Skip to main content

CodeMash 2008: Day 1

Well, day on of CodeMash 2008 is just about up. I'm in the last session of the day for me: F#. It's a functional language...code is data and all that. I can't say I'm mastering it or how I might leverage it but that's what CodeMash is all about: exposing yourself to topics and concepts one wouldn't normally be exposed to. I think of it as trying to minimize the "I don't know what I don't know" factor. I hate stumbling upon a great solution to a problem a few months after the problem was resolved with a more complicated solution.

I tried to keep myself out of the box most of the day attending sessions on:

I was also honored to gain an invitation to lunch with the keynote speaker Scott Hanselman. (Thanks Josh, Jeff.) It was a big group (~30) but he spoke of some interesting perspectives about how to get things done (i.e. release products) at Microsoft. He sounded as though he was already a bit frustrated at all the legal garbage often dictating Microsoft actions...after working there just 13 weeks. I've never seen Scott speak but he gave a very entertaining and informative presentation on IIS7. I got the impression Scott could give a good presentation on cantaloupes...he's just that kind of guy. I'm going to try to ask him how he became so comfortable on the podium. He's been speaking for years so...probably experience.

My other priority (aside from learning) for the conference is to meet folks. Now I'm an ISTJ (Myers-Briggs) so the days can be a bit tiring for an introvert! However, I must forge on and keep my energy up. In meeting people, I'm hoping to get the name of my firm out, help with recruiting, and engage myself in the community.

Tomorrow, I'm going to trend back closer to my domain:

  • Silverlight
  • WWF
  • Agile
  • C# 3.0

I'm also looking forward to socializing with folks from my firm (6 attendees + 2 sales/recruiting), and the other CodeMash attendees. QSI is sponsoring a happy hour and I'm hoping our sales guy will bust out the Amex Gold tonight!

Overall, again this year I am wildly impressed with the organization and variety of sessions coordinated by a non-profit, volunteer group. Jim Holmes, Brian Prince, Jeff Blankenberg, Josh Holmes, John Hopkins, Jason Follas, and a host of others I'm forgetting. Great work!

Comments

Unknown said…
Nice post. I totally agree. The speakers were great, and the organizers did a super job!!

I'd love to pick you're brain on a few things. Might be a free beer or food in it for you. ;)
Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:28:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hero Write-up: Now this is Customer Service!

My best friend Scott is president/C-everything of a small northeastern Ohio manufacturing concern, KirkKey Interlock . I hadn't spoken with him for a while and wanted to see how Canton fared with the Blizzard of '08 (that's what they're calling it...not me). I say, "So what's new?" He replies that on Tuesday his primary server (which essentially runs the business) came up with lame with not one, but [a statistically improbable] *two* physical disk failures on a RAID5 hardware array. My friend attempts the fix but gives up pretty quickly after seeing some Linux nasty-grams on the boot screen. His service provider is an old college buddy who lives down in Raleigh, Cerient Technologies led by Jason Tower . Scott couldn't email out because Exchange was on the toasted server. Being creative, Scott started Treo-emailing photos of the screen. Unfortunately, Jason couldn't receive email because a storm had knocked out a lot of local hosting. [Sigh] After...
4 comments
Read more

Certified or Certifiable?

As a senior technology professional, I interview a lot of candidates. I also maintain solid relationships with other folks in the community. Frequently, the topic of certifications arises: A good investment? Valuable? A clear measurement of skill? Consensus appears to draw the line related to one's seniority. If you're (for example) just out of school and looking for an instant creditability boost, by all means pursue a certification. Likely, this credential will assist you in overcoming the "junior" tag and likely land you more interviews and client roles. (Note: I'm going to use the terms senior and junior here...no offense to either. Can't think of a better one word description. I was a junior once too.) In stark contrast, the value of certifications drops off the table around the 2-3 year mark. Some in my circles even perceive certifications as a negative for the senior professional. They think, "If this guy is so solid, why is he wasting valuable...
5 comments
Read more

Lab Management in Visual Studio 2010 Released

In my experience, there's a lot of animosity and poor communication between Development and QA . It's not that they don't appreciate one another so much as they never seem to stay on the same page. QA : "What's the status on defect #4874?" Dev: "Done." QA : "Done?" Dev: "Yeah, I fixed that Tuesday." QA : "Err, ok . Well where is it? I mean where can I verify it?" Dev: "No clue. I committed it Tuesday. It passed unit tests and built successfully." QA : "Alright. I'll track it down." Invariably , QA speaks with the build manager (if there is one) to find the build in which that defect was repaired. After discovering the correct build, now QA needs an environment stood up to house that build. But wait, the UAT environment is currently testing the next release. It can't be disturbed for another week. At this point, the QA person's blood pressure heads for unsafe levels and the Dice.com bro...
1 comment
Read more