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360iDev come for the sessions stay for the parties

March 29, 2010 By 1 Comment

360|iDev is more than just sessions. I mean, the sessions are awesome, 40+ from some of the best and brightest in the iPhone dev community. And don’t get me started on the panels…. (seperate blog post)

But when the sessions are over, the parties begin.

The evening receptions give everyone a chance to decompress after having 8 hours of insanely awesome technical information jammed into their skulls. Grab a beer, some food, maybe a root beer float (That’s right!) and just hang out. Watch Joe rock out on Rock Band, chat with Mike Lee over beers, talk icon design with Dave, whatever.  The evenings of 360|iDev are a great time to meet new folks, enjoy the great community that is the iPhone dev community.

And that’s not all that’s going on during the receptions :)

We’ve introduced the idea of BOF (Birds of a feather) sessions, which are more free form, discussion type sessions, that take place during the receptions. Something you want to talk about? Post it to the BOF site. Maybe there’s a topic not covered at 360|iDev, throw out a BOF idea. The BOFs are open to any attendee, there’s no requirements, no guidelines. Want to talk about something, put it up on the list.

The BOFs are community organized. Heck, maybe a Sci Fi chat over beers BOF, skies the limit.

Our evening receptions are sponsored, so make sure you show some love to the party sponsors!

Sunday’s welcome reception is sponsored by: Double Encore

Monday night’s party is sponsored by: Ansca Mobile

Tuesday night’s party, the last official party of 360|iDev, is sponsored by: appFigures. The Tuesday night party also kicks off the Touch Arcade Game Jam!

Register now for 360|iDev San jose. Get more out of 4 days than you’ll even imagine possible!

Filed Under: Community, Drinks, Geeking Out, Hands-On, Networking, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose, Sponsors Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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360iDev Touch Arcade Game Jam

March 25, 2010 By 2 Comments

Have a game idea you’ve been saving for when you have the time? Maybe you need to learn cocos2d first to do the game you want. Maybe you have too many other things going on, but the moment you have a few hours, it’s on.

Well, the Touch Arcade Game Jam, is for you :)

Starting Tuesday night, after the evening reception, we’ll be locking (Not really) anyone who wants to into a room at Ebay to crank out code all night long, 12 straight hours, through the night.

Touch Arcade is sponsoring, and will keep you hydrated, fed, and loaded up on Toblerone and Red bull.

When everyone else comes back to Ebay Town hall for the Wednesday General Session (Mike Lee, ya’ll) the Game jammers will be done, and ready to show off their creations.

Whether you’re a game developer right now or not, the game jam is the best place for you to try it out.

3 days to write an app? p-shaw! In Denver we saw something like 15 games demoed. Some made it to the app store shortly after, some are still being worked on for future (soon) release.

Come learn from experienced game developers first hand, in person.
The Game Jam is open to any 360|iDev attendee. Make sure you have a power cord :)

Register now!

Filed Under: Community, Gaming, Geeking Out, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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360iDev – Who attends 360idev?

March 1, 2010 By 2 Comments

360|iDev, since it’s beginning has attracted an awesome mix of people.

The first conference in 2009, had several sessions, including a sunday Hands-On about Jailbreaking, and what you can do in the jailbroken environment. We also had tons of people who had just put 1 or 2 apps in the store, we had a few folks who had already gone full time, whether as indie developers for hire, or running their own agency, building iPhone apps for companies big and small. We had authors and more in attendance. Mike Lee talked about the Apple community, and why it’s so awesome. We had sessions on how to market your app, what you need to watch out for legally and more.

Then in Denver, we noticed a shift, seeing more indie game developers in attendance. Keith and Natalia keynoted, David Whatley, an awesome late addition talked about being successful in the iPhone game space. Matt Drance formerly of Apple kicked off the conference, with an incredible keynote. We had developers talking about game design and development, being successful in the app store, making a living. We had developers talking about integrating push, getting crazy with OpenGL ES,  Core Data, Core Animation, and more. We also saw the first Game Jam take place, developers spent the night churning out games. Presenting them on Wednesday. Several are in the app store now.

