Keynote Day 1:
CF8 well received overall. Cool demos, very inspiring. Loud music and it got the audience really pumped. I saw AIR applications like snipage, anthropology, pownce, AOL top 100 and more. It was so cool to see what people have done. I want an AIR application for CFUnited so badly. If anyone wants to help me out, I'll make you popular beyond your dreams. lol. I love buzzword, that was cool, an online processor is great. Ok, so the keynote went a little over, but who cares, this was great stuff! (honestly I could have attended just the keynote and networking event and I would have been happy)

Sessions on Day 1:
I hardly remember what I saw because my feet hurt so much from walking. The conference center was HUGE. I just wanted to go back to my room and relax, but no, I have to stick around for the sponsor reception. Ugh... no break. I promise you, I will work on providing CFUnited attendees time to relax.

Sponsor Expo:
Very nicely spread out. Lots to do and interact. Community pit was cool. I saw they had massage people, which we did one year at CFUnited and it was a great idea that I'll try to have them back again in 2008. There was ok food and an ok band. Lots of people attended. So it was to be expected and my feet still hurt. Once again I made my way to the speaker hotel, actually I had a meeting with some folks as a follow up from an earlier conversation. Went really well.

Keynote Day 2:
Yikes, yesterday was nothing compared to today. As a designer, I almost fainted! Thermo was the highlight of my day. http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Thermo Best way to put it (correct me if I'm wrong) is that it is tool for designers to create a design in photoshop/illustrator, import into Thermo and indicated in a simple way, what the website should do. Meanwhile, it writes code for the developer to work with using Flex. Saves time, money, headaches, and is perfect for any type of designer/developer environment. Amongst the other cool things to note, Share, Scene7, Pacifica, Cocomo. I love MTV's contest for new AIR apps. Very cool.

Day 2 and 3:
All just a big blur, I'm tired and I miss my family. The evening event was fun with an 80's, 90's, etc. approach. Kind of a fun carnival. I really would have enjoyed being out on the town more instead, but I guess I can't expect Adobe to move over 4,000+ people to another location.

Thank you Adobe for a great event. I appreciate everything that was offered to attendees and thanks for having it in Chicago, great idea. I hear its in San Francisco next year. Sweet.

Hopefully everyone understands that I feel for you when I say conference going is such a huge commitment and really takes a chunk of your time, money, and energy. I hope from my experience at MAX I can improve CFUnited and make it as smooth as possible for everyone to gain knowledge, inspiration, connections, and lots of fun.

The biggest question on people's mind is when is CFUnited 2008? I'm 80% sure it is the same hotel and same week in June. However, there will be more sessions and repeats, more to do, awesome special events, and more show casing/demos. We are improving our Audio Visual (if you have suggestions, RFP goes out now). And... CFUnited is bringing a special gift to attendees upon registering, more details soon.

Don't forget CFUnited Express Bay Area and CFUnited Europe in UK! See you soon! Thanks friends and fans!

CFUnited Europe Website

CFUnited Express Bay Area Website

This entry was posted on October 15, 2007 at 9:56 AM and has received 3811 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Entry at 7:15pm, September 29th

Noon on Saturday I find out my flight is delayed 1 hour, then 2 hours, then 3 hours. Ugh.... Enough said. I started thinking that some CFUnited attendees must have the same experiences traveling to DC. Well, I feel for you. I've been traveling since I was 6 years old but now that I'm a conference go-er all on my lonesome I find traveling to be boring and a pain in the rear. Just something I have to get through to get to the end of the rainbow. Arriving in Chicago, I picked up my luggage and pack myself into a shuttle on my way to the Hotel I'm staying at and not but 1 minute into the ride do I bump into 2 people on the same ride going to MAX as well. Tells me I'm going to be bumping into a lot of designers and developers this week. I love it! See, I adore developers but did you know I'm a designer by nature? Yup, I attended University of Maryland for my degree in Art Studio Graphic Design. I'm obsessed with design and I'm so excited for this year's MAX conference because I'll not only be learning what CFUnited should cover in 2008, but I get to learn about my own love in life. I recently installed my CS3 and I am ready to find out what I can do with it.

