I know this is going to sound funny...

During the last few events, I've heard people complain about chairs of all things. I know when I go to events my back is a wreck because of those awful chairs they use.

On one of the survey forms this past CFUnited someone wrote a detailed suggestion about having more comfortable chairs.

The conference gods have answered your prayers. I couldn't believe it when I walked into Lansdowne Conference Center and saw the room chairs. I asked if this was a joke because all the chairs are Ergonomic! I sat in one of them and thought to myself - this chair is better than the one I have a my home office!

See proof here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stellr_photos/2961488333/in/set-72157608251436415/

I know to some people this doesn't make a difference. But to others having comfort while away from home is important.

So to whoever made that suggestion, thank you. I'm glad we could make one more attendee happy.

BTW, there are many more wishes we are granting this year. I hope its your wish, too! ;-)

This entry was posted on November 13, 2008 at 12:56 PM and has received 3795 views. There are currently 4 comments. Print this entry.

Dates: August 12th-15th 2009

Pre Conference Classes: August 11th 2009

Location: Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center

If you've attended any CFUnited event in the past you can get the Alumni discount,$100 off the current price. Therefore, now through December 31st, the cost for 3 day registration is only $599!!!

Check out our new registration system. Now you can edit your personal information and even register multiple attendees.

http://register.cfunited.com

Prices are at http://cfunited.com/go/prices

The hotel and location of the event is the Lansdowne Resort. See more details here. http://cfunited.com/go/travel

Stay tuned to the CFUnited.com/blog and check out all the new announcements about CFUnited 2009! We are making some outstanding changes.

also check out photos from flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/stellr_photos/sets/72157608251436415/

Also, feel free to ask our Advisory Board what they think.

This entry was posted on November 12, 2008 at 5:02 PM and has received 7004 views. There are currently 5 comments. Print this entry.

We are happy to announce that Dan Wilson will be speaking at CF_Underground San Francisco.

Dan will be replacing Adam Lehman's speaking slot on the schedule. We don't have a specific topic from Dan yet but will announce it soon.

Here is a little about Dan...

Dan Wilson, principal partner of DataCurl LLC, began his IT career at a fast-paced start-up during the dotcom heyday. He has since then held senior program and development positions in Technical Consulting, Health Care, Online Publishing and Government Contracting.

Dan is an avid participant in technology communities; currently serving on the board for the Triangle ColdFusion User Group in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and regular contributor to open source projects based on ColdFusion, Flex and AIR platforms. You can find his thoughts on ColdFusion, Flex, AIR and other technology matters at http://www.nodans.com.

Dan spends a significant amount of time learning new technologies and techniques. He has taught and presented since 2001 after an invitation to design and lead courses in Web Development for established IT professionals at Metro IS. When not in front of a computer, you can find him biking, hiking, surfing and playing volleyball.

This entry was posted on October 30, 2008 at 2:11 PM and has received 4064 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

I'm challenging you!

The greatest feedback from 2008 is that attendees want fresh topics.

We want new and creative topics and in depth descriptions. Suggest a topic yourself or suggest a topic for someone else to speak on.

http://callforspeakers.cfconf.org/

The idea is that on December 1st we will put all the topic suggestions together and let the community vote. Everyone will have to vote by December 19th. The person who suggests the topic that is voted the most popular will win a special extra gift or free ticket.

Here's what attendees want at CFUnited (from survey):
Integrating new technologies
Hands-on sessions
CF and Flash Integration
Full life cycle development using many of the open-source tools out there
More Flex sessions
Latest technologies
Discussion topics
Advanced material
Code Samples
Some beginner to intermediate talks on using IDEs for coldfusion
Keep the technical quality and variety high
Enterprise level topics
More Advanced CF sessions
CF/Flex topics
Integrating CF with BlazeDS/AIR/Flex
Report Builder
Continuous Integration, ANT, Subversion, Flex
Why upgrade to CF8 for government employee
Centaur new features
Real world presentations
New keynote

http://callforspeakers.cfconf.org/

This entry was posted on October 20, 2008 at 4:50 PM and has received 7128 views. There are currently 5 comments. Print this entry.

