This is the Ultimate Manager Guide for CFUnited 2009.

If you do anything today, print a copy of this document and hand it to your manager. It has great information and I hope they realize that CFUnited is the place for you to be this year.

http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf

*Also, please tell your friends :-)

This entry was posted on March 31, 2009 at 1:36 PM and has received 4206 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We are really looking forward to the Flex tracks this year. Basic and Advanced. Here's the rest of what you have to look forward to at CFUnited for Flex and AIR.

Ryan Stewart "Flash Catalyst"

Greg Owen "Introduction to AIR"

Christophe Conerats "LCDS next"

Doug McCune "Riding Coattails to the Top: Using Open Source Flex and ActionScript Projects"

Tom Gonzalez "Data Visualization with Flex"

This entry was posted on March 26, 2009 at 3:44 PM and has received 1745 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Michael Smith recently posted some useful tips...

With the current economy it is important to know what will help you keep you current job or easily get a new one if you need to. Here are my tips for recession proofing your development career - let me know if you have any other suggestions!

1. Have a positive attitude. When a manager has two developers with equal technical skills but one is optimistic/"can do" and the other one is grumpy you can bet that grump will be laid off first.

2. Keep your promises. If you promise to complete a piece of code by Thursday make sure than you do. If you don't think you can make a deadline it is much better to speak up ahead of time and renegotiate what can be done, or get help, rather than say "yes" when you are not sure. If you have agreed to a deadline and things change tell your manager or client as soon as you know, so that you can both come up with a plan B.

3. Keep your code simple. Simple code is easier to read and maintain, generally runs faster and has fewer bugs. Clever code has a way of biting you or someone else in the rear end. Yes it sometimes takes more thinking to write something simple and elegant instead of complex -- and your future self will thank you for doing it!

4. Communicate clearly. The number one way projects fail is poor communication - misunderstandings with clients over scope, missing features, upsetting email threads. Confirm verbal meetings afterwards in bullet point emails. If a topic is getting heated in email then switch to an in person meeting or phone call to defuse it, then document what was agreed in email afterwards. Keep your ego out of the office and out of your code. Focus on what is best for the project and client.

5. Bring up questions early. If you get stuck on some code (and who hasn't some time or other) then bring up questions early. There is nothing worse than a late deliverable that could have been on time if the right questions where asked sooner. If being assertive doesn't come naturally to you read a book or take an evening class on assertiveness.

Read More

This entry was posted on March 26, 2009 at 3:31 PM and has received 1374 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We are giving away $200 at the end of each month to one lucky winner who has CFUnited Blog Bling on their blog/ website!

To enter the contest pick from the CFUnited Blog Bling, then fill out this form to submit your URL. At the end of each month between now and July 2009 we will pick a random winner from the URL's entered into the contest. Anyone can enter the contest and you can submit as many URL's as you like to enhance your chances of winning.

We are picking the March winner on 03/30/09 after 3pm, so go get your CFUnited Blog Bling now!

This entry was posted on March 26, 2009 at 3:07 PM and has received 3478 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

I'm really excited about visiting Denver to hang out with some of my favorite people. We have great speakers and great topics.

http://express.cfunited.com/go/denver/2009/

Only $149 until March 31st!

Topics:

AIR: Building Desktop Applications with Flex 3
Presented By Rob Rusher, On3Solutions
This course is designed to equip experienced Adobe Flex developers with the skills needed to begin developing robust desktop applications using Adobe AIR.

CF/LCDS integration
Presented By Kevin Hoyt, Adobe
You already know you can build amazing Flex applications on top of the inherent extensibility in ColdFusion. Welcome to RIA! Now what? Did you account for maintaining data synchronization across clients? Conflict resolution? What happens to the data in your RIA if the server or network goes away? Remoting with AMF is fast, sure, but how does that relate to millions of records in your database? All these problems and more get solved in this session on integrating LiveCycle DS with ColdFusion.

Component Lifecycle in Flex 3
Presented By RJ Owen, EffectiveUI
In this session we will explore in depth exactly what happens every time a component is created and rendered in Flex. We'll dive straight into everything about components from the events that are dispatched to the methods that are called and explain in depth how the framework creates and manages your components. Armed with this knowledge you'll be able to take advantage of aspects of the component life cycle you never knew existed, helping you build components that respond faster and waste less memory.

Database Tips, Tricks, & Secrets
Presented By Nate Nelson
Have you ever wanted to know how those strange database experts are able to do their job without going insane? This session will cover some heavily used database tips, tricks, and secrets from multiple database platforms. These tips are have been used first hand and compiled for you in one presentation. Every developer that has any interaction with a database should find this session of value.

