CFUnited Blog - reviews http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm This is the development blog. en-us Tue, 19 Mar 2024 04:19:38 -0500 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:28:00 -0500 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss michael@teratech.com michael@teratech.com michael@teratech.com no CFUnited 2009 Session Reviews http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/14/CFUnited-2009-Session-Reviews Whats the good word? CFUnited 09 has gotten great reviews! Check out what fusionauthority.com had to say... CFUnited 2009 (August 12-15, 2009 at the Landsdowne Resort in Leesburg, VA) has provided me with a myriad of positive experiences. I was surprised at the level of professionalism and the caliber of speakers. The sessions and seminars were powerful and provided a wealth of knowledge. The speakers actually shared their experiences and knowledge! I had a wonderful time at this very enriching and rewarding event. I knew then I had found a good community to be part of. Read more... http://www.fusionauthority.com/community/4784-cfunited-2009-session-reviews.htm reviews Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:28:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/14/CFUnited-2009-Session-Reviews The Biggest Thank You Ever http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/8/18/The-Biggest-Thank-You-Ever I am so appreciative of all the comments people have given Stellr about the event. I truly enjoyed this event from beginning to end and I am glad everyone felt the experience was worthwhile. This is a developer's conference. If this was a "What does Liz like to do?" conference it would be purple purses as gift bags and photoshop topics and everyone would be getting pedicures during the evening event. But its about you. I've been studying the developer community for over 8 years. I know what you want and how you want it. I also know everyone deserves to be treated like a rock star. It?s my job to make CF look cool. Geek is cool, and it is about time. Being smart and creating amazing apps that do incredible things is something to be recognized for. It's also about community. People who have a common interest can do more for the world just by sharing ideas and find out short cuts to save time. You can't build yourself a new rocket ship without knowing how the other guy did it. And you can't build a new rocket ship without the right tools. And you can't show off your new rocket ship without an audience. And you can't take off in your new rocket ship without the experience of others to tell you what happens when you get to outer space. Hopefully your new rocket ship comes with great food and excellent resort staff so that you can enjoy that success. Anyways, that is my way of thinking. I put this conference together because I know people will create amazing online applications that will help other people and blow their minds. Information is the essential ingredient towards faster growth. ColdFusion is just one of those things I want to be apart of. It's been the underdog and the brunt of jokes. I knew in my heart that if I could get people together and unite them with a common interest, that someday CFers all over the world would benefit. ColdFusion is cool. ColdFusion is a bad-ass language that if you are worthy enough to join this club of genius, then you will understand that in the end you have saved your company time, money, and gained free advise for a lifetime. Why do I buy the name brand items from my grocery store? Because I know if I have a complaint or the bag is busted, that company will do anything in its power to help me. If I got my meat for free, it might be a little harder to cook and I would have to do a lot more testing to get it to taste just right. Not only that, we have welcomed the Flex community as well. There is brilliance to be combined in this great adventure. Technology is fascinating. Being involved with this community is like a roller coaster ride that has the most challenging loops at the fastest speeds. Stellr was created as a service to this community. CFUnited is our product wrapped in platinum gift paper. What happens next? We want you to create apps with the experience in mind just like CFUnited. It deserves to be fun, desirable, long lasting, and appreciated. Stellr can help you accomplish that. And we just love turning you into a rock star! What now? Everyone asks. CFUnited is 75% thinking about Lansdowne next year. Although I would triple the number of shuttles and take more care on travel and timing in the AM. I would make the evening events slightly more random so it's not the same event but having the same impact. I would have 3-4 breakouts but use those small rooms for several Hands-on classes through the event and repeat them during the week. I'd have to limit the event to 800 attendees. Can't fit more than that but I guess a few more than 800 could squeeze in. I would hired more room monitors to help out my speakers and I would let others organize their own activities to add some variety. As far as express events, I m thinking about it. It is hard to break even for those kinds of things. So I will have to think up some new ideas. I will be at MAX doing CFUnited Express. We plan