CF_Underground SF's early bird ends in 2 weeks, October 31, 2008 with a registration price of only $50! The first 20 attendees to register receive a CF_Underground beer mug, and all registered attendees receive a free ColdFusion 8 tag poster.

CF_Underground SF is a pre MAX event, it will be held on Sunday, November 16th 2008 from 1pm - 5pm at the Adobe headquarters in San Francisco, and then will resume from 5:30pm - 9pm across the street from the Moscone Center at Cheiftain's Irish Pub with free beer and food.

Visit http://cf-underground.com/2008/ for more information on speakers and topics.

This entry was posted on October 15, 2008 at 3:57 PM and has received 4432 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The survey feedback about the CFUnited 2009 event was extremely helpful. We realize that attendees want something reasonably priced and near city atmosphere. Having a venue that is easy to get to and metro accessible was important to travelers. We also saw that at the top of the list were Wireless Internet, Newer sessions, Good food, and Free Stuff.

Some of the great feedback we heard:

"Better learning opportunities. Maybe longer sessions, or more in-depth sessions."

"Content that can not be had anywhere else but CFUnited, but with so many other events, I am not sure that is possible."

"Having it spaced out a little in time from [other events]...I like the idea of going in July or early August"

"Having the convention at the hotel we are staying at"

"I have enjoyed the conferences but maybe a few more hands on sessions would be beneficial."

"Lower overall cost, the hotels in DC were really expensive and were too far away from the conference center itself which made networking hard"

Thanks Everyone! Either way attendees want a newer venue and newer sessions. Everything else is being considered highly. The decision on venue is going to be very rough, and we will cater to everyone's preferences as much as possible. I hope you like our decision, which will be announced in next week's newsletter.

Sean Corfield mentioned on his blog recently "it looks like CFUNITED 2009 will be significantly improved over CFUNITED 2008 and very focused on "the preferences and the needs of the attendees". I shared one of the potential venues with him. It is a possibility that I just can't pass up this deal because of all the free stuff and amenities they are offering and at that price! Even though not all the preferences are being accomplished. I hope everyone feels the same way and likes the new venue!!!

This entry was posted on October 15, 2008 at 3:22 PM and has received 3010 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

Announcing Stellr

For the past ten years TeraTech has been the official presenter of CFUnited. My team and I have been organizing CFUnited for over 7 years and have been helping others in the community get connected. Now we want to expand with a separate brand to highlight our vision and exciting future for technology events. Michael Smith (CEO of TeraTech) is supporting a new division called Stellr (www.stellr.com) that my team and I are starting today. Stellr will run CFUnited, training, and assist with other events all over the world. I am now the COO of Stellr and officially the primary face of CFUnited and I am taking this new role very seriously to improve these events and how the community stays connected.

FAQ:

Q: Does this mean CFUnited is changing?

A: It is changing for the better and the experience will be catered more towards the attendee's needs and how technology is evolving. The first step was the attendee survey we did earlier this month. If you have suggestions for CFUnited let me know, we are listening!

Q: Will Stellr grow?

A: For now we are working with our current staff. As we gain more business, our team may indeed grow.

Q: Who will handle billing?

A: TeraTech will continue to handle billing, however, the execution of how registration and vendors are handled is being improved on by Stellr.

Q: How can I reach you?

A: Our url and contact information will be displayed online soon. You can still reach me at my TeraTech and CFUnited email addresses and my phone numbers remain the same.

Q: How did you come up with the name?

A: Stellr comes from the Italian word Stella which means star in English. We added an "r" instead of "a" because it gives a modern Web 2.0 feel to what we do (like Flickr). Part of our vision is that our events have an elevated experience.

