CodeMash is a great conference. I spoke there this year and enjoyed the trip (other than the biting cold and the speeding ticket :).
As far as where else to hear cross-technology talks, I would also recommend Strange Loop in St. Louis Oct 22-23rd which covers a broad range of technologies. http://thestrangeloop.com I am biased being the organizer. :) This aspect of CodeMash was certainly an inspiration for Strange Loop. Alex On Sep 27, 8:50 pm, Chris Adamson <[email protected]> wrote: > Ironic that the Posse took time at the beginning of JavaPosse #280 to > talk about CodeMash and its venue, the Kalahari Resort, as I just got > back from taking my family to the Kalahari for the weekend. > > A few head-nods and follow-ons below: > > * The conference is fascinating. They are really determined to get > the various camps mingling, so none of the topics really has enough > talks to be a track unto itself: you could maybe do Microsoft stuff > and ignore everything else (but it's a stretch... you'd have to count > stuff like IronPython sessions), and there's certainly not enough on > Ruby/Python, Java, or anything else to do those to the exclusion of > other platforms. Last year, I drifted into a security session that > described some similar attack vectors in both Java and .NET, and I > wondered "where else am I even going to hear this talk?" > > * That said, you guys are right about the prominence of .NET. > Microsoft is a major sponsor (last year they brought the Rock Band > tournament on Xbox with serious prizes), and this conference seems to > be a key part of their platforms' Midwest presence. Still, they do > play nicely with others. Beyond .NET, the other camps in attendance > are the agile scripting languages (Ruby/Python), Java, and Flash/Flex > (saw the omnipresent James Ward there last year). The OS X platforms > (Mac/iPhone) may emerge as another significant presence. > > * The Kalahari Resort really is amazing. The Posse mentioned the > indoor waterpark (at 180,000 square feet, the biggest in the US), but > beyond that, there's lots of stuff to do: an immense game room, a huge > climbing structure for the kids, three or four restaurants, a spa, > pottery and other craft activities for the kids, etc. The service is > also really impressive: the staff presence reminds me of Disney on a > good day. But you're not isolated: go two miles up OH-250 for > groceries, and the usual chain restaurants. > > * As for Sandusky... if you're not from the Midwest, here's the deal: > it's along Lake Erie, between Cleveland and Toledo. If you're flying > in, you're probably coming into Cleveland (45 min), though it's also > possible to fly into <strike>Toledo (1 hr)</strike> or Detroit (1.5 > hrs). By car, it'd be a reasonable drive (< 5 hrs) from Chicago, > Detroit, Indianapolis, PIttsburgh, or Cincinnati. Weather is sub- > freezing in January, but temperate because it's on the east side of > the Great Lakes (weather.com tells me average January high of 32F [0C] > and low of 19F [-7C]). Snow or freezing rain can hose your travel > plans -- weather was bad last year -- so leave yourself a day to get > there, just in case. > > Glad to hear some of the Posse is coming. Hope to see you there. > > --Chris --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
