Yah, I mean it...I can't go and you suck for being awesome. And you suck even more for being even more awesome this year.
NCDevCon has a special place in my heart. I was there for the first one, actually I was there for the negative 2nd one back when it was CF in NC. I attended a planning meeting or two. I did their logos. Most importantly, they gave me a shot to speak at a conference! I'd never done that before, and I'm sure it showed. But, I kept coming back year after year - and I got better.
Last year, for 2012 I gave what would morph into my "Sweatin to the Web" presentation that I gave this past spring. I dressed up in Richard Simmons'esque workout garb and talked about motion and the web.
Would I have done this if it wasn't a fun, laid back, yet professional conference? Nope - I'd have chickened out I'm sure. I would have never graced the audience with my pale white thighs as I wore my short shorts for sure.
The NCDevCon organizers are laid back - but what really set precedence is when they toilet papered Mr. Bucky Schwarz's Javascript presentation back in 2011(?).
Sometimes conferences can be a bit stuffy and maybe pretentious. Not here, no way.
Of course the sessions are top notch as well - well worth probably 3 times the $200 ticket price. The only problem I had before with the sessions of past was that there was a lot of Adobe Coldfusion ones. Obviously not a problem for a Coldfusion developer, but I am not one. So my session choices were a bit limited during the first years.
Last year, it got way better. NCDevCon beefed up the web, mobile, and tools track. There was still plenty of CF to go around. This year - I see a Coldfusion, Javascript, Web/HTML5/CSS, and Tools/Technique track. In the same spirit as last year - but I did notice something. The Coldfusion sessions don't LOOK like Coldfusion sessions. I dare say they might even be language agnostic if the session descriptions are any indication.
This means that someone like me actually might stand to learn a thing or two by wandering in to some of the CF sessions and look at the techniques for an interesting and foreign take to bring in to my favorite server side platform - whether it be Node, PHP, Python, Ruby, or whatever.
But who knows, maybe you're one of those sheltered people who think that no good can ever come of Coldfusion and people are dumb for using it. Yes you exist, I hear you whine. That's annoying, but certainly doesn't preclude you from attending the other awesome sessions that don't mention the C-word.
But me? I will have just moved to the bay area and hopefully doing the closing on our North Carolina house . I'll have also JUST started a new job. No time for NCDevCon love, Dr. Jones. That's why they suck.
In fact I'll tell you about some specific sessions that suck - only because I won't be there to witness them:
HANDS ON WITH THE NEW KID ON THE JAVASCRIPT MVC FRAMEWORK BLOCK: EMBERJS by Ryan Anklam
Ryan you suck. I wanted an intro to Ember without actually having to dig through docs.
JAVASCRIPT THE STACK by Adrian Pomilio
Adrian - you suck. You always give a great preso, and I'm learning all this stuff right now: Grunt, Less, Node, NPM, etc
STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND START TESTING YOUR JAVASCRIPT! by Ryan Anklam
Ryan - here you go again. Sucking times 2. I'd love to see approach on this.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOGRAPHY FOR DEVELOPERS by Jason Dean
Jason - you suck, but you might get a pass. I'm not sure if I need this, but it sounds way cool.
OFFLINE-FIRST: AN APPROACH TO MODERN WEBAPPS by Calvin Spealman
Yep, Calvin sucks too. Would love to see this.
As you can see - I'm very bitter and would love to go. Do not pass this conference up!