Peter lists the upcoming Tablet PC Developer Tour dates.
Events like these are a small step in the overall process of spreading the word about Tablet development. The interest is there.
In fact, after seeing all the developers that showed up at the Tablet Birds of a Feather (BOF) session at TechEd I’ve been wondering if the Tablet community isn’t ready for something bigger–an event dedicated soley to the Tablet.
I know a few people have wondered about the same thing.
What would a Tablet event be like? Maybe a Friday-Sunday event would work best. Something low key, but packed with Tablet software companies, OEMs, users, and developers. Everywhere you turn there would be Tablets. And everywhere Tablets would be used. Tablets in the presentations. Ad-hoc, wireless networks everywhere. And tons of door-prizes, of course. 🙂
I can envision three possible “tracks:” A user-oriented track loaded with tips, power-user how-to’s, and product demos, An IT-oriented track that provides tools, techniques and source code for employing ink in an organization, and An advanced developer track that focuses on best-practices for developing world-class applications.
There are lots of great Tablet topics: blogging with ink, Tablets in education, creating ink-enabled forms, ink recognition secrets, and on and on.
And there are some excellent BOF-like topics too: how to make money in the Tablet world, what makes a perfect Tablet, tips from the masters on how to paint with ArtRage, best gadgets for Tablets, etc.
Of course, no event would be complete without some awards, a keynote, and lots of buzz.
Cost is my big concern for something like this. I don’t see a whole slew of Tablet enthusiasts wanting to pay $1500 for an event. Heck, not even $500. And would it be possible to bring in all the Tablet ISVs and OEMs even when they are on tight budgets too?
Any thoughts?
I’ve had a couple people call me and ask about this very thing, independently. Ken Collura even offered their school as a location. Jokingly he said, “that is if people would want to go to Ohio in the summer” 🙂
I agree that this is a good topic. More ideas, anyone?
Feedback so far:
Ken Collura called Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and they’ll check into rates for Paris / Ballys / Flamingo – weekend in September.
Fritz says he has several ideas.
Peter Rysavy suggests combining with Pirillo’s Geeks Gone Wild or something. (End of Sept in Tahoe). OR preferably some place easier for east coast people to get to – Nantucket, South Padre Island, Atlantic City.
Keep the ideas coming. Post away!
Two votes for Washington DC now.
Chris De Herrera says Tahoe, even if can’t get together with GGW. Or something in Southern California (ha ha – he lives down there).
Something in Southern California would be good, but that is where I live. 🙂
Evan’s comments http://blogs.msdn.com/evanf/archive/2004/06/10/152264.aspx?Pending=true
Peter’s comments
http://kstati.com/tabula/archive/2004/06/09/1836.aspx
Southern California, Las Vegas, Tahoe all work for me. I would be happy to help put the event together.
Great ideas. Selecting a place that people can get in and out of easily and economically is important. Peter has a great point on his blog about the difference in pricing expectations about user-oriented conferences versus professional ones. I don’t like spending more money than really necessary either. Good venue selection and planning can help with this.
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a Pre-Comdex session (November). Two days before Comdex for mobile PC focus. However, space may be an issue. Perhaps some of the OEMs who have ballrooms would loan space to allow for sessions. (They are setting up, usually, but…) What do you think?