Tuning The Java Virtual Machine - (JVM)
Presented By Mike Brunt, Webapper
What Is The JVM? - Sun Microsystems created Java as a high-level programming language which should run on as many operating systems and hardware variations as possible. The goal of "write once run anywhere" meant that a predictable encapsulated operating system, no matter what the underlying hardware and software, was required. In this presentation we will explore techniques evolved over many years for optimally tuning the Sun JVM.

WholeSum Performance: Build the Fastest Web Applications On Earth
Presented By Patrick Quinn, Webapper
At Webapper, we've been tuning and troubleshooting ColdFusion systems as long as anyone, and our SeeFusion product is in use on thousands of production servers around the world. And recently, we've begun to codify all of this vast experience into a "big picture" of ColdFusion performance--literally a diagram of all the elements of performance and stability in a ColdFusion application. In short, when it comes to performance and stability, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts that make them up. And avoiding "red-herrings" is as important as diagnosing root causes. Come to this session to see our big picture, and to learn how all the parts fit together, how to prioritize your tuning and troubleshooting efforts, and more.

This entry was posted on March 26, 2009 at 2:51 PM and has received 2873 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Our friends at ThinkGeek are giving CFUnited three prizes each month to raffle off to our attendees.

This months prizes are three of their Nintendo Wall Graphics, perfect for decorating the office space!

We will be announcing the three winners on March 31, 2009. Don't forget you must be registered in order to participate in the raffle.

This entry was posted on March 26, 2009 at 1:27 PM and has received 3598 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

That's right, 6 topics covering Database Systems. There's something new for everyone. Check it out.

Advanced SQL for ColdFusion
Presented By Sean Woods (Adobe Systems, Inc.)

Database Performance Tuning: No Magic is Needed a Systematic Approach Will Do
Presented By Damon Brown (Policy Studies)

Database Tips, Tricks, & Secrets
Presented By Nate Nelson (Policy Studies)

Getting Started with SQL Server 2008 for ColdFusion Developers
Presented By Jeremy Kadlec

Head to Head Database Systems: Oracle vs SQL Server vs MySQL
Presented By Nate Nelson (Policy Studies)

Intro to SQL Server Reporting
Presented By Selene Bainum

This entry was posted on March 24, 2009 at 11:24 AM and has received 1986 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

See Billy's Goals for 2009

This entry was posted on March 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM and has received 3030 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Only 12 days left until the Early Bird expires

Register now for CFUnited 2009

Discount information

Benefits of registering by March 31, 2009...

Save $100 on registration 1 year of shared hosting from Media3 : Read More

HyperV -VPS Raffle : Read More

ThinkGeek: we will also raffle off prizes from ThinkGeek

CFUnited Tips

What you can do to improve your career and what's the next step?

CFUnited Tip #1: Subscribe to our blog

http://cfunited.com/blog We like to post news related to Adobe, ColdFusion, Flex, AIR, and other community information. If you have something you'd like to share with the community we can post it on our blog. Plus we giveaway free stuff all the time. We announce news about events, topics, and speakers every week.

CFUnited Tip #2: Look at the tracks and ask yourself what direction should your career be going.

If there are at least 15 topics you should be learning, you have an obligation to yourself to stay ahead. CFUnited Tracks

CFUnited Tip #3: Make money from what you'll learn

Attending the event can pay for itself. We are positive that the skills you obtain at CFUnited can be used the next day. You can let your clients know you'll be offering new enhancements to improve their websites soon.

CFUnited Tip #4: Follow us and our speakers on twitter.

Twitter has been effective to some. We recommend it so when you attend CFUnited you can use it as a tool to connect with others. http://twitter.com/cfunited/

CFUnited Tip #5: Prepare ahead.

If you plan on attending, make sure you have a plan of action. Arrive at Dulles if by plane, take the FREE shuttle to the hotel. Make sure you book a room early, we will sell out months before the main event. http://cfunited.com/go/travel/

This entry was posted on March 19, 2009 at 6:08 PM and has received 3133 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Terrencer Ryan just announced the following news about the ColdFusion Curriculum.

"I'm pleased to announce that Adobe has released official curriculum for teaching ColdFusion today! There are two tracks:

* Introduction to ColdFusion 8 * Advanced ColdFusion 8 Development

Both courses are available for download at our education site: ColdFusion 8: Introduction and Advanced Development"

This entry was posted on March 18, 2009 at 4:09 PM and has received 3363 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.