John Wilker on 360|Flex, RIAs and New Kids on the Block

This week, I spoke with John Wilker, long time Flex Consultant and co-founder of 360 Conferences. John and company are in final preparations for the third installment of the 360 Conference series. 360|Flex Atlanta follows events in San Jose (March 07) and Seattle (August 07), and will continue the 100% Flex focus.

Flex development has never been hotter so it was a logical choice to hold this conference on the hottest RIA technology right in Hotlanta! For the low low price of $480, this 3 day event is a bargain though don't think the bargain price represents bargain rate content. Attendees will hear presentations on a variety of topics from top authorities on Flex like Christophe Coenraets, Michael Labriola, Doug McCune, Rich Tretola, and Ted Patrick. There are a number of opportunities to get free Flex training at the conference and a lucky few will even receive job offers from top Flex firms.

John and I spoke on a variety of topics, from starting your own conference to sponsorships to music. Let's hear from John:

DW: What is your favorite music to listen to while coding?

JW: New Kids on The Block. OK, Ok I'm kidding. I have a "coding" playlist on my iPod and it gets updated with whatever I buy or happen to come across, so long as there's a good beat and lots of energy.

DW: I love New Kids (sings Hanging Tough). Professionally, whom do you most admire?

JW: Tom will tell you, I get fairly zealot like about the Clue Train manifesto, so first and foremost, the guys who wrote it. On a coding and IT level. I've admired Ben Forta since I first met him, he's not over the top or "out there" but he presents like no one else and walks the walk. I'm also a fan of Joel Spolsky, I doubt he'd hire me, but I'd work for him, he seems to really get developers and knows how to get the most out of us, sans the whip and large stick, most managers choose to employ.

DW: Yeah, Joel is the man. He is a gifted manager as well as a gifted writer. Coder too. How did you get started in the Information Technology field?

JW: I was originally the Purchasing Manager for a small Systems Integrator in Southern CA. When we started selling less hardware, more software, the owner came to me and told me I would be a ColdFusion developer come the following Monday, so I should buy a book or something. Thus it all began.

DW: I love ColdFusion. ColdFusion+Flex is a very powerful combination for RIAs. Of course, you have been a Flex developer for a number of years, how did you begin Flex development?

JW: I had been a ColdFusion developer for years and when Macromedia announced Flex 1 I knew that was where I wanted to go. The Rich User Experience was just too great. I had done some Flash (By some I mean very very little) and knew that timelines and keyframes would be my death, so a more tag based, programming language like interface for building killer Flash Apps, that was it. I knew I'd be a Flex developer.

DW: You have recently moved to Colorado. Was that a welcome change for you?

JW: Very welcome. I love CA, but CO is where I consider my home. I learned to ski, albeit poorly, I learned to survive at altitude, and I learned to love the downtown metro area. In CA to afford a home, we lived over an hour and a half from work, that was the pits. I don't miss commuting.

DW: As of late, you have been part of some high profile projects, can you touch on some of your recent successes?

JW: I'm currently working with the team at Ribbit, so far my favorite project. Building around an API that others will be using is pretty cool, building out that API.. that's like coder immortality (LOL). So that's a lot of fun, and pretty challenging. Prior to that I've worked on some very cool stuff, a Scheduling app for Quiznos franchises, that was neat. Definitely one of those cases where the user base can and will range from the tech savvy to my mom.

DW: Where would you like your career to go next?

JW: As much as I love coding, I really dig the community building aspects of 360Conferences. I'd be a happy camper if I spent my days organizing events like 360|Flex. We want to expand and share the love with other industries, we're investigating a few other potential 360|xxxxx options, but want to make sure Flex doesn't get neglected, as well as that the other industries are

1. ready for us and
2. mature enough for these types of events

DW: How did you hatch the idea for 360|Flex?

JW: That was all Tom, honestly. He's in the Valley so the mashup camp's and barcamps, etc really resonated with him, he wanted to do that type of event for Flex. We compromised between free (not overly sustainable, unless you are Google) and affordable for an independent consultant. The independent was the target because I was then, and am back to being one myself and most other conferences were just more than I could spend without getting a tummy ache.

DW: Conference planning is serious business. You aren't employed full-time by 360Conferences?

JW: Oh no. No no no. Not yet anyway. Tom and I both support our families writing code still. We're hoping 360Conferences turns a profit in Atlanta, and from there we're able to start working towards supporting ourselves on that. It's a tight rope. Being the conference that ain't a "freakin' arm and leg" to attend, means profitability comes a bit slower.

DW: I see. What goes into organizing and running a conference of this size?

JW: Arguments, strife, name calling, occasional hugs after the fights and name calling :) Since it's just Tom and I, we rely heavily on "experts" folks like CFDynamics, EventBrite, etc. to handle the things we just can't dedicate the bandwidth to handling. We focus on the people and leave a lot of the technical stuff out as much as possible. We hire a few temps when we get onsite to handle surveys, we use hotel AV (though we're moving away from that, it's expensive!). The big thing is the passion for the attendees. Making no money, even losing a little, is tough to take, but when attendees come up and shake our hands, or wave from across the room, as corny as it sounds, that's what makes it worthwhile.
DW: How do you like working with sponsors?

JW: We love our sponsors. We try to make the event as beneficial for them as it is for attendees. We learn as we go, so each time, we try to have more to offer them, while not plastering the place with logos or having sponsors that don't really make sense in the context of the demographic. At first we weren't sure we liked the idea, but having met our sponsors and talked to them and even formed friendships with some, we wouldn't have a conference with out them now.

