Charles Calvert will be talking at the next meeting of the Independent Computer Consultants Association in Tysons Corner. His topic will be “Becoming an Independent Consultant.” The meeting is at the Olive Garden. Networking begins at 6:30 PM, dinner at 7:00 and the talk will start around 8:00. The cost is $30 for non-members ($35 at the door), but this cost also includes the dinner and non-alcoholic beverages.
Next NOVARUG Meeting Should Be Good
Chad Fowler and Dave Thomas, two prominent Ruby-ists, will be speaking at the next NovaRUG meeting on April 15, 2009. Talks start at 7:00 PM; networking begins at 6:30. It may be crowded, so register in advance. The meeting will be held at FGM headquarters; see the NovaRUG web site for details on the location and how to register.
RubyNation 2009 Speakers Selected
The list of RubyNation speakers has now been finalized, and I will be one the local DC-area speakers again this year. My topic is going to be: “Creating a World-Class RESTful API in Rails.” This is based on my direct experience at Grab Networks.com creating a robust, Amazon-style API for use by partners and, eventually, the public.
Speaking at the ICCA June Meeting
I just got confirmation that I’ll be speaking on Rails at the June 2009 meeting of the ICCA, the Independent Computer Consultants Association. The meeting will be June 9th ay 6:30 PM at the Olive Garden in Tysons Corner. Socializing begins at 6:30, dinner at 7:00 and the presentation at 8:00. The meeting is open to the public.
Location: Olive Garden Restaurant, 8133 Leesburg Pike, Vienna VA 22182
RubyNation 2009 Web Site Up!
Karen Gillison, of CodeSherpas and I just finished all of the updates for the RubyNation 2009 web site, and the updates are now live. Last year we maintained the content in, essentially, straight HTML, so this year I added a custom-built content management system to make posting news items to the site easier (implemented using Active Scaffold). The Call for Papers is now officially open, too.
RubyNation 2009
Ruby enthusiasts of the Washington DC metropolitan area, mark your calendars. We’ve confirmed the date for RubyNation 2009. It’s going to be June 12 – 13 in Reston, VA. Based on last year’s sell-through, we have commissioned a larger venue. We’re going to have it at the Sheraton Hotel, where we can expand it to accommodate 200+ people, rather than the hard limit of 125 that we had at last year’s conference. It’s also going to be a dual-track event this year.
Worldcon 66
Dave Keener attended the 66th World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado, from August 7 to 11. As per usual, there were lots of great events, good food and many, many SF books. The convention center was also nice, with an interesting statue, as shown below:
RubyNation 2008!!!
The RubyNation 2008 Conference was a stunning success on August 1 – 2, easily at the upper end of what the organizers were hoping for. The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) venue was excellent, with plenty of parking, a really nice auditorium and good electronics capabilities. The catering was first-rate. Finally, the array of speakers and the mix of topics went over very well with the audience. Rest assured, there will be a RubyNation 2009.
Oh, and by the way, I had great time giving my presentation on JRuby…
RubyNation Conference Sold Out!
As one of the organizers, I’m proud to say that the RubyNation 2008 Conference has sold out. All 125 tickets (at $175 each) were sold in 52 days, which is excellent for any technical conference, let alone the first year of a conference. We were also able to attract a number of great sponsors, as well as companies to provide some truly excellent giveaways. Between the tickets selling out and the sponsors, the conference is solidly in the black, which is also gratifying (since there are some pretty hefty hard costs associated with running a conference).
RubyNation Tickets Selling Nicely
Tickets for RubyNation 2008, a new regional Ruby conference that I’m helping to organize, are selling briskly. We’re at about the 75% mark, with ticket prices due to increase by $25 on July 16th. By my calculations, we’re already in the black based on ticket sales and sponsorships, which is always a vital milestone. My guess is that RubyNation will be sold out at least a week before the conference.