That Conference - August 13-15 2012
Registration is open, and we would love to have you join us! The newest Software Development Conference in the Midwest is also the best Summer Camp you'll ever go to. The cost of a ticket for three days of Web, Mobile, and Cloud talks spanning all platforms is a mere $349. With training budgets squeezed everywhere, this kind of local conference makes a lot of sense for everyone in the Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois area, but we are welcoming campers from all over the country, too.
But register soon, we only have space for around 1300 campers. Pack into your RV, grab your laptop, your swim trunks, and even your family and head out to the Wisconsin Dells for three days of splashing around in some code!
The amount of awesome is blinding!
The breadth and depth of topics is staggering, and there is truly something for everyone. The schedule is jam-packed with the best camp counselors out there, spreading the merit badges in web, mobile, cloud, and other areas. While the schedule is not entirely finalized, a temporary schedule is up for your perusal at http://www.thatconference.com. With around 150 sessions to choose from, even spread out over three days you may want to see more than you can fit in, so why not bring a friend, colleague or co-worker and cover more topics?
Each day, your camping experience opens with breakfast (included in your registration). After the morning session, and we're into lunch (also provided). After lunch, you get three sessions chock full of informative, enlightening, and entertaining talks. After that, your evenings will be filled with entertainment and comradery. Come out and play games, hit the waterpark, or chill and code with your fellow campers.
Registration has been open for a few weeks, and there are still tickets available. Thanks so much to everyone who has already signed up to attend! To thank everyone for signing up early. Our sponsors wanted to thank you for your enthusiasm. During the months of June and July, for 3 or 4 days a week, we are going to pick a lucky registered attendee and hook them up with some product from one of our many sponsors. To be chosen, you must have a paid ticket in hand. Register now at http://thatconference2012.eventbrite.com.
The prize will a selection of items from sponsors like these (and more to follow!):
Focus on Your Counselors
These are just a few of your camp counselors for That Conference. We will be featuring a few of them in each issue, so you can see the wide variety of topics we are covering and the wide experience of people that are coming out to present!
Brandon Satrom (@BrandonSatrom) is Program Manager for Kendo UI and is based in Austin, TX. A unapologetic lover of the open web, Brandon loves to talk about HTML, JavaScript, CSS, open source and whatever new shiny tool or technology has distracted him from that other thing he was working on. Brandon has spoken at several regional and national events (like CodeMash and TechEd, to name a few), and he loves hanging out with and learning from other passionate developers, both online and in person. He also loves writing and, in addition to having several articles featured in publications like MSDN Magazine and .net Magazine, he's hard at work on a book ("Building Metro Style Apps for Windows 8 in JavaScript") with Chris Sells, slated for release Summer 2012.
Jim Buswell - I am a Technical Practice Manager at Slalom Consulting with over 12 years of experience creating J2EE applications. These applications have run the gamut from secure email server using a proprietary PKI solution to dynamic customer facing web applications. I firmly believe in polyglot programming and the need to use the right tool for the right job. My professional experience includes using Java, Python, Groovy, Objective C, JavaScript, and Ruby. Recently, I've focused my efforts on creating high scalable, consumer-facing web applications built on leading edge technologies, including: MongoDB, Less, CoffeeScript, and others. Current areas of my research interest are in elastic software design and implementation (the ability to expand and contract systems and components without requiring modifications) and all forms of testing (from unit testing to performance testing).
Aaron Saray - Picture this. More than 2 decades ago, Aaron sits alone in his hot, humid room, in dim light, programming a blackjack game on his Commodore 64. Other kids are outside playing in the sprinklers, but he can't hazard that luxury. What if the power goes out? All his work will be lost and he won't be able to play his game! See, Aaron's computer did not have a disk drive or a printer. And he hated that. Fast forward to now. Aaron Saray is the founder of the Milwaukee PHP Users group, author of a WROX book, Professional PHP Design patterns, working on another book in the 'For Dummies' line, Web Development manager, public speaker at local and regional events like WordCamp and Joomla Day, open source proponent - the list goes on and on. What a journey it has been, from BASIC to the LAMP stack, from commodore 64 to Ubuntu 12.04. But some people never learn... even with the scars of losing data on the commodore 64, he still manages to forget to carry a thumb drive!
What can you count on from That Conference?
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140+ exciting technology sessions spread out over three days
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Breakfast, lunch, and That Conference swag
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Evening social events to hobnob with your fellow geeks
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Open spaces talks, game night, coding dojo areas
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Plenty of time and space to pair up with people and just code
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Fun for the whole family at the waterpark, so bring them along
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Time to talk with our sponsors
Focus On: Special Events
Have you ever been to an Open Spaces talk? Open spaces talks are an interesting new way to collaborate at a conference. The focus is on having the most interesting and relevant conversation possible. As opposed to ordinary "eyes front" presentations, these discussions are spontaneous and follow just a couple simple rules:
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Whoever shows up is in the right group
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Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
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Whenever it starts is the right time
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When it's over, it's over
If you have a free period, come by to either talk or listen at one of our open spaces discussions. You should do this especially if you have not done so before. It's a great experience.
Hotel Information:
When you register for ThatConference, consider booking your hotel room immediately, so you and your family won’t be boxed out and have to stay offsite. Trust me, it’s a real convenience to roll out of bed and hit the conferences and have your family suit up and walk down to the waterpark. We have a discounted rate ($169) on a block of rooms, and you can reserve them by hitting up http://www.kalahariresorts.com/wi/ or calling (877) 525-2427![]( "Call: (877) 525-2427")
. Don’t forget to mention That Conference to get the discounted rate (Booking ID: 20532).
GiveCamp:
For those of you that don’t know, 2012 Midwest GiveCamp is an excellent way to cut some real code for a non-profit organization. The Midwest 2012 GiveCamp will take place at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells Saturday, August 11, and Sunday August 12. For a few extra days of coding for a cause, book your hotel room for a couple days earlier and come out and code with us for charity! Registration for GiveCamp is currently open. For further details, check out http://midwestgivecamp.org. It's genuinely a great way to get some coding experience and help out the community at the same time
We can't wait to see you there!
Cheers,
That Conference staff