to help out some other events going on soon. Why, do you ask? Because the CF community is huge (750,000+), there is enough to go around. And the more we can get new members to join the conference going community, the better for all of us. BIG Thanks to so many people. It's hard to leave anyone out. <br><strong>Adam Lehman</strong>, first, because he came to me just after he got back to the states and he should have been in bed rest, but he said to me some things that were very important and he inspired me to keep things going after last year?s event. <br><strong>Ben Forta</strong>, well he's going to always be at the top of the list for me. He hasn't missed CFUnited yet and I don?t think I've ever thanked him publicly for that. <br><strong>Terry Ryan</strong>, I think you fit in really well with everyone and we really like you too. <br><strong>Sean Corfield</strong>, he is always perfectly honest with me and he?s almost always the first to respond on my advisory list. <br><strong>Raymond Camden</strong> is one of my good friends that I would do anything for and he has done so many unselfish things for everyone, I don't know how to thank him. <br><strong>Scott Stroz</strong> is an insightful person and my favorite funny man. <img src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs131.snc1/5613_119800431106_554386106_2452012_8335983_n.jpg" width="50%" height="50%" align="right"><br><strong>Simon Free</strong> helped me with my Intro Jokes and he helps fill in everywhere he can, I owe him a lot. <br><strong>Ben Nadel</strong> has shown me how in just a few years someone can make such an impact on a community with just an ounce of opportunity. <br><strong>Joe Rinehart</strong> has this amazing way to see everything in a broader perspective and I?m glad he shares that with me. <br><strong>Shlomy Gantz</strong> some how gets it right all the time and has helped me see my potential. <br><strong>Charlie Arehart </strong>is the most detailed man I know and I would probably embarrass myself if it were it not for his watchful eye. <br><strong>Gertz Franz</strong> is just an amazing person with a smile that is contagious and I know he is on to great things in the future that will benefit everyone. <br><strong>Peter Bell</strong> is a great resource and willing participant. <br><strong>Mark Drew</strong> brings the alternative perspective and makes me believe in possibilities. <br><strong>Doug Hughes</strong> is genuine guy and a good business man. <br><strong>Dee Sadler</strong> is a gal on a mission to educate and bring people together. <br><strong>Jeff Coughlin</strong> is so much fun and wasn't scared to challenge me (even in flip cup). <br><strong>Bob Flynn</strong> has been a loyal attendee for as long as its been running and we love his honest feedback. <br><strong>Josh Adams</strong> has an appreciation for people and new experiences. <br><strong>Andy Powell</strong> stepped up to the plate and helped me put together an awesome line up of people I never heard of but made a huge impact on the event. <br><strong>Chaz Chumley</strong> turns a bad day into a good day and knows just what to say. <br><strong>Nate Nelson</strong> keeps it cool and interesting. <br><strong>Mike Brunt</strong> has the experience to make you wonder and appreciate the direction we are headed. <br><strong>Michael Smith</strong> believes in me and recognizes my abilities. <br><strong>Nafisa Sabu</strong> knows when to tell me its time to make a change. <br><strong>Cara Beverage</strong> keeps us sane and takes care of everyone no matter the task. <br><strong>Tara Kossari</strong> was reliable and brought lots of energy. <br><strong>Elliott Sprehn</strong> helps makes it all happen and has a big heart. <br><strong>Oguz Demirkapi</strong> helps document all the greatness and catches every moment. <br><strong>Eric Stoike</strong> is a good friend with a ton of talent. <br><strong>Brian Meloche</strong> is so excited to get the real perspective from each and every person. All the attendees made it really easy for us. Even with the badge printing hiccup and shuttle confusion, we still managed to keep everyone happy. It's just one more thing I get to improve on and blow everyone's minds next year. I hope this experience makes you appreciate your career choice. I hope you go into work this week with a twinkle in your eye and an extra skip in your step. I can't wait to see everyone again and please don?t hesitate to share your ideas with the Stellr team. Thank you again. Here are some of my favorite moments. <img src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs151.snc1/5613_119800446106_554386106_2452015_402776_n.jpg" width="50%" height="50%"> <img src="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs151.snc1/5613_119800336106_554386106_2451998_176882_n.jpg" width="50%" height="50%"> <img src="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs131.snc1/5613_119800426106_554386106_2452011_7253759_n.jpg" width="50%" height="50%"> <img src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs151.snc1/5613_119802846106_554386106_2452029_4725268_n.jpg" width="50%" height="50%"> More photos at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/cfunited/">http://www.flickr.com/groups/cfunited/</a> conference