We wanted to thank to everyone who registered during November, December and January. A dollar from each of those registrations was added on our $300 donation, which came out to be a generous gift for a worthy cause.

The Heart of Virginia Foundation is a non-profit foundation formed in response to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. They offer charitable and educational opportunities to promote emotional well-being through the arts and to fight the stigma of mental illness.

They are currently looking for volunteers, so if you're in the Leesburg area and want to help out, check out their site!

Bob Silverberg - has been developing software for nearly twenty years, the past ten of which have been devoted to web application development with ColdFusion. He runs a small development company from his home in Toronto, where he divides his time between client work, open source development and taking care of his two young sons. He is an active participant on a number of ColdFusion mailing lists and blogs at www.silverwareconsulting.com.

CFUnited sessions: Automagic Validations for ColdFusion Objects
What Your Mother Never Told You About ColdFusion 9 ORM

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

No, I have not.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

In my "What Your Mother Never Told You About ColdFusion 9 ORM" session I'll be covering a number of topics that are important to understand when working with CF's new ORM features, but that are not covered in the Adobe documentation. These include some advanced techniques, but also a number of gotchas that you are likely to fall prey to if you don't take the time to learn a bit about what goes on "under the covers".

My "Automagic Validations for ColdFusion Objects" session covers the use of a tool which will address all of your application's validation needs. If you're tired of writing both client-side and server-side validation code or are wondering exactly where to place the validation logic in your object oriented application, this session will offer some useful solutions.

3. Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?

My validation framework is continually evolving so no doubt I'll have some new things to show off at CFUnited.

4. Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?

Well, there haven't been that many sessions announced yet, but of the ones that have been announced I'd say I'm looking forward to Dan Wilson's session on Making Bad Code Good, because any session by Dan Wilson is sure to be fun and enlightening, and also Jason Dean's session on Practical Ajax Security, because when it comes to security Jason is da man, and it's a topic that I really need to learn more about.

5. What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?

I'm always interested in hearing about how people apply object oriented principles to ColdFusion development. A roundtable on open source development in the ColdFusion community would be welcome as well. Of course I'm hoping that Marc Esher and a bunch of other fun folks will get a chance to host an end-to-end testing roundtable this year - that will be fantastic, and a topic that should be of interest to any web developer.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

In sessions, of course, and in the common areas between sessions. Those "hallway chats" are often the most interesting and inspiring of all. At the end of the day I'll likely spend some time in the bar, catching up with old friends and making new ones. If you see me anywhere, please introduce yourself and say hello.

7. What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?

Things are pretty much the same for me as last year. My sons are now 3 and 5, so they keep me busy. I recently started playing tennis again, after a two-year hiatus. From a technical standpoint the new stuff I've been working with includes CF's new ORM features and Git (version control software). Oh, and I made the switch from a PC to a Mac around six months ago and have been very happy with the change.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

I'm not in a very good position to answer that question having never attended a CFUnited. I did attend a couple of CFUN conferences many years ago and they were, as the name suggests, fun.

9. What do you like to do in your free time?

I enjoy tennis and skating (which I'm just now learning to do), cooking, spending time with my family, and I've been trying to learn to play the guitar for a few years now.

Hello world of all things ColdFusion, Flex and Air!

We are officially opening up the list of topics for the community to vote on! Our keen and trusty Advisory Board have voted on some of these topics already. Some of the topics they are voting on as we speak (blog). But we want to hear the voice of the people, the CF fanatics, the proud self-proclaimed geeks that truly represent what CFUnited is all about! Answer the call to action and make your voices heard!

Evaluate the topics submitted and VOTE

From gurus to newbies, everyone in the world and their dogs can vote (as long as they have an e-mail address) until February 12, 2010.

Big Announcement! Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back...

Last year was so nice, we are going to do it twice! That's right everyone, we have been invited back to the AAA Four-Diamond Award-Winning Lansdowne Resort for CFUnited 2010 and we have RSVP-ed with a resounding, YES!