Were seeing the same thing as we plan for San Jose 2010 (You should register). We’re seeing tons more successful developers talking about how to succeed, how to rock the app store, even how to rock the app store with out being a “Smash hit”. We’ve got sessions that are sure to blow your mind, and be worth more than the price of admission, just for those 80 minutes. The Game Jam is back, sponsored by Touch Arcade, Aurora Feint is holding a Game Bar, to highlight games using Open Feint and talk about the added coolness of using OF in your games. We’ve got sessions, on marketing, running your business, advertising, and more.

360|iDev has proven to be an incredible mix of technical sessions, unlike any you’ll see at other events, and business and design sessions that will inform and inspire.

So to answer the question, who attends 360|iDev? Everyone.

  • Developers who want to be a success in the App Store.
  • Developers who want to hear about what the rest of the world will be talking about in 6 months
  • Developers who want to level up their skillset
  • Developers who want to meet other developers, and share experiences, and a beer.
  • People looking for work (3 people who’ve spoken at 360|iDev, have been hired by Apple, coincidence? Probably, but who knows), indies looking for projects, people looking to hire developers, etc.
  • People who are already a success, making their living from apps in the App Store
  • Authors of THE books you’re reading to learn iPhone Development
    • From Manning, O’Reilly, and Apress
  • People with new projects and products to announce!
    • Where better to announce iPhone specific things than to a very targeted group of people.
  • People who want to connect with the iPhone developer community. Not the hobbyist community, not the authors for x publisher community, THE iphone developer community. The people doing it daily, making and selling apps. The people who eat, sleep and breath iPhone development.

The short answer is, the people who attend 360|iDev…

Want to make a nice living in the App Store. (Originally it was “Want to get rich on the App Store”, but I toned it down)

Want to get hired by Apple.

:)

Do yourself and your career a favor, be in San Jose April 11-14th for 360|iDev! Register now!

Filed Under: Community, Content, Drinks, Gaming, Geeking Out, Hands-On, Keynote, Networking, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose, speakers, Sponsors Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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360iDev – Wiki

February 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you saw the announcement of BOF sessions, you know we have a wiki we use for the ad hoc stuff around the conference.

We updated the wiki for one more bit of ad hoc. Activities.

If you’re planning a trip to the mothership or hitting a specific bar one night, or a movie on Wednesday or lunch on Saturday  before the conference, whatever. Post it on the activities page of the wiki.

This way folks looking for the fun, can find it easily ;) It truly does suck to have to hunt for fun :)

On the main page of the wiki is also a few links for hotel searches in the area. If you missed the room block, shame on you, but we don’t want ya sleepin’ on the street, so check those links for other options.

Filed Under: Announcements, Community, Content, Drinks, Geeking Out, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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360iDev – Birds of a Feather sessions

February 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

For those that don’t know what a Birds Of a Feather session is, it’s basically an ad hoc session organized by attendees or speakers, or anyone really for that matter (sorry can’t walk in off the street, gotta at least be an attendee).

Maybe it’s a Sci fi meetup or how to best create app icons, or a round table chat about the benefits of core data… whatever you want, literally. We’ve got a wiki set up with a BOFs page.

Simply go edit the page with your topic and your name. Then promote it of course. Once the listing is populated we’ll make noise too.

BOFs will take place from about 6:30 – 7:30. There’s time to enjoy the appetizers and beer and Rockband, then hop into a BOF, before heading to points unknown for the rest of the evening :)

It’s not too late to register, 360|iDev is coming up fast, don’t miss the most awesome collection of community awesomeness in one place, register now!

Filed Under: Announcements, Community, Content, Drinks, Geeking Out, Networking, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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360iDev – In Pictures

February 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I posted about what you do and don’t get, and we’ve done more posts than I can count on the overall vibe, and the parties etc. So I wanted to take a minute to just post some pictures of the past 360|iDev events. I grabbed these off of flickr. The technical content you get at 360|iDev is beyond compare, truly, feel free to ask anyone who’s attended, but that’s just part of the story. The rest is the community of  iPhone developers geeking out, sharing stories, code, forming companies, finding work, etc.

Filed Under: Community, Content, Denver, Geeking Out, Keynote, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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360iDev – Why you should be staying at the Marriott

February 1, 2010 By 1 Comment

If you haven’t heard, we have an official hotel. That’s right, boys and girls. There’s a spot where all the party people are going to staying under one roof. It’s the spot where you can stumble or crawl to your bed after an all-night rager of drinking, coding or perhaps a bit of both.