speakers community events social events reviews Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:19:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/8/18/The-Biggest-Thank-You-Ever Why I didn't come to CFUnited for years by Ben Nadel http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/7/21/Why-I-didnt-come-to-CFUnited-for-years-by-Ben-Nadel We recently reread the article on Fusion Authority that Ben Nadel wrote in 2007 about why he didn't attend CFUnited for many years. <img src="http://www.fusionauthority.com/images/ben_face_shot_b.jpg"> Read how Ben overcame his fears and what his first time was like, plus tips for first time attendees at <a href=" http://www.fusionauthority.com/reviews/4704-the-road-to-cfunited.htm"> http://www.fusionauthority.com/reviews/4704-the-road-to-cfunited.htm</a> And thanks Ben for sharing your experience! BTW, that was Ben's first year and we think Ben is doing really good for himself now. He's been nominated for several categories in the Community Achievement Awards and now he's even speaking this year! What could CFUnited do for your career? conference attendees speakers community travel social events reviews Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:01:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/7/21/Why-I-didnt-come-to-CFUnited-for-years-by-Ben-Nadel Demo Mania http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/7/14/Demo-Mania Its Demo Mania!!! (formerly known as "Demo Derby", but the name was misunderstood) At CFUnited, on Friday August 14th, we will have a series of Demos from anyone in the community willing to show off their their cool app in 7 minutes or less. Fill out this survey to enter. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/demomania-cfunited">http://tinyurl.com/demomania-cfunited</a> Not everyone will be accepted but everyone will be mentioned How your app makes it on stage: Must be new. Must be cool. Must be able to demo in a short amount of time. Types of Projects include: Website Apps, Air Apps, iPhone Apps Oh yeah, You must be attending the conference to enter and watch ;-) <a href="http://tinyurl.com/demomania-cfunited">http://tinyurl.com/demomania-cfunited</a> survey topics schedule conference attendees speakers website community social events reviews registration news Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:19:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/7/14/Demo-Mania CFUnited Express loves Atlanta http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/29/CFUnited-Express-loves-Atlanta I kept the best for last. Atlanta showed lots of love for CFUnited. It was a great experience from beginning to end. Leif Wells was my host and he did an amazing job helping me with the event. It was the smoothest event ever run in my 8+ years with these types of events. Not only did he taxi me around but he went above and beyond what was expected. Its people like this that encourage us to bring great speakers and great attention to a deserving community. The venue at RoundBox Global was awesome. A nicely renovated factory is how I can describe it. The attendees were great. They asked a ton of questions, they enjoyed all the food, and gave me wonderful feedback. Atlanta, we will certainly be coming back. I enjoyed every minute. Thanks again! <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//n554386106_1774250_7775717.jpg"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//n554386106_1774243_5282279.jpg"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//n554386106_1774251_3008392.jpg"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//n554386106_1774252_6914222.jpg"> conference attendees community events cfunited express reviews Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:57:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/29/CFUnited-Express-loves-Atlanta Slidesix demo of Why Should You Attend CFUnited http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/9/Slidsix-demo-of-Why-Should-You-Attend-CFUnited Todd Sharp put together this really cool slide show of CFUnited. It also demonstrates what you can do with SlideSix.com. Our speakers this year will be asked to put their presentation here and we will give a password for attendees to get access. Then at a future time we will make some of them available to the public. View Slide show here and show it at your next User Group meeting or get together at a cubicle near you. :-) <a href="http://slidesix.com/view/CFUnited-2009">http://slidesix.com/view/CFUnited-2009</a> <a href="http://slidesix.com/view/CFUnited-2009"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//slidesix_whycfunited.gif" border="0"></a> conference Interviews attendees website video community reviews news Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:00:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/9/Slidsix-demo-of-Why-Should-You-Attend-CFUnited How was Denver Express? http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/9/How-was-Denver-Express Someone asked me on twitter how was Denver Express? (@chrishough) I went to Denver with only a few expectations, to meet cool new people and too put on a great event. I'd say I accomplished both of those. The people in Denver are great. So nice and really