*Words of Wisdom From The Elder

I wanted to post a few interesting thoughts real quick on what I noticed about the CodeMash conference that made it different for me.  When you go to a conference a lot of the time you know who is going to be there.  If it is a PHP conference, for the most part those that are heavily into PHP are going to be there.  The same can be said for Java conferences, Microsoft conferences and so on.  

People From Different Walks Of Life

When I was putting together my Who’s Who post for CodeMash it hit me why it was so different.  I suddenly realized there was no other conference where you would see so many people from so many different backgrounds and technologies in one area.  If I would have explored more I could have gotten lots more pictures of names from different areas that would have surprised you.  As I was putting together my post on who was there this really became apparent.  Even though the attendees were from different backgrounds, everyone was extremely open to learn.  If there was anything to take away from several of the keynotes it was learning how the other half lives is a good thing.

No Buses and No Shuttles

The other thing that made the CodeMash so different was where it was held.  For larger conferences you are going to stay in a hotel.  The hotel may be 5 minutes away or 25 minutes away, or as it was in Boston at Tech Ed, an hour away.  At very large events where you stay in a hotel you really have to plan your day.  Going back to the hotel could cost you several hours.  Sometimes you really want to go back to the hotel to either clean up or drop off swag or your laptop before a social event in the evening starts.  CodeMash made this so easy I took it for granted over and over and over.  The organizers booked the speakers as close to the conference as they could and it honestly took 30 seconds to walk from my room to the conference.  Wow, that was awesome.  For others that were in other areas of the resort, they were only a minute or two away.

I Never Left The Building

Once we arrived at the Kalahari Resort we never left.  Not even once.  There was plenty of things to do, places to eat, and more.  If you don’t believe me, check out this video posted by Alexey Govorin where the attendees are trying to surf in the water park.  And for those wondering, this is the video I was showing at the end of the conference on the screen.  It was great to just stay in one place and not have to travel around in taxi rides, buses, subways, etc.