Q: What does Stellr do?

A: We create a clear brand for each event that's easy to understand and we work to unite the community around its purpose. Also, lets say you want to organize a class. The easy part is organizing and what our group can do is marketing the event to follow your brand and create the type of experience you want your students to remember. We have lots of new ideas and fun activities to share. Or, if your company would like to have a customized class with your own needs, we can put together a program that is focused on where your training dollars need to be spent. So please spread the word and tell others what its like to work with my group.

Of course CFUnited is still our top priority and I believe 2009 is going to reflect the preferences and the needs of the attendees like never before.

ps- This was also sent via our conference newsletter list

This entry was posted on October 10, 2008 at 3:10 PM and has received 6075 views. There are currently 13 comments. Print this entry.

Jeff and Joe are excellent speakers as we all know!

Jeff Tapper is talking about "Unit Testing in Flex with Fluint"

Joe Rinehart is talking about "Enterprise ColdFusion on Model-Glue, Groovy, Spring, and Hibernate"

These two fun guys are ready to give their fully loaded topics and then enjoy good times and great discussions with everyone after wards over some free beer and food.

See you underground at MAX!

This entry was posted on October 7, 2008 at 3:23 PM and has received 4508 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I'm the decision maker for CFUnited 2009! But I need help! I want to make this event a cut above the rest and it is up to you to let me know what you want.

I recently sent an email to all my alumni over the past 10 years and I've gotten almost 150 responses back since last night. Keep voting to make a change for 2009!

http://cfunited.com/go/survey/164

So far the results mention:

Most of you travel by plane then catch a shuttle and some travel by car to stay at the hotel

Most of you prefer a hotel with a conference center within but wouldn't mind a resort with a conference center.

Most people think the price for a night's stay should be around $175 per night

In order of rank the popular dates are: #1 - June 24th

#2 - July 29th

#3 - July 15th

#4 - July 8th

#5 - July 22nd

#6 - August 5th

#7 - August 12th

#8 - August 19th

#9 - July 1st

An Important Note: The closer to June the event is the more expensive the hotel and the more limited the choices.

The general feeling I get is that everyone wants something more affordable and cozier. Most wouldn't mind date changes as long as the sessions rock.

There is a big divide on location. Most want the event along metro lines and a lot of you want a different scenery than DC. I think as long as it is near an airport and plenty of parking, you'll be happy (maybe even a free shuttle from metro lines to the hotel would be ok); however, the sessions have to be amazing and you want plenty of time to network. You say the budget should be spent on internet, food and fluids, and audio visual.

I think what I'll do is keep looking at the results until October 8th. Analyze with my staff and advisory board. I've already sent out the RFP to 15 locations to bid on. I'm looking into a few others. I may narrow the proposals down to 3 locations based on all the feedback and let the community vote one last time on those three locations.

This really opened my eyes. Thanks everyone! Keep voting!

This entry was posted on October 3, 2008 at 2:14 PM and has received 3762 views. There are currently 15 comments. Print this entry.

Raymond Camden told me yesterday that he is definitely going to speak at our CFUnderground event in San Francisco November 16th. I'm super excited now to have Ray present. He also told me that he's going to switch things up a bit for this more informal event and talk about the amazing experiences he's had discovering awesome tools like source control, unit tests, frameworks, coldspring, etc. These are things he didn't know 10 years ago and I'm sure if you think back to the early days of coding, you'll find that your practices were much different.

Hopefully you can come visit us before the MAX event and share this fun experience with Myself, Nafisa, Ray, Adam, Joe, and Jeff.

http://www.cfunderground.com/

I'm bringing back the CFUnderground I use to enjoy the most. Good people, good discussions, good times.

This is lowest price we've ever charged for CFUnderground and in San Francisco no less! Don't miss out.

See you at MAX!

This entry was posted on October 1, 2008 at 4:04 PM and has received 4162 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.