easy going. Everyone showed up to the conference with a positive attitude and ready to learn. They asked great questions and really appreciated all the work involved. We had about 20 people attend, which is a good size for something like this. I met a few guys who said that this was their first time ever going to an event for CF ever. They were just really appreciative to meet other local developers and talk code. I gave so much stuff away, seriously. From software to ThinkGeek toys, it was a good time for all. Someone even won the Annoy-a-Tron (which is a prize in every UG package and Express event), and couldn't resist testing it out. lol It really is annoying! I've posted 4 out of the 6 presentations on the topics page. <a href="http://express.cfunited.com/go/denver/2009/topics">http://express.cfunited.com/go/denver/2009/topics</a> Rob Rusher was first with AIR development. Comments were "Good knowledge of info", "Very good info for getting started with AIR", and "I learned a couple of things. That is always good." Mike Brunt was filling in for Patrick Quinn on Wholesum Performance. Comments were "Mike has a Killer Accent :-)", "Depth of knowledge", "Provided good tricks and tips about most common performance issues" and "lots of great info Wow!" Nate Nelson talked about DB tips. Comments were "Professional and Knowledgeable", "Tons of great info", and "Detailed examples, relevant to my specific needs." Mike Brunt talked about JVM. Comments were "Its good to know these techniques are available.", "Like the demo, Interesting overview", "Great in depth info on tuning the JVM and I'm really scared of the JVM - now I feel enabled to tune it!" RJ Owen talked on Component LifeCycle in Flex 3. Comments were "Great info on how Flex 3 works informally", "Instructor's knowledge", "In depth and informative on an important topic that not many people seem to know a lot about" Kevin Hoyt talked on CF/LCDS. Comments were "Kevin always makes it look easy", "Easy to follow", and "Overwhelmed!! Excellent". Comments about the event itself: Wish we had longer sessions. More time for Q&A. More hands on. It was a solid one day. I got some good info. Good advanced content. This was great!! Thank you!! Come back to Denver. <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//SSPX0159.jpg" width="500" height="375"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//SSPX0171.jpg" width="500" height="375"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//SSPX0172.jpg" width="500" height="375"> <img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//SSPX0160.jpg" width="500" height="375"> topics conference attendees speakers website community events cfunited express reviews Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:41:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/4/9/How-was-Denver-Express Jeremy Kadlec on CFUnited video http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/Jeremy-Kadlec-on-CFUnited-video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhODJDkRUfU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhODJDkRUfU</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhODJDkRUfU"><img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//jeremy_kadlec.jpg"></a> conference attendees speakers community reviews Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:05:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/Jeremy-Kadlec-on-CFUnited-video Simon Free and Ben Nadel on CFUnited Video http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/Simon-Free-and-Ben-Nadel-on-CFUnited-Video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBocBdDw7g0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBocBdDw7g0</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBocBdDw7g0"><img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//simon_ben_video_pic.jpg" border="0"></a> survey topics conference attendees speakers video community topic interview reviews featured news photos Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:11:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/Simon-Free-and-Ben-Nadel-on-CFUnited-Video CFUnited Manager Guide http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/CFUnited-Manager-Guide This is the Ultimate Manager Guide for CFUnited 2009. <a href=" http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf"><img src="http://cfunited.com/blog/images//manager_guide_image_cover.jpg"></a> 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. <a href=" http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf">http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf</a> *Also, please tell your friends :-) topics staff conference attendees speakers technical website discounts community reviews promotions specials featured registration news sponsor photos Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:36:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/3/31/CFUnited-Manager-Guide Community App: CF_REF by Brian Kai http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/2/20/Community-App-CFREF-by-Brian-Kai Spreading the News: Brian Kai, a 2008 CFUnited Alumni, developed an iPhone/iPod Touch application available for free on the iTunes AppStore. The app is called CF_REF and is simply a CF tag reference application