I mean really, how could we resist? We are looking forward to seeing the faces of the friendly and accommodating staff, checking in to the sumptuously appointed guest rooms and suites, learning and networking in the award-winning conference facility, and getting in some playtime on the championship golf course and sparkling aquatic complex. Only the best for us please! Stay tuned for the code to book your hotel room at a discounted rate, we will be sharing the room block information shortly. Please let us know right away if you are interested in room sharing this year so we can begin putting something in the works. We have locked down the resort for July 28th - July 31st, 2010.

But wait, there's more! There were a lot of people who contacted us because they have wanted to register but needed to have exact dates/location in order to. For those people who missed out on the last early bird because they were waiting for this announcement, we are going to be offering the 11/30/09 early bird price from now until Monday 12/21/2009 at midnight. To take advantage of this offer, use the code EBEXT50, when you register.

We are so thrilled to be back at Lansdowne! 2009 was truly special thanks to the location, but you don't have to take our word for it. Here are some comments we got after last year that really convinced us to come back for 2010...

"And the location... one word, unparalleled. I mean, this place was a gem waiting to be discovered. I'm going to reserve the majority of this blog post just to talk about the conference center / hotel. Not that the sessions don't deserve more attention (they were beyond my expectations), but after all the previous CFUnited conferences I've been to (which were great), I never realized how much better an event can be just with subtle improvements at an event location." - Jeff Coughlin

"I really can't say enough good things about the location. The Lansdowne Resort was a beautiful location, it had great rooms, amazing food - and snacks and drinks were available all day, every day! - incredibly helpful staff and a good bar." - Sean Corfield

"Comfy room, lap pool, play pools, plenty of space to hang about, etc. There are advantages to being closer in to DC, but I'd come back here again, for sure. In particular, the outdoor patio was perfect for the evenings, and it was remarkably pleasant outside after the sun went down." - Barney Boisvert

We know the CF community is just as warm and tightly knit as a handmade scarf. So we are pleased to announce that we have linked up with The Heart of Virginia, a non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation formed in response to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The Heart of Virginia Foundation offers charitable and educational opportunities to promote emotional well-being through the arts and to fight the stigma of mental illness. Today we are proud to launch the CFUnited 2010 registration drive! Here's how it works, Stellr will donate $100 for each month in November, December, and January. Additionally, we will donate $1 for each CFUnited registration during those months. 100% of the money we donate goes directly to funding this non-profit organization! They are fairly new and they are close to home, so we wanted to shine the spotlight on them and help get their message out! Read more about The Heart of Virginia on their website www.theheartofva.org and remember the Early Bird price expires November 30th!

I know its early, but due to popular demand we are opening the CFUnited 2010 Call for Speakers today!

For the past few months we have received emails from all over from individuals with ideas on what they would like to present at next year's conference. We are looking for talented speakers, fresh topics, and juicy ColdFusion & Flex content. Fill out the following form to suggest your topics http://callforspeakers.cfconf.org/

Watch out for more details about the call for speakers in the upcoming weeks.

RIA Unleashed : Boston is a one-day, three-track, event that covers Adobe Flex, Adobe AIR, Adobe ColdFusion and related technologies and disciplines, with 20 sessions designed to allow you to focus on the technologies you are interested in. Get exciting updates on the Adobe Flash Platform, learn the latest tips and tricks from the leading RIA developers, and network with your peers.

The event is being held on November 13th at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. There is already an amazing lineup of speakers including Ray Camden, Adam Lehman, Ryan Stewart, Peter Bell, Jason Delmore, Simon Free and many more! Currently registration is only $50 for individuals and $40 for groups and that includes the full day of sessions, lunch, prizes and an after-party. On top of that, there is a special CFUnited discount of $10 off if you use the code "CFUNITED". Plus, if you register now, you are eligible to win a PlayStation 3 Slim through our referral contest if you refer your friends and coworkers!

So don't wait as space is limited and past events (formerly Flex Camp Boston) have sold out! Register today.