Entry 10:05pm September 29th

I'm finally here. I can't wait to have a beer. Chicago is amazing. Beautiful city. Lots to see and eat. Eat. I'm so hungry. Found cute little Ma and Pop places.

Entry September 30th:

The Welcome reception wasn't a welcome for me because I stood in line to check-in, seemed like forever. While everyone was at the reception, I was in the longest line of my life. I bumped into some Adobe people along the way and got some hot tips on who to talk to. Thanks guys! I saw there were almost 2 dozen people behind the counter in a mad ciaos, I had to laugh. It is hard to perfect conference check-in. With only 5 people at CFUnited, we busted through 700 people in 1 hour. I'll be working to still improve that process. Maybe play a movie or some music, cause it really sucked just standing there (I won't say how long cause I stopped counting after a while).

I made it to the reception with 15 minutes left. I grabbed a glass of wine and started reuniting with my speaker buddies and CFUnited fans. It was nice to relax. I found out early on that the place to be after hours was the nearest hotel to the conference center. It was wear all the Adobe Staff and Speakers were staying and it was networking heaven. I really got a chance to hear and be heard. I never realized how people have misperceptions of our speaker picking, sponsor processes, and generally how CFUnited is created.

Speakers are chosen in a selection process including about 10 or so Advisory Members. We allow them to vote, then we create track chairs who help arrange the topics by popular vote to complete track sessions. NOt everyone gets in, but they have the opportunity to submit whitepapers or become a backup speakers. We are working to improve the process. The Call for Speakers is open really early so we can get some topics committed. A lot of people want to register early to spend training budgets from their companies. Also, just to plan early over all. The sponsor process is very simple and there are so many opportunities. We provide the booth structure for silver and gold, tables for bronze. CFUnited is created by myself and Michael and a team I've hired to help me. I can't give away all my secrets and I can tell you I'm not a big fan of third parties.

I always want to hear suggestions on how to improve. Some will tell me "I suggested something last year and you did it! Thanks!".

Read my next blog entry about the rest of my time in Chicago on Monday. :-)

This entry was posted on October 12, 2007 at 4:01 PM and has received 3564 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

After several attempts at writing this blog entry, I finally found the words to describe my experience at Adobe MAX. Though, I figure I don't have any real technical insight to offer. I'm a designer trying to describe developer content. I came to the conclusion that what I need to let the CF community know is that after attending MAX, I learned a lot about what developers are thirsty for. I did a lot of one-on-one's with speakers, sponsors, and attendees. Something I never have time to do at CFUnited. I really enjoyed hearing how much people loved CFUnited and the stage for ColdFusion that we've created. What I really liked hearing was new ideas for presentations.

I came to the realization that Adobe has put a lot of effort into finding out what tools, developers and designers alike, want and need to advance themselves and their work in the future. This includes CFUnited in my case. I want to create useful applications that mimic the message I've worked hard in creating. Uniting the community, spreading knowledge, and creating opportunity for those who are passionate about this technology. I think CFUnited can be more than just a one-week experience. With the number of people we can reach, I think we have a responsibility to display in a tangible sense the possibilities of these technologies. In addition, I think CF is great, however I think CFUnited should address more like Flex, AIR, Ajax, LiveCycle, Framework, etc. Keeping CF alive is all about keeping the community advancing. Its like if I bake chocolate chip cookies over and over again. They might get better and better each time because I stop burning them and learn how to use the oven correctly. But then I bring in some other tools and components to improve the recipe for the tasty experience I'm creating for my audience. I want to bring you the traditional chocolate chip cookie at its perfection and also introduce you to the many different flavors. Offering a taste of all these different languages and technologies lets you renew pleasure in these experiences. ... while still bringing you the down home goodness of the chocolate chip cookie we love.

