It's Thursday in the middle of the morning as I write this post. The NCDevCon 2011 conference is in 2 days. This is the last chance I'll have to reflect on how far we've come before I'm drowning in the hundreds of details and decisions that come with deal day.

We never wanted to be in the conference business. It just kind of happened, really. I went to the BFusion conference in 2009, run by the illustrious Bob Flynn. BFusion is a 2 days conference held at Indiana University at minimal charge to attendees. The emphasis is on learning and there are many hands on classes offered. I really enjoyed the energy and spirit of the conference and appreciated having a small part in BFusion as a speaker/teacher.

Later, we talked about BFusion in the Triangle Area ColdFusion User Group. The group started to get excited about putting on a local conference in the area. The men and women of TACFUG dug deep and put in a lot of hard work to put on our first conference, CFinNC. Matter of fact, we used this experience to develop the playbook we've use and evolve for the NCDevCon series.

Even though both Jim and I woke up in terror in the middle of the night sure we'd forgotten something huge, CFinNC was very well received and enjoyed by many. We did a lot of things right and we also had a lot of learning experiences. For example the name of the conference, CFinNC, is nearly impossible to convey properly through speech. It comes across like CFNC, and we spent a lot of time distinguishing ourselves from the College Foundation of North Carolina (www.cfnc.org). Regardess thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and the volunteers, CFinNC was a fantastic success and we are all very proud of what we accomplished together.

There is a lot of work that goes on to put on a conference, from making all the pages on the website, negotiating with hotels, caterers and print shops, wrangling speakers, putting together a schedule that makes sense to even common tasks, like where to place the darned tables on event day. It's the kind of stuff that when done perfectly people don't notice. We only notice the road when there are potholes, right? You know, In all my years as a conference speaker, I never once considered WHY the Wifi was working at all, only that it wasn't fast enough to download my email.

So, today at this point, we've planned, organized, negotiated, considered and reconsidered all the facets of NCDevCon 2011. We've put in hundreds of hours, skipped meals, stayed up late and worked very hard to put the final touches on this conference. The trajectory is set, all systems are go. There is nothing left to do but execute on the strategy we've spent months working on. It's the calm before the storm. So while I have a minute to myself, I'd like to thank those who have brought us to this point.

Thanks To

Jim Priest

Jim is the co-organizer of the event. He's a fantastic human being and puts in a ton of work to make sure NCDevCon hits it's milestones. Jim is vital to the success of NCDevCon. If you ever get a chance to work with or for Jim, do it.

Our Wives

Jim and I are both blessed to me married to wonderful women. The old phrase "Beside every great man is a great woman" is especially true. We credit our wives to any success we have.

Shawn Dunning at the NC State College of Textiles

The NC State College of Textiles is one of the most valuable partners for NCDevCon. They provide facilty, AV and wifi at no charge. Shawn Dunning is an amazing resource to us and a key partner to making NCDevCon happen.

The ColdFusion, Community and Evangelism team at Adobe

Many teams at Adobe support NCDevCon. Liz, Rachel, Aaron, Terry, Ray, Rakshith, Minu and Adam have contributed in major ways this year. I'd like to especially thank Aaron Houston for his many direct hours of help getting NCDevCon on a good glide path.

Our many sponsors

The generosity of our sponsors help keep the ticket costs very low. Would you believe we actually lose money on each ticket sold? We can offer subsidized admission fees because our sponsors willingly fund this event. I'd like to thank them for being a part of this process with us.

• Adobe @Adobe
• Universal Mind @universalminde
• ProCom Services @ProcomJobs
• Caktus Consulting Group @caktusgroup
• Blue River Interactive @muracms
• Terracotta@terracottatech
• Verian Technologies @VerianTech
• Rail Inc. @railinc
• Triangle Interactive Marketing Association @tima_nc
• Josh Cyr @JCyr
• Techsmith @TechSmith
• Fusion Reactor @Fusion_reactor
• NC State College of Textiles
• Triangle Area ColdFusion User Group @TACFUG

Our Volunteers

We are pleased to have a number of volunteers to help us manage the conference. Volunteer staff will be on hand throughout the conference to help everything run on time. Some of our volunteers are:

• Byron Raines
• Simon Free
• Krystie Grubb
• Leslie Carpenter
• Roger Austin
• Liz Winfrey Ventura
• Shaun Powell
• Vicky Ryder
• Brenda Priest
• Lisa Watkins
• Lyn Dills
• Anant Pradhan
• Adrian Pomilio
• Ben Farrel

Our Local Charity Representiative

Each year we give back to our community though giving. Our first year, we gave food to the Raleigh Rescue Mission. Last year, and again this year, we are partnering with 5 Bucks is Change. To understand their mission, watch this Ignite presentation on 5 Bucks is Change.

