Excited For 2008 - CFUNITED
Posted January 2, 2008 at 8:09 AM by Ben Nadel
Happy New Year to all you ColdFusion fans out there. I was just sitting here, thinking about the upcoming excitement of 2008 and it got me thinking about the CFUNITED conference. Last year's CFUNITED conference was a huge milestone in my life. Not only was it my first ColdFusion conference, it was really my first conference of any kind. But, more than just a conference, CFUNITED really marks a turning point in my life; it was the beginning of a journey of personal discovery and self improvement. It wholly embodies my desire to overcome social phobias and to really thrust myself outside of my own comfort zone.
As such, CFUNITED was very good experience for me from both personal and community based view points. In 2008, I hope to continue this tradition, and I want you all to be part of it. CFUNITED feels like it's far away, and it is, but the tickets have been on sale for a while. In fact, the Early Bird special ends in just a few days! I know, when it comes to making big decisions like this, at least for me, there is a tremendous amount of anxiety. Logically, I know there shouldn't be - it seems like the fear of just pulling that trigger is 10 times greater than the fear of consequences. I have had a number of HUGE decisions to make lately, and I am finding that consistently, contemplating the decisions was much more terrifying than actually dealing with the aftermath.
OK, maybe I am being a bit dramatic about it; but, I just want to sympathize with people who might be planning out their year and feeling very hesitant about doing things like attending CFUNITED. My biggest resolution of 2008 is simply to make this "The Year of Ben". I want this to be the year where everything that I do has a positive impact on my life - where every decision that I make, even when scary, is about personal improvement. Last year, that mentality started with CFUNITED.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this exactly. Right now, I'm operating on 80% emotion and 20% caffeine and I'm just excited to be starting fresh in 2008. I was told this morning that the CFUNITED early bird special was ending on January 5th, and I guess it just struck a chord with me. After the time I had last year, I just wanted to give a shout out for it and say that if you are unsure as to whether or not you want to go, just pull that trigger. Take advantage of the lower prices and decide that right now, you are gonna start off the new year proactively by planning to do something that is fun and beneficial.
Anyway, just my little inspiration speech for the new year. Happy 2008 to everyone!
Reader Comments
I *REALLY* want to make it to a conference but I don't think it's going to be this year :( unless I can find some unallocated funds laying around the house (doubtful!) or I can convince someone from work to send me...
I'm looking forward to 2008 as well!
Hey Ben,
It was great to meet you last year (and so many others). I would also +1 the notion that CFUnited and the other conferences are not intimidating at all. Its very relaxed and people of all skill levels are attending. Its always fun for me to match up faces with blogs. Plus you learn a few things.
See you there.
Joshua
And you can get drunk.
Now, if only we have such a conference in Australia ... * envy *
@Felix,
I feel like I just read a post somewhere about some great Australian conferences. Tried to find the post, but cannot :(
@Jim,
Hope to see you there. Good luck finding a way down! If I can do anything to help, I'll let you know.
@Josh,
Is Savvy going to have a booth again this year?
@Brian,
That's what I've heard, but I'm not much of a drinker :)
Ben ---
They give you some cool things you can put your weed in too since you don't drink...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqSM2rfeWD8&feature=related
@Brian,
Ha ha. I always felt like Rob Schneider was an under appreciated actor. I keep waiting for him to come out with an amazing film.
@Felix,
I was just talking to Peter Bell about what you said and he suggested WebDU:
Give that a look. I hear it is pretty huge.
Yes, I have heard of great things about webDU, haven't been there myself (being a newbie in CF & Adobe). Hopefuly I can go this year.
I went to Sydney CFCAMP (Peter Bell was one of the presenters), my first programming conference ever, and it was a blast.
I can't think of any other conferences other than those two though. How many CF / Adobe conferences you guys have there in US? CFUnited, CFObjective.. and roadshows?
@Felix,
Have you checked out any of the Australian CFUGs? (ColdFusion User Groups).
@ Ben
No, I have been guilty for not attending any of my local CFUG which is http://nswcfug.wordpress.com. :)
webDU is a great conference and definitely worth attending - I spoke at MXDU 2004 and 2005 (it was renamed to webDU for 2006) and it was definitely the highlight of those two years for me.
And then of course there's cf.Objective() in Minneapolis in early May for folks who want a conference focused on advanced ColdFusion rather than the broader spread of topics at CFUNITED. cf.Objective()'s early bird ends on January 15th ($499 for three days).
I'll be at cf.Objective() (attending) and at CFUNITED (speaking) - and Scotch on the Rocks (speaking - Edinburgh, early June) - so I hope to see lots of CFers this year. And then of course MAX is in my backyard this year so I'll almost certainly be at that as well! For 2009, I might try to get back out to webDU.
Conferences are a very important investment in your personal and professional development and I feel you should be suspicious of an employer that won't send you to at least one conference a year. And to freelancers who say they "can't afford" to attend conferences I say: you can't afford to improve yourself? Where are your priorities? You can't afford to *not* attend conferences!
+1. This year I'll be at cf.objective(), CF United, CF United Europe, Web Maniacs, Scotch on the Rocks, the BCS SPA conference, ooSPLA, Code Generation and no doubt one or two others depending on scheduling.
I definitely get a ROI on the conferences - both from the things I learn and the people I meet.
Oh *I* can afford to improve myself... the wife however wants to go on a cruise :)
Thanks for the heads up on cf.Objective() - that looks a bit more affordable. I need to chart these on a calendar and really plan for next year...
Ben,
As I mentioned previously I owe you at least one beer for your help, so what's your favorite brand? CFUnited seems like a good opportunity.
larry
Hey Ben, Thanks for the post. It was so great to see you last June. Sounds like you made a lot of good contacts and had some fun on the side. ;-)
I hope you find it as exciting and even more beneficial to your career in 2008. So thank you for attending CFUnited and I hope I run into you again!
BTW, I love your blog. One of my top 5. You rock.
-Liz
@Larry,
Get me a Seltzer water and we'll call it even :)
@Liz,
I can't wait. Thanks for the kind words about my blog. Glad you enjoy it so much.