Why an official hotel that’s not connected to the conference center? For one, the conference center is on eBay’s HQ. They are trying to run a business, not make your beds or pick up your mess. Aside from that obvious reason, we want to keep having fun after we leave eBay. We’re still gonna party at Ebay after the last sessions; However, instead of taking the post functs to someone’s room, we want to take the party to downtown San Jose!

One thing that’s always nice at a conference is bumping into the “superstars”. While it happens a lot at the conference, it’s tough to pull someone aside to buy ‘em a drink to say thanks for contributing to the community. While we (the organizers) may not be the superstars you’re looking for, we will be at the hotel with all the speakers (who are the superstars). If you’re flying all the way to the show to meet and learn from these people, why would you bother staying anywhere else? Yes, it would be silly, especially after you read up on the deal we have for you!

We have a room block of Sunday night thru Tuesday night. We lined up an amazing rate of $99, for you all because we love you so. :) You don’t think we love you? How about this? In addition to the low rate of $99 for a Mariott (read: Not Sleazy 8 or Motel 6), we’ve also negotiated free wi-fi access for everyone’s guest rooms. That alone will save you some additional coin.

Assuming you’re arriving Saturday to take advantage of our awesome Sunday Hands-On training, and staying until Wednesday to make sure you don’t miss the final panel, that’s likely to be “tablet related” you’re still only paying about $125 a night when you average the prices. Compared to other hotels in the area, that’s a damn good deal. Saturday night and Wednesday night are a bit beefier on the price because the majority of people just stay Sunday to Wednesday, so that’s what our block is for.

I’m sure you have all been to conferences where there’s the, “Which hotel are you at dialogue?” Then there’s time and effort spent on who will go where and when to meetup, etc. Make it easier on yourselves and sure to be newfound friends. Just stay at the Mariott so you’re all in the same place and will be easy to find each other. We’ll be there, the speakers will be there, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be.

You can book online, easy peasy :) Just click here.

While you’re booking your room, you have registered for the conference right? We have so much awesome lined up it’s hard to contain ourselves when talking about it :) Register now!

Filed Under: Announcements, Community, Drinks, Geeking Out, Networking, Parties, Pricing Tagged With: , , , ,
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360iDev – The Speakers – Noel Llopis

January 14, 2010 By 1 Comment

If you attended 360|iDev Denver, you know Noel was the mastermind behind the Game Jam, which will be back in San Jose, sponsored by Touch Arcade! Which means it’s gonna be even better than last time!

Noel and I went out for Pizza the other day and had a chance to chat about 360|iDev

Me: Haven’t you been at all 360|iDev’s to date?

(We take a seat at a booth, each with two slices of pizza. Me double pepperoni, Noel some kind of pizza with chicken, artichokes, and sardines… to each their own)

Noel: I was there from the start. San Jose 2009, baby! :-)

(We high five, then wipe grease off our hands. Pizza, yummy, but messy)

Me: What do you think people who attend your session will be most surprised by/about?

(Noel takes a bite of his chicken, artichoke thing)

Noel: That UIKit actually mixes quite well with OpenGL. Apple has been quietly improving how the two interact and it’s totally reasonable to use them both unlike the initial warnings from the 2.0 days when Apple warned against mixing UIKit and OpenGL.

Me: That’s good to know! Glad Apple’s been working on that. What session are you most excited about, besides your own of course :)

(I order another slice as the waitress walks by, Noel does too. This time he asked for a slice with anchovies, onoins and rosemary)

Noel: The parties, of course! OK, if that doesn’t count, then I’m going to have to go with Owen’s Improv Prototyping session. I have this thing for prototypes (and I can never do as many as I want).

Me: It’ll be good to see Owen! We missed him in Denver. I need more polar bear stories. I hear they walk the streets like people where Owen lives.

(Noel laughs and drops his slice)

What are you most looking forward to at 360|iDev San Jose?

Noel: Can I say the parties now? Seriously, the thing I’m most looking forward to is seeing all the other iPhone devs in person again, and meeting a bunch of new ones. A lot of them I already “know” through Twitter, but I’m definitely looking forward to meeting them in person. The parties are a great setting to mingle and get to know everybody.