DW: What is your least favorite part about conferences?

JW: The herding of cats. Speakers, sponsors, venue, schwag. It's love hate really, it's fun and exciting but at the same time, it's a lot of things to juggle; did I get a preso from him, did she send over the menu for parties, did they pay us for their sponsorship. For a part time "side job" it's really a full time job, compressed into fewer hours... hence the name calling I mentioned earlier.

DW: What is the one thing people think they know about conferences, but really don't have a clue?

JW: Everything. That includes everything I thought. Food is crazy expensive, we pointed it out in Seattle, those little soda bottles... 5 bucks a piece. Wifi sucks. We've made it a mission to have good wifi and still we come up short. A lot of people have suggested outside catering to lower lunch costs, and what I don't think they realize is that (at least so far) no hotel is down with you bringing in outside vendors. We can't even bring in Red Bull and just give it away, we have to give it to exhibitors to give out. The Hospitality industry has crazy rules and is HUGE. Tom wants to open his own hotel so we can do it the way we want, we'll see :)

DW: Starting a conference sounds really hard, do you have any advice for others who seek to start up a technology-centric conference?

JW: Know your audience. We had a few "People don't want that" type things early on, all of which immediately got shattered. Be flexible and listen to your customers. And don't try to have stellar Wifi, you'll spend a ton of money, and it will still suck. Seattle had like 4 T1s routers all over the place, littering the hallways, no ports blocked including VPN, and still a few people couldn't get on.

DW: There was some discussion about pricing and speaker honorariums as of late. How did 360Conferences handle criticism on speaker honorariums? How did you guys arrive at the final solution?

JW: I handle criticism poorly most of the time, but in keeping with the 'business is a conversation' meme I picked up from cluetrain, I try to keep an open mind. It really came as a shock to Tom and me, since up until it came up, no one said anything. Once it came up, a lot of folks were like 'yeah pay speakers, or give em free rooms' etc. So we made a poll. We asked what people wanted, we asked other bloggers to spread the word, to get the most input we could. Then we did what the people said. We try to keep in mind that as much as it's our passion that drives the business, it's our customers and fellow developers that it's all for and if they don't like it, and don't come, then our passion isn't worth much, LOL.

We still can't do what some wanted, there simply isn't enough money. But we are covering hotel costs now, and are still looking at ways to do more. We've mentioned before, each event is really an experiment, and whatever works, makes it to the next event, what doesn't work, doesn't make it. That goes for speakers, sponsors, activities, etc.

DW: The 360Flex conference has a fresh informal feel that encourages interaction among attendees and also among attendees and the presenters, what are some of the ways you have encouraged this?

JW: We look at speakers as attendees with a few more responsibilities. Speakers don't have a "prep room" or a private hang out. I'm sure some would love to have that, but most are cool with being out with everyone, even sitting in on sessions. Speakers make the event, but I think most will agree, they don't walk on water. Tom and I sit right on the main floor, we're always there, we welcome everyone the night before with a handshake and a smile. We don't think conferences should feel "corporate" there's some where you see the organizer for a few minutes during a keynote, and that's it. We don't like that. We like saying hi to attendees, we like seeing them at other events and catching up, and remembering them.

DW: What can conference attendees expect to get out of 360Flex?

JW: More cooler stuff! We've got an API contest planned for Atlanta with some kick ass prizes. We're ditching the "Conference CD" in favor of more useful USB Keys, 1GB baby!

DW: Looking at the conference line-up, 360:Flex has the Who's Who of the Flex world. There is a lot of depth in the sessions and some very advanced topics are covered. For those who are new to Flex development, or want to break in to Flex development, what does 360:Flex Atlanta offer?

JW: With 360|Flex Tom and I really are aiming at two things, increasing the size of the developer community (Adobe isn't gonna get 1 mil developers just from wishful thinking, LOL) and helping to grow the experience and abilities of the existing community. We're offering an all day hands-on training on Sunday (included in the registration price), plus several hands-on training sessions during the conference. That way, a develooper looking to break into Flex can attend and have something to do all four days. It's really almost two events, since the beginner will get what he wants and the experienced senior developer, will also come away with a ton of new info, skills and contacts.

DW: What unique benefits accrue to sponsors of 360Flex?

A much more intimate connection with the community. A far great exposure to those developers looking for full and contract work. Cynergy Systems, our Diamond sponsor for Seattle left with 7 new hires. Not just interviews, but offer letters created and done before the end of the event, that's good for sponsors and the community.

DW: It sounds like some sponsors look at the conference like a large recruitment event. Since Flex development is hot and getting hotter, what can a developer do to have the best chance of getting a job offer during the conference?

JW: Many do indeed, we encourage it to a degree, obviously some companies don't want their people being poached, but we figure if they're happy, they won't be interested. I'd say if you are in the market, make sure you've got a few paper copy's of your resume as well as a copy on your USB drive or something. The parties are great places to hob nob. In Seattle one sponsor held a party and the price of admission as a copy of your resume, they left with 7 offer letters.

DW: In Feb, 360:Flex will be held in Atlanta, GA. What factors helped Atlanta win the honors?

JW: Well some factors we can't talk about until after Atlanta. They'll be evident. We had it narrowed down to Atlanta and Orlando. Orlando was actually the front runner, until.... well you'll see.

Thanks to John for taking time away from his consulting clients and conference planning to talk withria.dzone.com. As a reminder, the 360|Flex Atlanta conference will be held February 25-27, 2008. Every 360 Conference has sold out. Make sure you are registered today for 360|Flex Atlanta!