that allows one to browse CF tag syntax without being online or carrying around a large reference manual. It?s his very first iPhone application but I plan on updating it the more I learn about Objective-C and Xcode. He initially designed this app for his own benefit but after a couple coworkers expressed interest in it, he decided to submit it on the AppStore so others can benefit as well. <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305364536">http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305364536</a> We love to share what the CFUnited Alumni community has learned and developed. If you have a cool application you'd like to share, let us know and we'd be happy to spread the word. :-) attendees website community reviews news Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:23:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/2/20/Community-App-CFREF-by-Brian-Kai Adobe MAX Day 1 reactions http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/11/17/Adobe-MAX-Day-1-reactions Hello World. This is my take on MAX so far. I was extremely pleased with the the over all feeling of MAX today. It was a great experience checking in and finding session rooms. Now granted, I heard some sessions were in another hotel that had some people confused but I didn't experience that problem yet. Breakfast. It was actually good. I loved the little breakfast sandwiches and fruit. Nice touch. I went to look for a pleace to sit and eat but found out there wasn't any where to sit. I was pleased to find Jason Delmore and Tom Jordahl sitting on the floor in the middle of the room because I was planning to do the same. I realized early on that most developers are used to sitting on the floor for some reason. After about 5 minutes, more Adobe folks came to join us and some community members we recognized. We sat in a big circle and talked about everything we've experienced last night. Keynote. We all got up and made our way to the keynote. Ok, correction, we litterly rushed to the entrance like a tornado was behind us. It was a race to the front. Nafisa and I sat about 15 rows back from the stage with other community leaders. I even ran up to give Ben Forta a big bear hug. I swooned when I saw Kevin Lynch on stage. (its a harry potter thing) I was well aware that no CF stuff would be talked about yet so I didn't get dissapointed. I did find a few things inspiring but nothing that had me going gaga. I was more occupied with not having Wifi access on my ipod touch. So I resorted to twittering on my cell phone. If you didn't hear about everything at the Keynote go to http://adobe.com/keynote And lastly, I realized as it was ending someone yelled out "Bingo" which was an inside joke I later found out about. (If you guys pull that while I'm on stage I'll clobber you) lol, but it was really funny. I was making my way out and got into a big crowd again so I hopped over the chairs and I got a few hoot and hollers. I'm not dancing on chairs yet guys. At least I was a little graceful (ok, but I didn't fall). My wonderful Mr. Potter was charming as usual and very classy. Although, I'm excited for tomorrow's keynote when I get to see my main squeeze, Mr. Forta. There is so much buzz and wonder about what we will find out next. I'll be twittering constantly under "cfunited" as fast as my fingers can go. (Hopefully the wifi is up then as well @adobemax) Lunch. Very good. Very organized. I was late in line because I just had to stop by all the booths on the way. But I was pleased to still have plenty to eat. Thanks for the creme brule, it fulfilled my craving. Sessions. A little weird. You check in with your badge. If you are not on the list, you have to wait... which is understandable. But I was on the list but my badge didn't register on the scanner. It actually said "Sorry, you are not permitted" or something like that. I wanted to tell that machine to fly a kite. I understand how it is though. Not everything works all the time. The few I've attended so far have been pretty ok. I'm actually here to network and do interviews. I've had lots of good luck so far but now my camera is dead again. I've gone through 4 batteries just today. Sorry if I didn't catch you. Exhibits. I want more free stuff. I feel like Adobe has all the cool stuff this year. Tshirts, stickers, etc. They know what we really want. BTW, the CF tshirt rocks. It has a guy holding a bottle of beer. Awesome. Other stuff. The game lounge is cool. The snacks rock. The support is excellent. AV is good. Generally great as expected. Again, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. The night is still young though! See you pals later. Last note. I had to share this point. Everyone who knows me, the first thing they say is "I love the new venue for CFUnited"! Sweet. Exactly what I was hoping for. Its all for you folks. And if you tell me I'm doing something right I'm encouraged to keep going. Thanks for the support. Until tomorrow. -Liz PS- Sorry about putting this under Admin, I forgot my personal password. I'll change it when I get back to the hotel. adobe news conference gear conference community events MAX reviews Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:04:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/11/17/Adobe-MAX-Day-1-reactions BFusion/BFusion Awesomeness http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/9/24/BFusionBFusion-Awesomeness BFusion/BFusion Awesomeness I had the pleasure of speaking at the BFlex/BFusion conference this year, and wow, <strong>what a great conference!