Sign up to attend at least one of these 3 upcoming ColdFusion & Flex events:

CFinNC October 17 - 18, 2009

bFlex/bFusion October 24 - 25, 2009

RIA Unleashed November 13, 2009

Then go to http://www.winacfdudecamera.com/ and in a 100 words or less, describe why you love ColdFusion or why you are excited to learn ColdFusion! You'll be entered to win one of the limited edition CFDude video cameras.

Hello CFUnited alumni and fans! It's Fall and the leaves aren't the only thing changing this season. Big news everyone, drum roll please... Liz Frederick is joining the Developer Relations team at Adobe to become a Community Manager! APPLAUSE! Liz has helped to build CFUnited into the premiere ColdFusion conference for over the last 8 years and has done an amazing job as manager and director of CFUnited, putting place practices and procedures that have made for an excellent ColdFusion community event each year.

As Liz is joining Adobe she will be missed at the office but we will retain her guidance through the detailed procedures she leaves behind. She will also continue to be an integral part of CFUnited conferences as a member of the Advisory Board, offering guidance to the Stellr team whenever needed. The Stellr team, including myself, Elliott Sprehn, and Cara Beverage, volunteers and its newest list of advisers (Charlie Arehart , Raymond Camden, Sean Corfield, Shlomy Gantz, Adam Lehman, Liz Frederick, Chaz Chumley, Bob Flynn, Simon Free, Brian Kotek, Andy Powell, Dan Wilson, Todd Sharp, Scott Stroz, and Mark Drew) are committed to put together an amazing CFUnited event in 2010. Registration is open for business, were running an incredible deal of $499 for a 3 day package, from now until September 25th! Things went great this year and it's totally gone to our heads! I guess we're just feeling really generous, take advantage and get the BEST DEAL EVER, so far.

Please, feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions or concerns. Remember, Adobe MAX is right around the corner, Cara and I can't wait to see you there!

Here is a round up of the recent CFConversation podcasts that spotlight the CFUnited conference, sessions, and speakers. Big thanks to Brian Meloche for doing such an awesome job of organizing and hosting the podcasts!

Barney Boisvert - this episode in the Speakers of CFUnited series features Barney Boisvert. This is a great episode, which was recorded on Day 2 of CFObjective in May. Barney talks about his session, CFGroovy - Groovy for the CFML Developer, which he's doing Thursday at 4:45pm at CFUnited. Of course, that means he talks about Groovy and why he uses it with CF. We also talk about Hibernate, Grails, Fusebox and his mini Fusebox-inspired framework called FB3Lite.

CFUnited 2009 Day 2, Part 1 - The new venue for CFUnited this year, Stellr, the day 1 keynotes from Liz Frederick and Adobe, day 1 sessions, birds of a feather and hints at several other things that we dive deeper into in part 2. On the roundtable panel: Brian Meloche, John Mason, Timothy Farrar, John Farrar, Anita Neal, and Jason Dean

CFUnited 2009 Day 2, Part 2 - Covering a lot of stuff, including things both at the conference and other things to think about. Joe Reinhart's inspiring day 2 keynote that prominently featured Todd Sharp's Slide Six site as an example of sites CF developers should aspire to build rather than oldschool CF CRUD-style apps that ColdFusion no longer has the same advantages it historically had over other languages.We discuss some of the interesting day 2 sessions we attended. Janine Driver, Mark Phillips, Charlie Arehart, Mike Brunt, Adam Haskell and Barney Boisvert were singled out as speakers with interesting talks. Lastly, some of the demo derby apps were discussed, as the two Johns and Timothy are each competing in the derby.

Lawrence Cramer - Lawrence is speaking (in one hour! - apologies to all) on Real World eCommerce with ColdFusion, and he talks about his presentation. He also talks about how he got started in Dreamweaver and later ColdFusion, ColdFusion 9/ColdFusion Builder (still code named, at the time) and some other projects.

Post-CFUnited 2009: Wrap-up, Withdrawal & Fallout - a post-CFUnited 2009 "wrap-up fallout" roundtable, where we review the conference as a whole, "post-conference withdrawal and fallout" of things that both happened and what didn't happen during the conference. On this roundtable, we have: Brian Meloche, Adam Haskell, Dan Wilson, John Farrar, and Mark Mandel