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My first conference
By Steffen Jaques | September 26, 2008
Being a developer at my place of work definitely has it perks. I get to spend most of my days surrounded by brilliant and helpful people that truly love what they do and who are enthusiastic about sharing what they know. No matter what question I have, there is always someone I can ask. Who could ask for more?
Now might be a good time to introduce myself. My name is Steffen Jaques, and I’m a Software Pilot at Trifork. Really I’m probably a bit more like a Software Co-Pilot since I am still two semesters away from graduation day.
But what about those perks? Another one is JAOO. Honestly, I had never heard of the name JAOO before I joined the team here, but I instantly linked it to being a Java conference. True enough, it does have its roots in the Java development ‘scene’, but as I have learned lately, JAOO has and is continuing to evolve into a far more diverse conference than just Java. It’s all about code!
This year JAOO presents an impressive array of tracks; from Cloud computing, Social network programming and Railing to Architecture, DSLs and Persistence. The list goes on and it’s tremendously appealing.
Now you might be wondering why I am writing all of this. It’s mostly because I’m confused. I haven’t been to a conference before. I have no idea about what to expect and I don’t know where to start and where to conclude. At first I considered attending something I knew something about; C# 3.0 and LinQ development with the father of C#, Anders Hejlsberg from Microsoft Corporation. And even though I am sure Mr. Hejlsberg will deliver something magnificent, I am still not sure if that is what I want to see that day. At the same time Gregor Hohpe is talking about ‘Programming the Cloud’ and I don’t even know what that means? I certainly have a lot to learn – and this is where the real challenge lies: What do I want to learn at JAOO?
Along with this problem there is the context of the conference. In excess of a 1000 smart people will attend this conference. How will I spend my days at this conference when I’m not attending a talk by one of the talented speakers, and can I even attribute anything to the conference? I have been developing software for about a decade, and yet I look at this conference and what it contains and think: WOW! (And, no, that wasn’t a pun on the old Vista ads 
)
I feel extremely fortunate that I have the opportunity to experience JAOO. Even though I have never tried it before, I am sure it will be a defining moment in my career as a developer. I’ll get to see what real developers talk about at conferences. What gets them out of their chairs? What intrigues them and what do they think will be the future?
How about you? What do you choose to do at conferences? Will you mostly attend talks on topics where you already have a foundation, or are you going to broaden your horizon by interacting with the other attendees and going to talks where you have no or very little knowledge of the subject.
Hope to see you at JAOO!