</strong> After missing my flight Friday (Doh!) due to some scheduling conflicts, I finally arrived at the Bloomington Courtyard Marriott around 1am on Saturday. Thoroughly exhausted, I was pleased to find that the hotel rooms were massive. It honestly felt like a tiny apartment it was so large. They had a shuttle that ran from the hotel to the university which made it really easy to get to the conference in the morning. When I got there I was quite pleasantly surprised at the huge turn out they had. <h3>BFusion</h3> All three of my presentations went pretty smoothly. It was really nice having the conference at a business school since that meant every room had several monitors for watching my own slides, two projects, two white boards and plenty of seating with power outlets. I was quite happy I got a chance to attend a few advanced sessions in between my own. Unfortunately, I didn't ever have a chance to wander over to the other side of the school to see what the beginner and intermediate sessions were like. <h4>Adam Haskell - Opensource CFML Engines</h4> I learned a lot about the history of the "Other" CF engines in this presentation. I'd never realized quite how the TagServlet, New Atlanta, OpenBD thing had come about, and this was quite informative. It was also interesting to hear about various implementation quirks between the implementations. Hopefully we'll have a documented CF specification eventually. <h4>Adam Haskell - Head First TDD w/MxUnit (hands on)</h4> I didn't get to attend this entire presentation, but it started out really well. Adam approached TDD in a really nice, non-scary way for beginners. He made an interesting point about only testing what's necessary at each phase and building up the code iteratively. Not sure if I completely agree with that, since I usually like to work out one complete function at a time, and then map out the test cases based on the final product, but I certainly plan to give this approach a try. <h4>Adam Lehman - ColdFusion Application Security</h4> This was actually quite a fun presentation that I really enjoyed. Adam went through a huge number of security holes people leave in their applications and how the issues have changed over the years. I'd definitely recommend this presentation to everyone. Even if you think you know every possible exploit, or have your CSSP, having someone beat the points over your head for an hour makes you think. Overall the sessions were quite good, though, looking back, it's quite hilarious that every session I went to was done by an "Adam"! Lunch the first day was some kind of burrito sandwiches which were amazing. <h3>BFun</h3> That night Bob Flynn took all the speakers out to a nice Fusion (cute eh?) restaurant. After which several of the speakers and myself all hit up a bar and met up with several attendees. This was quite a lot of fun, but it made me incredibly tired for Sunday when I needed to help with the hands on Flex sessions. I especially want to thank Adam Lehman for talking with me about the future of ColdFusion, licensing, marketing, product features and all kinds of other things. I know I can be quite the pain with my barrage of questions and opinions, but Adam took it in stride and hopefully wasn't too terribly annoyed. <h3>BFlex</h3> Sunday started off alright, spare the super tiredness. The beginner hands on Flex session was fun to help with, and Zach Stepek is a great teacher for an intro class like this was. It takes quite a bit of patience and a different teaching style, and he was quite good at it. The pizza served for lunch Sunday, unfortunately, was pretty disappointing. I'm also biased though, as being a student I end up consuming copious amounts of pizza throughout the semester, which makes me want more variety when I go out. After lunch several of the speakers and I headed out to the airport, and back at home I had to hit the books and read up on scheduling algorithms and quadtrees. Oh well, the fun can't last forever, right? <h3>Conclusion</h3> Overall this was a really incredible conference. And, considering the price, I'd hessitate to not recommend it to anyone who'd like the conference experience. It was really great, and I can't thank Bob Flynn, Prem Radhakrishnan, Michelle Buddie enough for inviting me out there. Hopefully I'll get to go next year! Maybe you can too? ;) Misc bfusion reviews Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:20:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/9/24/BFusionBFusion-Awesomeness Simon Free - CFUnited 08 Review http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/6/25/Simon-Free--CFUnited-08-Review <a href="http://www.simonfree.com">Simon Free</a>, who spoke on <a href="http://cfunited.com/go/topics/2008#topic-1722">Bring your CF application to Desktop with AIR</a> at CFUnited, sent us the following review of this years conference. </br> </br> "I am pretty new to the conference scene. I have only attended a few but have been lucky