Sean Corfield is currently CEO of Railo Technologies, Inc. He has worked in IT for over twenty five years, starting out writing database systems and compilers then moving into mobile telecoms and finally into web development in 1997. Along the way, he worked on the ISO and ANSI C++ Standards committees for eight years and is a staunch advocate of software standards and best practice. Sean has championed and contributed to a number of CFML frameworks and was lead developer on Fusebox for two years. He released his own framework (FW/1) in 2009.

CFUnited sessions: ColdFusion and the Open Source Landscape
FW/1 - The Invisible Framework

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

Every year since 2004 so this will be my seventh consecutive year as a speaker.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

I'm an advocate for several things that I think help developers improve themselves and build better applications. Two of those things are frameworks and open source software - the topics of my talks this year. My framework talk showcases FW/1 (Framework One) which is a very small, lightweight framework that should appeal to people who "don't like frameworks", whether they think frameworks are overkill for small projects or simply too much complicated third party code to learn or rely on in their applications. I call FW/1 the "invisible framework". My other talk is intended to expand developers' awareness of open source software in general, showing how the popularity of certain other technologies has arisen because of their open source communities. I also hope to answer questions such as "Why give away the source to my application?" and "Why should I contribute to someone else's free software project?".

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

I'm currently planning the next release of FW/1 and expect that to be released around CFUnited. I'm also thinking about creating a ColdFusion Builder Extension for FW/1.

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

When I looked through the list of topics the other day, there were about 30 that I'm interested in attending! Three that really caught my eye are Christian Ready's HTML5 talk and the two talks by Elliott Sprehn - because he always has some fascinating insights!

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

Cloud computing is one - since I've worked on systems deployed entirely on the cloud for a couple of years now - and Agile Software Development is the other. A lot of the ideas from the agile community are very interesting and a refreshing approach to many of the common problems we tend to encounter with projects.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

When I'm not in sessions, I'll be at the Railo Consulting sponsor booth during the day. In the evening? Most likely the bar...

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

Apart from 2009 being a horrible year for me personally and 2010 being a great improvement so far, not much has changed. That's quite a contrast to the last few years where I'd had a new employer each year! (Adobe in 2006, self-employed in 2007, Broadchoice in 2008, Railo in 2009 and Railo in 2010)

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

CFUnited is the biggest event of the year for CF developers - it offers the best networking, the broadest selection of topics, and access to more of our peers than any other event. I really enjoy the opportunity to connect with so many CF developers in one place!

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

Last year I would have said dancing but since my wife broke her ankle we haven't done much of that. To be honest, what I mostly do in my free time is work on open source software projects - and I really enjoy that!

This entry was posted on April 28, 2010 at 5:33 PM and has received 2670 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Brian Rinaldi is an Applications Developer at Pongo Resume where he does Adobe ColdFusion and Adobe Flex development. Brian is an Adobe Community Expert and runs the Boston ColdFusion User Group. He also organizes the RIA Unleashed conference in Boston. Brian blogs regularly about ColdFusion, Flex and Ajax on his blog at remotesynthesis.com.

CFUnited session: Beginning Flex for ColdFusion Developers
Building Self-Updating ColdFusion Builder Extensions

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

Yes, I spoke at both of the past two years - two years ago on RIA security and last year on the Mate Flex framework. This year I will be speaking on ColdFusion Builder extensions, which are, in my opinion, the most exciting feature in ColdFusion Builder.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

Like I said, ColdFusion Builder extensions are the most exciting feature of ColdFusion Builder, allowing you to extend the Eclipse IDE using the CFML programming skills you already have. This opens up a world of possibilities in creating tools and customizing your IDE to meet your specific needs and/or the needs of your organization. This session will cover all the basics of building your own extensions and will add in the ability to auto-update those extensions using my Acme Boomerang project.

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

Well, the Acme Boomerang for ColdFusion Builder project is already out but considering it plays a significant part in my presentation, I would expect some updates along the way.

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

Well, I am hoping that we can keep the Flex track as top-notch as it was last year (especially considering I am track chair on that).

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

Hmmm...Well, we never seem short on items to debate. I thought last years CFML committee discussion was enlightening. I'd like to see a discussion on open source in CFML - like, for instance, get the leads of many of the open-source frameworks or professional open-source projects to discuss the challenges and benefits of open-source.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

The first night, I will probably be at the bar until midnight - convincing myself that this time I will get some sleep rather than staying out far too late. Each night after that, you'll likely find me out at the bar progressively later.

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

Not much...thanks for asking! :)

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

It's still the single best opportunity to network within the ColdFusion developer community. I've been attending conferences for years but I never fail to meet many new people every time I go to this conference. The venue was outstanding with plenty of amenities and good food. The alcohol flowed well into the night - often out by bonfire. Oh yeah, and the sessions are great - last year was by far the best sessions I attended at a CFUnited.

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

Well, I own a lot of video games (with every system available on the market). Notice I said own and not play. I don't get to play them too much - between kids and work. I also listen to a lot of music.