You, the Attendee

Lastly, but not least, we'd like to thank you, NCDevCon attendee. You have many choices in where to spend your weekend and we are pleased you've decided to spend it with us.

Dan Wilson

Attendees,

I hope you are as excited about the NCDevCon 2011 conference as we are. We've put in a fair bit of work to give you the best conference experience possible. Toward that goal, we want to communicate some important points to you. Please read this email in it's entirety so you can take full advantage of all you paid for:

HELP US FIGURE OUT ROOM ASSIGNMENTS

We have several different sized rooms. We want to put the most popular tracks in the largest rooms so people can sit comfortably. Take this quick (48 second) survey right now and tell us what you want to see:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDBvV0prYUNTS3hqWm55aU5tSDhhWFE6MQ&ndplr=1

HOW TO STAY PLUGGED IN

The conference hash tag on twitter is: #ncdevcon It would be a good idea to follow this hash tag on your phone. People use the hash tag to communicate, self-organize meals, drink locations, carpools, rideshares and other important things.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The conference is located 3.7 miles from your hotel. Directions are here: http://bit.ly/raebY6 You are encouraged to self-organize taxi rides and carpools to and from the hotel. Use the hash tag #ncdevcon on twitter for this purpose. We've screened all attendees and have filtered out most of the serial killers and wackos.

Your hotel can flag a taxi or you can call: (919) 539-4583  or (919) 798-6106 for good, safe, efficient cab transport.

INFORMATION:

You can get help at any time by coming to the registration desk. In addition, there will be NCDevCon volunteer staff wearing Beige (men) or Yellow (women) TACFUG shirts.

HANDS ON CLASSES

There are two available hands on classes this year. If you plan on attending either class (or both) you must:

• Show up to the class on time
• Have a working laptop that you can install programs on
• For either/both classes, download this software (free trial): http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=flash_builder
• For Web/ColdFusion class other software will be installed/configured on your computer at the beginning of the class

EVENT SCHEDULE FRIDAY NIGHT

Many speakers and attendees are staying at the Clarion hotel in Raleigh. There are a lot of food and drink options within a 2 block radius of the hotel, I recommend:

• The Flying Saucer: www.beerknurd.com/stores/raleigh
• The Borough: theboroughraleigh.com
• Napper Tandy's: http://nappertandys.com
• Raleigh Times: http://raleightimesbar.com

Use the hash tag #ncdevcon to organize groups and meet new friends.

SATURDAY

Registration begins at 8:00 AM. We'll have free coffee, soda and snacks available out for you. The first session starts at 9:00 so please get to the conference location by 8:30 so we can register you in time.

SATURDAY LUNCH

Lunch (for both days) is included with your registration. There is a vegetarian entree option both days. Our menu for Saturday is probably:

• Seasonal Tossed Salad
• Chicken Tomato Alfredo or Shrimp Creole or Vegetable Paella
• Peach Cobbler Dessert

SATURDAY EVENING

Right after the sessions, please join us for free food and beverages provided by our very generous sponsors. We'll have stuff for you to enjoy from 6PM-9PM. After 9PM it is tradition to adjourn to the Flying Saucer (www.beerknurd.com/stores/raleigh) located a block from the conference hotel and hang out with your fellow conference folks. There is the possibility of some additional free drinks for those who come to the Flying Saucer. The Flying Saucer also has very good food in case you need something else before you trot off to bed.

SUNDAY

Registration again opens at 8:00 AM. If you already registered, you can show up at 9:00 for the first session. If you are checking out of the hotel, bring your bags and we'll store them at the conference for you. As before, we'll have plenty of free coffee, soda and snacks available out for you.

SUNDAY LUNCH

Lunch is included with your registration. Our menu for Sunday is probably:

• Pesto Pasta Salad
• Chicken Jambalaya or Seafood au Gratin or Vegetable tamales and refried lentils (vegan)
• Bread Pudding Dessert

SUNDAY NIGHT

The conference ends at 4:00. If you need a ride to the airport, you may find one by letting us know and hanging around by the registration desk.

If you need any help or information, please come by the registration desk. or look for a volunteer. We look forward to meeting you at NCDevCon and strive to give you the best conference experience possible.

Dan Wilson/Jim Priest and the rest of the NCDevCon staff

If you are interested in participating in either of our hands on labs, you will need the following software installed:

• Building Your First Mobile App with Adobe Flash Builder ( Flash Builder 4.5 )
• Beginning with ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder 2 ( ColdFusion 9 then ColdFusion 9.0.1 and then ColdFusion Builder 2)

Please be aware you do not need to pre-install these.

There is time alloted during each class for installation and configuration, however you may want to download the software in advance.