enough to be a presenter each time. From the experiences I have had from those, I am able to compare them to CFUNITED and whole heartedly say that CFUNITED was by far the best conference I have attended to date. Let's start with the venue. There were a lot of attendees for CFUNITED, so it was important that they chose a large enough space to hold the conference. I feel that the DC Convention Center was a great choice. Many people feel that the backbone of the conference is not in fact the presenters, but the food. If that is the case, then I would say this conference had a pretty solid backbone. I was very happy with over 80% of the meals and even delighted by the finger foods available to us during the evening networking events. The foods varied from chicken dishes to pasta dishes to even some amazing deserts. There was even some sweetened ice tea that had the ability to put even the healthiest among us into a sugar coma. The only negatives I would say about the food were the bagels and sandwiches, and I only mention those as I always see those at the conferences, and for anyone who regularly attends conferences, they can be pretty monotonous. There were 2 main networking events during the conference, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday night. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these events. Even though there was an open bar at both the events, this is not in fact what made me enjoy them so much. I enjoyed them because people actually networked! This may sound strange, but I have been to a number of different networking events where people stayed with their crowd of friends and people they know and do not try to talk to new people. This was far from the case with these events. Not only did you have new attendees walking around, introducing themselves and striking up conversations, but you also had seasoned veterans and presenters walking around, meeting and greeting people. I was very excited by the fact that I was able to stand and have a conversation with the people who I follow and admire the most in the industry and have them actually be excited to have a conversation with me also. There was no looking over my shoulder trying to find the next person to talk to; everyone seemed genuinely interested in talking to people. For a conference to be successful I believe it is important to have a good selection of presenters, and I feel that the selection for this conference was very nicely balanced. All the speakers I saw were very knowledgeable on their subject and were well equipped to answer questions from the audience. The selection of topics I had to choose from was nicely varied. I love the track approach that the conference takes. Often with conferences they will choose a single technology, but for CFUNITED they had a number of different tracks, such as RIA, Frameworks, Management, and Advanced ColdFusion. This gave us the ability to move away from what we normally learn and experience something new. I got a lot from the number of management sessions I attended as well as from some of the framework sessions. I feel that I was able to make myself into a more well rounded developer and that I will be able to take the knowledge I learnt and not only become a better programmer but also a better business person. I feel that the organizers (Liz, Nafisa, and Elliot) truly understand the industry and the developers within it. With the help of the advisory committee, they were able to devise a varied and rewarding schedule of presentations that I think was rewarding for everyone. One of the things that stood out most to me and amplified that they care about what they do, was the speakers diner. This was the first conference I experienced where the organizers actually stepped up and said thank you to the presenters. To me it is these little gestures that have the biggest impact. I would definitely have to say that CFUNITED was a total success for me. I have learnt a lot of new techniques and have walked away with a lot of new ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations that I gave. Everyone that attended my sessions seemed to be interested in the subject which makes it even more enjoyable as a presenter. The only major negative (and I mean MAJOR!) I have of the conference is that it is once a year. I am not sure how I will last 12 months until CFUNITED 09." - Simon Free <a href="http://www.simonfree.com">http://www.simonfree.com</a> reviews Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:42:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/6/25/Simon-Free--CFUnited-08-Review CFUnited venue review by Sam Farmer http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/2/12/CFUnited-venue-review-by-Sam-Farmer <a href="http://cfunited.com/go/topics/2008#topic-1565">Sam Farmer</a>, did an <a href="http://samfarmer.instantspot.com/blog/2008/01/31/New-CFUnited-Location-is-Great-News-Plus-Review-of-Area">awesome review</a> on his blog about CFUnited new venue. It talks about the DC Convention center and its surrounding restaurants, bars and other attractions. reviews Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:45:00 -0500 http://cfunited.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/2/12/CFUnited-venue-review-by-Sam-Farmer