This entry was posted on April 19, 2010 at 10:48 AM and has received 2710 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Jason Dean - Currently employed by the Minnesota Department of Health, in St. Paul, MN, Jason Dean he has been working in Information Technology for 12 years, focusing on application security for the past 3. A veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard trained in both physical and information security, he held a secret security clearance and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology Management from American Military University. He keeps himself busy managing a ColdFusion User Group at the Department of Health, sitting on the board of the Twin Cities ColdFusion User Group, speaking at conferences and user groups, training, writing, and blogging at http://www.12robots.com.

CFUnited session: Practical Ajax Security
Understanding Security in Adobe AIR Applications

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

I have not. This will be my first time. I am very excited about it.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

Security is an important topic, and, all too often, it is considered as an afterthought in the development process. My goal is to help people think about how security affects their applications and how it should be built in from the very beginning.

I will be talking about Ajax security and AIR security. Both Ajax and AIR are relatively new in the Web 2.0 (bleh) world and there are security considerations that developers may not even know exist.

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

Maybe. Too early to be certain.

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

The topics I am most interested in are: Mike Henke's "ColdFusion on Wheels" (I want to see what all the hype is about), Jeff Tapper's "Flex 4 for Flex 3 Developers", and Jim Priest's "Digging into the Developer Toolbox".

That said, I have actually seen several of the other presentations and I can say that Bob Silverberg's "What Your Mother Never Told You About ColdFusion 9 ORM", Daryl Banttari's "How to Read a Stack Trace", Kurt Wiersma's "Real World ColdSpring" and Shannon Hick's "Searching with Apache Solr" are all fantastic presentations and are sure to delight the audience.

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

Of course I always love to talk about security, but I would also like to see topics on OO, input validation, TDD, and accessibility.

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

Anywhere but in my room. I will be at sessions and BoFs, and I am usually in the bar well past midnight. I love to talk, so no one should hesitate to say "Hi".

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

I started grad school this year, so I have been very busy with that. I am working toward an M.S. in Information Assurance and Security. Also, I am writing a column for the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update called "Let's Talk Security" where I discuss different application security topics in greater detail than what I have in my blog posts or presentations.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

CFUnited is HUGE! Last year was the first time I attended, and I could not believe how many people were there. I have only attended smaller conferences in the past, so it was really great to meet so many people and to see so many old friends. It was hard to make time for everyone I wanted to see, but it was also nice that there was never a lack of good company.

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

In my what?

With work, school, training, presentations, blogging, and writing, I find very little extra time for anything other than my wife (who is a full-time culinary arts student) and my two children, Elizabeth (7) and James (3).

This entry was posted on April 2, 2010 at 9:34 AM and has received 2859 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Aaron West - For the past nine years I have been heavily involved in the Web development space building enterprise-level, database-driven Web applications and leading technology teams. I'm incredibly passionate about what I do and attempt to inject my enthusiasm and love for technology in all those around me.

CFUnited session: New Caching Features in ColdFusion 9

1. Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past?

Yes! I've attended CFUnited for years but last year was my first time speaking. I did a talk on ColdFusion 9, BlazeDS, and AIR integration.

2. Why should people attend your sessions?

Because it will be the best? Ha, all kidding aside, my talk on caching should be attended by those who need to make the most out of their Web apps. It's not enough to write code and deploy it to a badass server. You need to write code a certain way to ensure it performs as expected and scales as needed. Understanding caching in ColdFusion 9 (as well as how to use it) should be a critical component in every developers toolbox.

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

Absolutely. I'm currently working on a new technology startup that's using ColdFusion (and other Adobe technology) as part of our development stack. By the time CFUnited rolls around we should have our first customers in production.

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

What interests me most are the ColdFusion integration topics. My favorites are the ones that tie Flex/AIR and ColdFusion together, but anything that involves building compelling Web applications with ColdFusion and other technologies are the most intriguing.

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

Personally, I'm interested in the role cloud technology will play in the application server space. I used to think this was cutting edge stuff until I started researching and found people deploying cloud solutions as early as 2006. From a developer perspective, it's still somewhat new and there's not a lot of exposure to folks using ColdFusion in the cloud. I think this will be changing throughout 2010 and beyond. Roundtable discussions are always fun, and one centered on the impact of cloud technology on ColdFusion would be delicious!

6. Where can people find you at CFUnited?

Simple, where the action is! During the day I'm attending sessions and hanging out in the hallways and vendor booths. I love chatting it up with other developers and enjoying hearing about other folks projects. At night, I can be found wherever the beer is located.

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

What hasn't changed? The last several months have been quite awesome. Toward the end of 2009 I made a big decision to leave my employer of 5 years. I'm now working on a new technology startup and loving every single minute of it. It's amazingly challenging work but comes with some great rewards too. I've had to break out of my shell and learn several new technologies and bone up on a few rusty ones. The experience has been positive and I hope to be sharing much more about what I'm doing at CFUnited 2010.

