Hi Shaun,
I'm not sure if I can provide an unbiased reply as it is Peter Ward & I that are the organisers. In trying to respond to your question of "wondering about its value". Value is always subjective and what someone thinks is great value others might dismiss out of hand. Let me answer with a little background, a brief overview and a couple of the main value props. In deciding to put together this conference, I guess we wanted to provide an ALM focused event that would provide value to anyone involved in software development. My goal was to have something for project managers, business analysts, technical team leaders, testers, coders and build engineers. The event itself is modelled on a mini Tech-Ed with two keynotes and 18 breakout sessions in two tracks over 2 days. Some of the major drawcards for the conference include; 1. The Microsoft Australia Official Launch of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 a. The launch keynote will include Sam Guckenheimer who is the Group Product Planner for the Visual Studio Product line. Sam's job involves mapping the vision for where Visual Studio will be going in coming years and he is one of the most interesting and insightful speakers I have heard. I have scheduled Sam's breakout last thing on Tuesday afternoon so we can go overtime and have an open mic session with Sam. (Surprise Sam) b. The other launch keynote speaker is Tanuj Vohra. His role as Partner Director of Program Management for the Visual Studio Test Business sees him heavily involved in one of the most compelling new features in Visual Studio 2010. The new Testing capabilities. 2. Following the Launch keynote, our event keynote will feature Dr Ivar Jacobson. He is a father of components and component architecture, use cases, the Unified Modelling Language and the Rational Unified Process. He has contributed to modern business modelling and aspect-oriented software development. Ivar is a luminary in the industry and should be a name familiar to anyone that has studied software engineering. 3. Technical training & readiness. There are then 18 different breakout sessions delivered by a group of some of Australia's finest technical professionals and presenters. This is a great way to get yourself or your team up to date on Visual Studio 2010. 4. To round out the event we have an exhibitors area that will showcase some of Australia's best known IT companies with a role in the ALM space. Let me also mention that every attendee will get an NFR copy of Microsoft Expression Studio 3.0, there are great giveaways in every session and someone will win one of Charles Sturt Uni's motorised Esky's J You'll notice the event is very Microsoft centric this year. This is no accident. For our first year, we needed a strong sponsor to get behind the event and with Microsoft launching Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 it was a perfect synergy. Microsoft will hold their official Australian Launch of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 as part of the event and that is why you see a strong Microsoft focus this year. This is not the plan going forward and we hope to offer a good balance between vendors moving forward. Now all of that said, it is our first go at this and we're likely to get a few things wrong and learn how to do things better for next year. Your feedback is always welcome on what we can do better J (Sorry for the long reply, I know it is not good list etiquette) Cheers Anthony From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Baggett, Shaun Sent: Thursday, 11 March 2010 8:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [OT] Australian ALM Conference in April? Hi Listers I am thinking about attending the ALM conference in Sydney this coming April (http://www.australianalm.com.au/) and am wondering about its value. Considering this event is essentially the official launch of Visual Studio 2010 and TFS 2010 it's also very relevant to my work as we tend to get the latest and greatest as soon as we can. So there's probably some good benefits there. Just wondering what others think of the event and whether you might be going? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This email, and any attachments, may be confidential and also privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies of this transmission along with any attachments immediately. You should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
