cf.Objective() 2010 Retrospective

Well, cf.Objective() 2010 is over, and it's back to the normal grind. What an amazing conference, and what an amazing experience. Being my first time there, I was not just an attendee, but also a speaker. I can't thank Sean Corfield enough for letting Aaron and I have the chance to speak and present our ideas on error handling and bulletproofing applications.

How does it feel to speak at such a conference? For me personally, imagine being a no-name, B-movie actor showing up at the Oscars. All around you are celebs--and you're hanging out with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. This is a bad analogy, I know, but the best one I can come up with at the moment. I was surrounded by bloggers, writers, framework writers, and extremely well-known individuals in the community. It was absolutely amazing. Here I was--this no name guy from Dayton, Ohio, listed among the biggest names in the industry from all over the globe.

In my mind, cf.Objective() is a whole different ballgame from CFUnited or any of the other, smaller CF conferences out there. There is an intense wealth of knowledge and passion for the industry and the language itself. The setting is intimate, and often attendees spend a lot of time hanging out directly with the speakers. Everyone is incredibly cool, from Simon Free to Dan Vega to Marc Esher--no one will turn you away for the chance to talk shop. Being a veteran attendee of CFUnited, Spring Break, and BFusion/BFlex, this conference had an aura and charm all its own.

Thanks again to everyone for putting together such a great conference, and thanks to Sean for letting us get up there and speak. I am already looking forward to next year!