Thoughts, ideas, tips, musings, and pontifications (not necessarily in that order) by Ben Forta ...
NOTE: This is my personal blog, and the opinions and statements voiced here are my own.
Last year at MAX I hosted Are You Smarter Than An Evangelist (they weren't, the Evangelists won). This year we'll be playing Flash Jeopardy, and once again I am hosting! If you'll be at MAX, join the audience on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 3:00 p.m. at the Flash Rocks Entertainment Lounge inside the Community Pavilion. Help us stump our four constants from the Flash community, send Flash trivia questions to fprocks@adobe.com.
It's been a few years since we hosted MAX in Europe, and I am hoping that at some point we'll resurrect that event. But, in the interim, we are hosting a series of Back From MAX events right after MAX 2011. These day-long events in Paris, Berlin, and London will deep-dive into MAX highlights and announcements, giving those who are unable to join us in Los Angeles a taste of what MAX is all about. I'll be presenting the opening keynote at these events, and fellow evangelists will be presenting much of the content. Event details are all online, and I hope to see you there (unless I see you at MAX first, that is).
Adobe MAX 2011group discounts allow three or more attendees from the same company to attend MAX for the low price of $1095. And as they did in previous years, the MAX team has graciously allowed me to create a group of my own, a "Friends of Ben" group, which can qualify for the group rate. I have a finite number of discount codes. If you need one, do not reply here, please email me directly. And as quantity is limited, please only ask for one if you are really going to use it, and plan to use it quickly. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in Los Angeles In October!
Oh, before anyone asks (because they do every year), no, the discount cannot be applied to existing registrations - this is for new registrations only. Also, it can't be used for any of the bundle passes.
I just presented the first segment of the opening keynote at Adobe Developer Tech Day in Shanghai, China. Fellow evangelist Enrique Duvos is now on the stage wowing the audience with Stage 3D demos. This is a very technical audience, almost all online all the time. The interesting thing is that standing on stage I counted exactly 5 open laptops, everyone else was online on phones (primarily a mix of iPhones and Android devices) and tablets (iPads). My key message was on the importance of building apps for multiple devices and platforms and form-factors, and not being locked into single-vendor development which will preclude you from reaching a broader market. The audience themselves validated my point better than I could do so myself.
Adobe is hosting summits and tech days in India and China, and I plan to attend both. The Adobe Flash Platform Summit 2011 will take place in Bangalore, India, July 27th - 29th, 2011. The Adobe Developer Tech Day (focused on gaming) will take place in Shanghai, China, on August 3rd. Registration for both events is now open.
Adobe MAX 2011 registration is now open, and once again we are offering special discount pricing for loyal previous attendees and students (save US$600 off the regular full conference price of US$1,495 when you register by May 31, 2011). Click on the links below and use the relevant discount code.
I'm go-presenting the Flash Israel 2011 opening keynote with Lee Brimelow tomorrow. Or rather, I'm trying to. Weather last night close to shut down DTW, so I never made my connection in JFK. I am now in Amsterdam, and have an 8 hour wait until the flight to TLV. I'll arrive in the wee hours Tuesday morning, not long before we have to present. Still, I'm really glad to be visiting Israel again, even briefly.
Somewhat related, back in April 2010 I stated that the new DOT 3 Hour Tarmac Delay Rule was a bad idea. I predicted that it would make airlines overly risk averse, pushing them to return to the gate too early, because canceling flights would be cheaper than risking huge fines. And the pilot on my DTW to JFK flight last night confirmed my fears when he announced that he'd like to wait in the queue longer, that he thought we probably could get out, but that the airline is insisting we deplane because we had just broken the 2 hour mark. Nice, thank you government, you have once again proven how utterly useless you are, and how the Law of Unintended Consequences is alive and well.
Flash Israel is a two day user group / Flash Camp event, to be held February 22nd and 23rd, in Ramat Gan, Israel. I was unable to attend Flash Israel last year due to a scheduling conflict. But, I do plan on attending this year, along with fellow evangelist Lee Brimelow, Kevin Schmidt, and others. Flash Israel has created an interesting tiered registration pricing structure, priced from 250 Nis to 550 Nis based on how early your register. And there are just a few tickets left at the lowest price, so regsiter now!
Posted At : 9:23 AM
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I recently spent a few days in Brazil visiting customers and partners. Adobe Brazil Systems Engineer Julio Lopes Lima Filho accompanied me, took lots of pictures, and just sent me this cool collage:
Adobe CTO just took to the stage to kick of the Adobe MAX 2010 opening keynote. This keynote is going to be amazing, we have some incredible stuff in store. And then tomorrow I'll be co-hosting our Day 2 keynote, and, well, can't tell you more, but you'll want to be there!
I'm getting ready to head to Los Angeles for Adobe MAX 2010. As in previous years, I've been part of the MAX team working on everything from content to keynotes to promotions and more. And having done this for over a decade now (including MAX and DevCon previously), I can safely say (safely, as in not spilling any beans) that this is going to be the best MAX ever.
