may have some requirement/need that only the PM knows about at this point), it does demonstrate that this isn't a casual move on your part -- you've thought about the problem in terms of the larger project, not just the particular coding difficulty you've encountered. The second part is much harder: the PM needs to know that you're listening too. Otherwise, the conversation risks getting stalled at the "I can't do it by then" vs. "You have to do it by then" stage. So you need to know before the conversation even starts what items you might be able to bend on. This is, after all, not that different from either a high-stakes business negotiation or a game of poker -- with the added twist that at some point in the game, you're moving back from an adversarial position to a team mindset so you can successfully complete the project together. It's a bit tricky, but with practice, it can be done pretty smoothly! MS: Cool - I am looking forward to seeing you at CFUNITED. Managing a Project: From the Developer's Point of View ************************* CF = RAD, and there's a Project Manager in charge -- so the developer is just along for the ride, right? Wrong! Learn some tips & tricks to make sure your projects go as smoothly as possible. Speaker Bio: Kelly Tetterton is the Technical Lead at Duo Consulting (www.duoconsulting.com) in Chicago and has been designing and programming for the Web since 1993. She spoke at two past Fusebox Conferences and writes for the ColdFusion Developer's Journal. She is a Certified Advanced ColdFusion MX Developer with expertise in content management systems and Fusebox methodology. **************************************** * Speakers include top names like Simon Horwith, Charlie Arehart, Hal Helms, Michael Dinowitz, Ray Camden, Ben Forta and many more respected CF authors and presenters. * Great tracks: * Bootcamp - Basic ColdFusion and Flash topics * Advanced - Advanced ColdFusion topics * Manager/Empowered - Fusebox and Project management topics * Flex/RIA - Flash, Flex and other technologies integrated with CF topics * Accessibility / usability - section 508, CSS and disabled access * Deployment/Platform - tuning, install issues, OS, picking a database * Included in your full conference registration is the following: * Attendence for 4 days (6/28/2006-7/1/2006) * Keynote and General Sessions * All conference sessions including repeat sessions on Saturday * Entrance to Expo Area * Networking Events * Badge and Badge holder with bar scan code * Free Lunch for each show day (Dinner is not included) * Access to all presentations after the event, including all the recordings. * Promotional bag with materials including show guide, CD, coupons, etc. * Opportunity to participate in all raffle drawings * Can't stay 4 days Wed - Sat? Optional 3-day and Saturday only packages available too. Saturday will consist of repeats the most popular sessions from the week - something many attendees asked for last year! * The price is $849 for all four days of CFUNITED-06 Price expires 4-day 3-day Saturday-only Early Bird 01/31/2006 $649 $549 $249 Timely Bird 03/31/2006 $749 $649 $299 Regular 06/16/2006 $849 $749 $349 Late 06/28/2006 $949 $849 $399 Door 06/29/2006 $1049 $949 $449 Be one of the first 750 registrations and you will get the Awesome Laptop Bookbag instead of the average tote. Register today at http://www.cfunited.com/ -- Michael Smith, TeraTech Inc - Tools for Programmers(tm) TeraTech voted Best Consulting Service by CFDJ readers! CF/ASP Web, VB, Math, Access programming tools and consulting 405 E Gude Dr Ste 207, Rockville MD 20850 USA Please check out http://www.teratech.com/ - email mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], or call us for more information; in the USA at 1-800-447-9120, +1-301-424-3903 International, Fax 301-762-8185 Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:240175 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