The most exciting part about MAX was the keynotes! Wow, I have never been so blown away with what people are creating with these technologies. It almost makes me want to learn how to code so I can start making my own applications. I have tons of ideas! I was disappointed that ColdFusion was shortly mentioned, however it was positively displayed and made me think that CF has found its calling and will be around for a long time. They just announced ColdFusion 9 Centaur, I think for a 2009 release.

Stay tuned for the rest of my blog entry about MAX on Monday.

This entry was posted on October 11, 2007 at 4:40 PM and has received 3647 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

It was great seeing the many CFUnited attendees at MAX this past week. There were may of you sporting the CFUnited t-shirts and backpacks during the conference, which was nice to see. For those of you who got to meet us we passed out lolly pops, buttons and a CFUnited 08 MAX show discount card.

This is a reminder to everyone who received the CFUnited discount card during MAX, the expiration for the MAX discount is October 15, 2007. Its one of our best discounts so don't miss the opportunity to use it! CFUnited 08 will be held June 25th - 28th, 2008.

This entry was posted on October 10, 2007 at 4:23 PM and has received 4033 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Please enjoy this review by Dana Tierney for HOF

http://www.fusionauthority.com/reviews/4708-cfunited-express-chicago-a-taste.htm

Thanks Dana, we are glad you enjoyed your experience at CFUnited Express. Hope we see you again soon. -Liz

This entry was posted on October 8, 2007 at 3:11 PM and has received 3211 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Hey everyone! We are so excited to announce CFUnited 2008 USA registration.

http://www.cfunited.com/

Come home to the event with everything you desire in ColdFusion, networking, visibility and more.

We are increasing the number of sessions, space, and tools for our attendee community. ColdFusion plus... We will fill you in on all the details soon and we cannot wait to inspire and be inspired after releasing our first round of topics. Submit your call for speaker suggestions now to be apart of this amazing experience.

http://www.cfunited.com/

This entry was posted on October 3, 2007 at 4:52 PM and has received 2329 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Wow, MAX in Chicago is sold out! I'm so glad I got my ticket. Looks like there has been a little last minute madness, but that's what makes it all exciting. 4300 people at one event, that's amazing.

http://blog.adobemax2007.com/2007/09/adobe-max-2007-north-america-is-sold.html

Nafisa and I will be there. We will try to use the CFUnited Blog to let everyone know about our experience. Feel free to use this blog to add comments so we can see links to your blog too. I wanna know what I missed while somewhere else because I know I can't be everywhere at the same time. I have my favorite blogs I read a lot like Sean, Ray, Simon, Ben, etc... (heck all my speakers are my favorites, and yes I too should belong to Blog-Readers-Anonymous like the rest of you)

Oh and I have CF tattoos if anyone wants one, its helps when wandering around and people can be like "Hey, you're a CFer too!"

This entry was posted on September 27, 2007 at 12:47 PM and has received 3670 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

The CFUnited Express Chicago topic for Ray Camden has been switched to 1pm-2pm instead of occurring at 4pm. That means Shlomy will be speaking at 4pm-5pm

Both topics are a "treat"! See everyone on Sunday!

Updated schedule here http://express.cfunited.com/go/chicago/2007/schedule

Thanks!

This entry was posted on September 27, 2007 at 12:29 PM and has received 2663 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We are releasing the Call for Speakers. This round of picks will end on October 31st (10/31/07). We will choose 50% of the topics that will be presented at CFUnited.

Wondering why so early? Many attendees like to plan ahead for a major event like CFUnited, also we can see what types of topics we need to fill in with other speakers. Another round of call for speakers will occur November-January.

Please submit your ideas for topics now! http://callforspeakers.cfconf.org/?event=suggest&eventId=170

This entry was posted on September 26, 2007 at 4:02 PM and has received 4019 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Thats right! CFUnited Express is planning to make a stop at Denver in April 2008. We are very excited about the location and look forward to bringing the CFUnited experience to Denver. CFUnited speaker Nate Nelson is helping us out as the local speaker.

Stay tuned for more updates as they come.

This entry was posted on September 25, 2007 at 3:48 PM and has received 2634 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.