MAX 2010 early bird registration closed last week. But, group discounts are still available for three or more attendees from the same company. And as they did last year, the MAX team has graciously allowed me to create a group of my own, a "Friends of Ben" group, which can qualify for the group rate. I have a finite number of discount codes. If you need one, do not reply here, please email me directly. And as quantity is limited, please only ask for one if you are really going to use it, and plan to use it quickly. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in Los Angeles next month!
And before I wrap, here is a quick note from the MAX team: A discount based on a promotion code may be applied against new registrations only and may be applied against the regular price of a full conference pass only (US$1,495); it cannot be applied to other passes, including but not limited to the following "bundle" passes: Russell Brown@MAX; LiveCycle@MAX; and CS5@MAX. A discount based on a promotion code cannot be combined with any other discount offer, including but not limited to the standard Early Bird discount offer to regular attendees and special government, education, and nonprofit employee discounts. A discount based on a promotion code is not transferable and is void where prohibited.
Adobe AIR Product Manager Rob Christensen has posted a really impressive list of AIR sneak peak sessions planned for MAX 2010. Some of these were only just added to the schedule, so if you've already been picking your sessions, you may want to take another look at the lineup.
We extended MAX 2010 early bird pricing once before, but won't be doing it again. As announced on the MAX blog, early bird pricing ends tomorrow, September 15th.
Posted At : 11:29 PM
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Adobe Flash Summit Bangalore is about to begin. My fellow presenters Mark Doherty, Harish Sivaramakrishnan, and Anne Kathrine Petterøe are tweaking decks and testing demos. The crowds are starting to pour in ... here goes!
BR Conference 2010 is a ColdFusion and RIA conference being held August 19th - 21st in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's been a few years since I was last down in Brazil, so I am really excited to be attending this event. Fellow Adobe Platform Evangelist Terry Ryan will also be there, as will lots of other well known names in the ColdFusion, Flash, and Flex universe. Plus, I am long overdue a real caipirinha.
"CFUnited is the premier ColdFusion specific conference". Many years ago, at a CFUnited, Michael Smith stuck a video camera in front of me and asked me to say something about the event, and that's the line that popped out of my mouth. Somehow, that stuck, and for several years that was the event tagline. I meant it then, and still believe it's true. Since 1999, CFUnited (or CFUN previously) has lined up the very best in the ColdFusion universe, and has educated and inspired thousands of ColdFusion developers in the process. And actually, it's more than just ColdFusion. In recent years, recognizing the importance of the ColdFusion/Flash/Flex/AIR/DS relationship, CFUnited has dedicated sessions and resources to include coverage of these as well.
So, like many of you, I was very disappointed to learn that CFUnited 2010 will be the grand finale for this important event. As Michael Smith noted in a comment, the decision to say goodbye to CFUnited was purely a financial one. And I sympathize, really. Many industry events, including our own MAX Europe, have suffered the same fate. The economy these past few years has made it harder on conference organizers, sponsors, attendees, and employers. And now it has claimed another victim.
Several long-time CFUnited fans have started urging the community to make every effort to attend this last event, and I fully support that plea. I am really bummed that I'll not be attending myself this year, but I really do urge all to make every effort to attend, not just to be educated and inspired, but also to hang out, reminisce over drinks, and to show our thanks to the CFunited team for so many years of support (and fun).
But, at the same time, I really want all of you to attend Adobe MAX. Between the ColdFusion sessions managed by our own Adam Lehman, or the ColdFusion Unconference once again under the direction of everyone's favorite ColdFusion Jedi, ColdFusion is getting lots of love at MAX, and we'd love for all of the ColdFusion community to attend.
Of course, there's that darned economy again. We know that it's hard to go to multiple events these days. And yet I want you all to attend CFUnited, and also want you all to attend Adobe MAX. So, what to do?
The answer? Do both, and let us make it easier for you to do so! Really! Courtesy of your friendly ColdFusion and MAX teams, and with the approval of the CFUnited team, I'm really happy to announce that we are going to give a substantial MAX discount to paying CFUnited 2010 attendees, substantial as in about 40% off the MAX price. So, go register for CFUnited, and use discount code ADOCUST for $100 off. And then we'll send you a discount code allowing you to attend Adobe MAX for just $895 ($600 off the full $1495 price, and $200 less than the group discount rate). Yep, you can have your CF_Cake and eat it, too!
I look forward to seeing you at MAX in Los Angeles. Oh, and please have a drink for me at CFUnited 2010!
The highly successful Adobe Flash Platform Summit is heading to Bangalore, India, August 25th and 26th. I plan to attend again, along with several of my fellow evangelism team members. This will be a two day event featuring over 40 sessions, and we expect an attendance of over 2000! Registration is now open, and I hope to see you there!
Are you a full-time college student aged 18 or higher? If so, you can attend Adobe MAX 2010 for just $199. You'll need to e-mail questions@max.adobe.com to provide proof that you are indeed a student, and we'll send you back a discount code. It's that simple. I hope to see you at MAX in Los Angeles!
Title says it all. Registration is open for MAX 2010, October 23-27, 2010, in Los Angeles, CA. Note: the session scheduler is not online yet, and is still a few weeks away.
