I am very pleased to have been able to attend the inaugural ALT.NET Conference held this weekend in Austin Texas. I was able to meet a lot of people who have been helping me indirectly through their blogs over the past year or so.
I was not sure how much I would be able to get out of this type of conference where so many people have a lot more experience than me. I was encouraged by JP BoodHoo and Jeremy Miller, to just come out and have some fun.
Well I did have fun!!!!
This is a very open and inclusive group of people. They have extreme passion for their work and strive for doing things well. But there are number of posts that say either there is no need for this community or that the ALT.NET community is divisive
Well take it from me, there is a need for this community, I am starved for the type of debates that occur as a matter of course. And this community is where I am getting key learning from. These people are happy to explain the why of things. And not to be divisive, but I am not getting this from the typical events close to me. I drive to code camps and other events from Boston to Philadelphia, and will fly to Texas to get my yearning for technology satisfied.
And today one of many highlights was attending a session and with Roy Osherove and Jay Flowers. I was thrilled when Roy called me the whiner from New York, and yes Roy I am a beginner to TDD and will be using your book for the guide to really start implementing, Thanks. And Jay is doing a panel with Rob Conery at OpenForce.
Here are some photos and proof that I was there. You can also check out the flickr feed.
The Sunday opening, Dave must have invited the guys with the Skate Boards
The open spaces and fishBowl Formats are very inclusive!
Here are some of the tools the community is using, and yes I did add SubSonic!!!
The list of conference topics, built at the event, by the attendees. And for those interested, all topics were positive and meant to share information and learn from others.
Jay Flowers is going loopy...He had material left over when his session ran against the MVC framework from Scott Gu.
Roy has some interesting ideas on how to choose which Legacy code modules should have TDD introduced to them first.
And yes - here is proof that I was there!!!
In Summary, ALT.NET is a good thing – do not get hung up on the labels or the personalities. Just keep learning and asking yourself if you’re doing the best job with the best tools available. And if you think there is a better way, than roll up your sleeves, talk to some other people, and make things better.