ColdFusion/Flex/AIR Conference in Orlando?

[Matthew Zimmer]

In case you haven't heard, there is this really great event going down
in just 10 days on the Centennial Campus of NC State University in
Raleigh, North Carolina. It is called the ColdFusion in North Carolina
2009 Conference and is being organized by The Triangle Area ColdFusion
User's Group, associates, and sponsors. There are quite an array of
well-known speakers scheduled to present at this conference. Best of
all, it's 100% FREE!!

I have to admit, I am extremely jealous of the folks that live within
driving distance from the event. I have been trying to figure out a
way to get over there since I missed out on going to MAX this year.
But the cost of fuel to drive there (which I don't mind doing at all)
coupled with the cost of hotel accommodations has rendered my desire
impractical. Unless of course...I crashed a frat party Friday and
Saturday night and passed out on the floor. Nobody would know the
difference, ha!

So I have been asking myself for quite some time now (and never
pursued it any further than that...until now) when is there going to
be a ColdFusion / Flex / AIR conference held in Orlando? And,
considering the amount of entertainment there is around here not to
mention the *huge* convention center we have right in our back yard,
why don't we have them more often in Orlando?

Let me know your thoughts! :-)

Matt

[Brian]

@Matt - The CF conference in NC promises to be a great event. An
Adogo member who migrated up there, Bucky Shwarz, is helping the UG
plan the event and he has nothing but great things to say about it.

As far as events in Orlando, the Adogo recently had a FlexCamp at the
UCF campus sponsored by Universal Mind back in May 2009. You're
absolutely right about Orlando being a great venue for a conferences.
We have batted around the idea of hosting the event, but the logistics
of doing so have alluded us since we haven't taken the time to look
further into everything. Timing is also a big issue with companies
booking travel for conferences months, sometimes a year, in advance.
We're always up for any help or interest that can be generated for an
event like this to get the ball rolling. We have a great community
here in Central Florida, so it's definitely feasible.

What types of topics would you like to see?

-Brian

[Matthew Zimmer]

@Brian,

Thank you for your reply. It's going to be a lot of fun to get to
know who is who in the Orlando region. I am by no means experienced
in the area of organizing such a high caliber event such as CFinNC,
however, I have all the desire in the world to play whatever role is
needed to get more events like CFinNC and FlexCamp to the Orlando area
more often. We should add it to the list of possible things to
discuss in Monday's meeting and see what kind of response we get.

I have had the luxury of attending a couple of MAX conferences in the
past (MAX 2006 in Las Vegas and MAX 2007 in Chicago) as well as
CFUnited 2006 in Bethesda. While attending the CFUnited conference I
was talking to one of the organizers and somehow the topic of
conversation got to the fact that there was no CFUG in Orlando. She
suggested that I look into it and try to get one started. The problem
was, I was 23 years old and still trying to get my foot in the door.
Now, 3+ years and 50,000+ blog readings later I see no better time
than now to play a much larger and more active role in the community.
What better place to start than at an already established user group
that isn't just focused on one product in particular but an entire
suite of tools and technologies that allow us to deliver a more
feature rich and truly engaging experience to our end users, namely,
the Adobe Developers of Greater Orlando group.

As far as topics of interest go, I am a huge proponent of Flex (even
more so now since the introduction of AS3) and I have been closely
monitoring the AIR initiative which has come a long way since the beta
days of 2007. I am extremely excited to learn and discuss the new and
exciting features AIR 2 promises to bring to our world, especially
with the addition of the "Native Process API" (http://blogs.adobe.com/
air/2009/10/previewing_adobe_air_2_at_adob.html). I never get tired
of talking about ColdFusion and I am always looking for ways to extend
ColdFusion beyond the basics. Furthermore, topics of discussion
revolved around real-world examples of how designers and developers
are working even more closely than ever before is always something
worth hearing about.

How about you and the rest of the group? What topics would you be
interested in? Would another FlexCamp-like session or even something
like CFinNC sound like something you would be interested in?

Matt

[Michael Bragg]

Matt,

I'd be interested in getting on board and lending a hand. I'm looking
for a group of CF/Flex peers to interact with here in Orlando area
(I'm relatively new to Orlando). Will do an "introduction" later to
the group, but wanted to let you know I'd like to get involved. Seems
like the CFUG is inactive, I'm hoping that ADOGO is building momentum.

- Michael