Me: (Our slices arrive) The parties will be off the hook that’s for sure. What would you tell someone that was on the fence about attending 360|iDev to convince them to come?

Noel: That 360iDev is a conference like no other. Top-notch content, but small enough that you get to know everybody, including the speakers. If you can only do one iPhone conference, this is the one to go to.

(Raising my slice in a toast)

Me: Damn straight!

(We chat some more, talking about iPhone development, Android phones, smurfs, you name it, we’re heading opposite ways to our cars, when I ask)

So who’d kick ass more, Lion or Vehicle Voltron?

Noel: Neither. Mazinger Z would fly in and kick both their butts (that’s Tranzor Z for you yanks)

Me: I dunno, without Aphrodite A, I’m not sure he could take them both.

Join Noel and all the other awesome community leaders who’re speaking and attending 360|iDev. Register Now before the last of the early tickets is sold out! Don’t miss the best iPhone conference in the world!



Filed Under: Community, Geeking Out, Parties, Reasons to Come, speakers, The Speakers Tagged With: , , , ,
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360iDev – The Touch Arcade Game Jam

December 7, 2009 By 3 Comments

What started as an idea during 360|Flex Denver, and executed with a day’s planning and work, is now “a thing”

We’re pleased to announce that 360|iDev San Jose, will host the Touch Arcade Game Jam!

The Game Jam in Denver, the brain child of Noel Llopis, who organized it, and stayed up all night to “run” things, was a huge hit, with more games being created in 10 hours, than I thought humanly possible. Touch Arcade has a great write up that links to a few others, and after Denver Touch Arcade approached us about making the Game Jam a more permanent and visible feature of the conference, which worked for us, because this kind of hacking is what we love!

Some of the projects from the Denver Game Jam are available in the store! You should check them out!

Hippo High Dive (iTunes Link) From our pals Imangi Studios

Gravity Sling (iTunes Link) from Riptide Games

for Example!

With Touch Arcade sponsoring the Game Jam, it’s gonna be epic. we’ve got time to plan for it, so it’s gonna rock, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see 2x as many games come the Wednesday Game Jam Review.

Touch Arcade is awesome, and we’ve wanted to work with them since we started 360|iDev, so it’s great to finally get a chance! I can’t wait!

Don’t miss the Game Jam, sponsored by Touch Arcade, your game idea could be launched in a night! Register now, before the early tickets sell out, and save $100!

Don’t miss the best iPhone conference in the world!

Filed Under: Announcements, Community, Content, Gaming, Geeking Out, Networking, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , , , ,
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360iDev – The Hotel and Group Rate

December 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

For those that have been to a 360|iDev in San Jose, you know that there’s not much near eBay Town Hall. It’s an awesome space, but surrounded by other office parks.

Normally everyone has to stay at one of the two hotels nearby then walk, light rail or drive over.

Screen shot 2009-11-24 at 4.37.34 PMThis time we’re trying something different. We’re going to be staying downtown (near bars that stay open past 8!), at the Downtown San Jose Marriott

There’s an awesome bar on site, and a great restaurant, and it’s right on the VTA line so you can come and go to the conference.

But wait I’m not done :)

The Marriott has agreed to provide a shuttle loop for an hour in the morning and at night to shuttle everyone back and forth Monday – Wednesday. Just be outside ready to go during that hour, and you’ll be on your way to eBay Town Hall. (We’ll have signs)

Also, every attendee staying at the Marriott will get free internet in their guest room. Just in case you have to work when you’re not partying with us :)

We think this will make the hours between sunset and sunrise much more interesting for everyone. Party with us at eBay then when that’s done, we can party all over downtown San Jose!

The room rate is an awesome $99/night

Book your room now! The room block isn’t huge. If you stay somewhere else, you’re on your own to get back and forth to eBay.

You can call 800-266-9432 to book your room, or book online at the special portal they’ve created for us!

While you’re at it, you should make sure to register, 360|iDev San Jose is gonna be bigger and better than previous events! Don’t miss it! Register now!

Filed Under: Announcements, Community, Networking, Parties, Reasons to Come, San Jose Tagged With: , , ,