8. What is unique about CFUnited?

CFUnited presents the most unique opportunity to learn from other developers. Sure there are fantastic topics and speakers - all of which are extremely valuable - but CFUnited is the one spot, all year, where hundreds of ColdFusion developers get together to talk shop. If you can't engage with others and learn something from both the sessions and the unstructured time, you are simply discarding a big part of what CFUnited is all about. Forget about going to bed early; you can sleep when you get home. Attend sessions, talk to the speakers and other attendees. Learn what others are doing (and what they aren't doing) and leave the conference having capitalized on every opportunity to grow as a developer.

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

Many geeks will say they don't have free time but I'm not one of them. Having time to recharge my batteries and focus on non-technical things is very important to me. Most of my free time is spent with my wife and son who are the most important things in my life. I love coming home to them and simply hanging out and playing cars or trains. I'm also big into reading and spend a lot of time with my Kindle. I try to read at least one book a month and often get in two. I'm also an avid motorcyclist - I ride a Yamaha R6 sportbike - and scuba diver.

This entry was posted on March 22, 2010 at 9:41 AM and has received 3251 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Hello!

I know everybody has been anxious to see the rest of the topics!

Mate Flex Framework: What's in it for me? - Laura Arguello

20 Security Threats to Flex Apps and How to Avoid them - Elad Elrom

Flex Data Binding Pitfalls - 10 common misuse mistakes - Elad Elrom

Object Relational Mapping in CF on Wheels - Chris Peters

ColdBox Platform 3.0.0: Sustainable ColdFusion Applications - Luis Majano

ColdFusion Powered iPhone Applications - Luis Majano and Joshua Geise

Flash Catalyst: Design to Flex - Dee Sadler

CSS and the CMS - Dee Sadler

Beginning Flex for ColdFusion Developers - Brian Rinaldi

These will most likely be the last of the topics released, not including sponsor-speaker slots. Those will be released as they come in.

Thanks to everyone who submitted topics!!

This entry was posted on March 12, 2010 at 5:01 PM and has received 3545 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Some more topics to look over!!

Designing Scalable and Creative Algorithms - Elliott Sprehn

HTML5: The cool, the really cool, and the "huh?" - Christian Ready

Locking Down ColdFusion - Pete Freitag

Writing Secure CFML - Pete Freitag

Excel Generation Made Easy with CF9 - Ajay Sathuluri

Accessible Javascript - Sandy Clark

How To: Data Structure Upgrade - Selene Bainum

Advanced T-SQL - Selene Bainum

Validation in ColdFusion - Dan Vega

Developing Web Applications for Mobile Devices - Dan Vega

You can check out their descriptions and read over the full list of topics!

Also, if you still haven't registered, make sure you do so before 3/31/10 when the prices go up!!

This entry was posted on March 5, 2010 at 11:58 AM and has received 2686 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We have a few more topics for you...and no worries...we still aren't done :)

Make Your Model Promiscuous - Scott Stroz

Advanced Model-Glue Code Generation Techniques - Ezra Parker

What's New in Model-Glue? - Ezra Parker

Architecting for the Enterprise - Gary Gilbert

Getting the most development out of your Mac - Shannon Hicks

You can read their descriptions and start playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe about what topics you're going to attend!

Also, if you still haven't registered, make sure you do so before 3/31/10 when the prices go up!!

This entry was posted on February 26, 2010 at 2:37 PM and has received 2652 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I know, I know, I was being selfish; I have a couple more to let out! I just didn't want to spoil everyone!

Here we go...

Get the Lead out - Practical Optimization - Dan Wilson

Setting up a Solid Local Development Environment - Kurt Wiersma

Using ColdFusion 9 Server Manager to Cluster and Manage CF - Mike Brunt

Clean Code: Why it matters and how it's done - Brian Kotek

Papervision 3D and Beyond - Simon Free

Hidden Gems in ColdFusion Builder - Charlie Arehart

Building a QA - Testing Environment for ColdFusion Applications - Mike Brunt

ColdFusion and the Open Source Landscape - Sean Corfield

Don't worry, this isn't the final release!

Check out the topics' page to see these topic descriptions and our full list of topics!!

This entry was posted on February 17, 2010 at 3:56 PM and has received 2402 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Hello my patient followers :) Now, (drumroll please), it is my honor to introduce to you...THE NEXT SET OF TOPICS! Whooohoooooo!

I hope you are all as excited as I am!

AIR Development with jQuery and ColdFusion - Ray Camden

ColdFusion Builder Extensions, making your IDE work for you! - Simon Free

ColdFusion with noSQL - John Paul Ashenfelter

Design Patterns for ColdFusion + Flex RIA - Joe Rinehart

FW/1 - The Invisible Framework - Sean Corfield

I Bet You Didn't Know You Could Do That With ColdFusion - Elliott Sprehn

The Swiz Framework - Brian Kotek

10 Things You Should Know About ORM - Sam Farmer

ColdFusion Builder - Chaz Chumley

Cache Me If You Can - Dan Wilson and Mike Brunt

More to come soon...

Check out our topics' page to see these topic descriptions and our full list of topics!!

This entry was posted on February 15, 2010 at 1:17 PM and has received 2262 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

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.

This entry was posted on February 10, 2010 at 11:39 AM and has received 2746 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.