I don't think we're in Utah anymore...! Macromedia is all about the user experience, and boy, did they get it right this year! New Orleans and ColdFusion developers go together like red beans and rice, jazz and the delta, crawfish and the bayou. What a conference! There's a new energy buzzing at Macromedia and I can't think of a better place to unleash it than in New Orleans.
I've been hearing about Blackstone ever since the 2002 Macromedia conference when they released ColdFusion MX. Even then, when they were introducing us to CFCs and Web services, they were tempting us with Blackstone, asking us to be patient while they secured the foundation - and it looks as though they are about to deliver. The leap from ColdFusion 5.0 to ColdFusion MX had more to do with securing the infrastructure than new features. Of course MX introduced features that catapulted us to a new level as Web application developers - object-oriented programming on a J2EE-based foundation. At MAX this year, they gave us a glimpse not only of the features they have since built on that foundation, but how Blackstone fits into the Macromedia vision of the future.
If you missed MAX, then I hope to give you a glimpse not only of the conference itself, but also of the exciting new products and features for ColdFusion developers, as well as share with you where Macromedia is headed in the near future, and share an important message from chairman and CEO Rob Burgess.
Before MAX officially kicked off, I decided to sit in on the Community College and get a little inside scoop. Community College is an event held by Macromedia for User Group managers and Team Macromedia Members. Each session focuses on a specific Macromedia product and is given by the engineers directly responsible for the design and implementation of the software. The sessions are small, informal gatherings that allow the engineers to engage directly with their audience, meant to represent the ColdFusion community. The participants can talk about any issues they have encountered while using the products and discuss what features they would really like to see included in the next release. They are then presented with a "sneak peek" of the features either currently being developed or in the planning stages. The group gives the engineers very specific feedback on these features including which ones they liked or disliked, and what features they felt were more important than others. The engineers did more than just take note of the suggestions, but discussed the reasons and implications in-depth and usually gave a pretty honest estimation of what they would consider including, and what was not going to be possible. Unfortunately Macromedia has sworn me to secrecy (literally) and I cannot divulge the details of these sessions, but I can tell you that it provides a strong argument for getting involved in the Community at a CFUG or Team Macromedia level.
Welcome Reception
The welcome reception was at 5 p.m. on Monday night at the conference center. Macromedia gave the event a little New Orleans flair with a band playing live jazz and overflowing mounds of jambalaya. The strolling servers and open bars were interspersed with the sponsors handing out beads and other fun toys to lure the somewhat socially lubricated attendees to learn more about their products. While the open bar, cyber café, and community pit are a definite plus, the networking seems to be the main draw of the reception. In fact, most of the people that I spoke with cited that as the main reason for coming to the conference. Some have a vested interest in a particular product, some come to learn from the sessions themselves, but most are coming to learn from the other developers in the community, and to make connections that can deepen their understanding of the technology and see how their colleagues are pushing the boundaries and opening new doors for developers. Of course, there are always the purely business or purely personal types of networking going on as well, but I'll leave that at the conference!
