Some of you might know that we’ve been thinking about taking 360|iDev overseas. We’ve done it once (and are planning to again) with 360|Flex.
We think it’s about time Europe got a taste of 360|iDev. The question is. Where? and how big is iPhone development in Europe?
We’re looking at Amsterdam and Germany, but are open to other ideas. The big question is, is there enough interest.
We very badly want to take the fun and awesome that is 360|iDev to Europe, but need to know there’s enough interest in Europe.
So what do you guys on the other side of the pond think?
Where should we go? Is Europe ready?
Spread this post around, leave comments, etc. We’re actively looking for as much data as we can get. User group membership numbers, etc. It all helps ensure we do this right, and deliver the most kick ass iPhone conference Europe has ever seen :) (Dream big, right!)
I believe both Amsterdam and Germany are getting a little bit too over crowded in terms of conferences, shows etc. Why you guys don't consider Nice in the south of France as possible place?
It has the second largest airport in the country with lots of destinations reachable in one stop and planes from Paris & London every 30 minutes, excellent weather, food and facilities (Microsoft used to organize there its European TechED in the good old times as well as the GSM World Congress until a few years ago).
Not to mention the fact that Sofia Antipolis (close to Cap d'Antibes) host what is considered the french 'Silicon Valley' with so many companies (mostly non-french) headquarters that would be very happy to host an event of the size of 360iDev.
I can offer my help for any inquiry.
Disclaimer: I don't work for the local french tourism board but I live 25 minutes from Nice and would be nice to just take the train this time :-)
Amsterdam is definitely a conference hotspot! Which is largely why I even considered it, knowing that the city and hotels are at least conference friendly.
This comes from someone who's only ever been to Italy, so don't take it the wrong way. :)
When we went to Italy (MIlan) for our last European event, it wasn't a success in large part (IMO) because of the location and community. Milan isn't very (at all) English friendly. We had very little italian turn out, and it was hard for attendees do get out and do things because the surrounding restaraunts and even the hotel itself, barely spoke any english.
Is Nice like that?
Hi John,
Milan is too busy as a city (and I may add too cold in winter and too hot in summer). It is possibly the last location I would think about to host a conference, even if it is very successful for events like car shows, furniture show and so on.
The Cote d'Azur is definitively a very nice spot all round (Nice is one possibility, but also Cannes come to mind as exceptional place) and on the way back people may want to spend a bit of time in Paris as well. There is a very active community of mobile developers all around in France and iPhone oriented in particular.
Have a look around the Promenade des Anglais and the Acropolis (the main conference center, among many others) using Google Earth and if you guys plan the conference around September you will get the best deal. Despite being French (no pun intended), they are very oriented in welcoming people from all over the world and certainly English don't feel strangers around here.
Accommodation is available for all sorts of pockets and public transportation is very efficient (not something you can take for granted in every city)
Chuck and Judith had trouble posting, so I'm posting their comment for them.
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You could look at the iPhone development & business conference
(http://iphonedevcon.de) that is taking place for the third time now
in Germany. The participation fees are higher than for 360iDev though,
and participation numbers for 2008 and 2009 are not available from the
website, you'd have to contact the organizer. Just that they keep
organizing it and they keep organizing it in more or less the same
spot (with 20km of Cologne) shows that they had no trouble getting a
return on their investment.
Other than that, it's hard to gauge how many people a new conference
like this would attract. Since the international launch of the iPhone,
Germany has always figured in the top 5 countries in iPhone sales,
usually outdone only by the US and Japan. Also, Germany is home to
several German-language iPhone magazines and one exclusively about
iPhone development. The Berlin iPhone developer group alone counts 82
members. In Western Europe, 67% of mobile surfing is done on the
iPhone OS (as opposed to only 52% in the US, http://metrics.admob.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/…
and this is confirmed by the amount of iPhones and iPod Touches I see
in a random Berlin subway or lightrail. It's hard to get any numbers
other than this. For this reason, I'd suggest launching a poll so that
people can indicate their interest in participating in a 360iDev
Europe.
By the way, I don't see anything wrong with going to a city that is
known for conferences. Quite to the contrary: it indicates that a lot
of other conference organizers deemed it a good spot in terms of local
costs, availability of infrastructure, number of conference-going
people in the greater influence area, traffic connections, cost of
inner-European flights to that city… Also, if a city routinely hosts
international conferences, it means that everything is laid out for
it, implying good knowledge of English by the hotels at the least, but
also availability of English-language announcements on the public
transport to help people find the conference center and things like
that. Statistically in terms of the average person's ability to speak
English, the Netherlands are the strongest (also because less people
live in rural areas), but Germany still has a significant advantage
over France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language_in_Europe).
I would recommend Berlin in particular not just because of its viglant
iPhone developer community and accessibility, but also because prices
are the lowest here in all of Western Europe, the difference between
particularly striking if you take rent into account – see http://www.ubs.com/1/ShowMedia/wealthmanagement/w…
page 8. Besides, http://www.demotix.com/news/279982/berlin-coolest…
One thing to note, many conferences are huge losses and still take place year after year. Depending on who is backing the event, it's a marketing write off for other services etc. So just because it takes place over and over, doesn't mean it's profitable.
Sorry forgot to hit approve. Not sure why ID thought it needed approval, LOL.
Agree on Amsterdam, while I've never been, I'd guess a large number of speakers/attendees have been there more than once.
You probably lost even my other comment, anyway… not sure about Germany, but certainly Amsterdam is getting way too much events in the mobile fields, and chances are potential attendees have been there already. Personally I'm more intrigued in attending an event hosted in a city I didn't visit before rather than keep going at the same spot again. On more exotic destination, I attended the UIQ developer conference in Budapest a couple of years ago and it was fantastic (and I should add cheap)
France is a great idea, you have a big events in Paris around iPhone dev and mobile generally speaking :
BeMyApp which is a startup week end for iPhone apps which started in Paris, now in 3 different cities in france and is now extending to San Francisco :
http://www.bemyapp.com/redirect.php
The Mobile 2.0 conference, during two days, with CEO from tens of french company (tech companies, bank, media, etc) http://www.lemobile20.fr
We would love to have such an event in Europe !