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!

As many of you in the community are already aware, the cf.Objective() conference in Minneapolis is coming, and coming quickly. cf.Objective() is the only Enterprise ColdFusion conference and, really, the only one of its kind. Other CF conferences such as CFUnited are more geared towards an all-encompassing view of ColdFusion--from beginner to expert. cf.Objective(), however, is geared towards seasoned developers and people who are immersed in the technology. That's not to say not everyone is welcome to the conference--far from it--it just means some people will get more out of it than others. See the list of sessions here.

This year, Aaron Wolfe and I will be presenting our topic Saturday, the 23rd "Bulletproof Apps: Architecting for Failure". After being slated to present at CFUnited last year and having to pull out at the last second, we are very excited to actually be heading to Minneapolis. The presentation will be great for anyone looking to build solid ColdFusion applications.

Aaron and I are honored by the opportunity to speak at this prestigious conference alongside industry greats such as Ray Camden, Charlie Arehart, Simon Free, Peter Bell, and so many more. For someone like myself who is not a seasoned presenter or "big name" in the community, it is a little intimidating to be able to have this chance. I am not new to presenting. I have taught several Web development courses at a local community college and present several times a year to our ColdFusion user group, MVCFUG. Being in front of people has become quite a natural and rewarding experience.

I hope those of you reading this who are able to attend do so. Minneapolis is a central location for most of the country, so getting there should not be a problem. For me, I have never been, and am excited to visit somewhere new. April 22-24th looks to be a terrific time.

If you have any questions about me or about our presentation, feel free to contact me.

Learn more about cf.Objective():

http://www.cfobjective.com

Twitter: cfobjective

BFusion/BFlex is rapidly approaching. Tomorrow afternoon, Aaron and I will leave Dayton for the drive over to Bloomington. We're still furiously working on tightening up our presentations, which are going to be great.

Aaron and I will be doing two sessions, one on error handling, and the other on maintaining server uptime for SLA agreements. Both of these topics are critical for any developer to be aware of (not just us CF guys). Anyone who has ever had to deal with a corporate site, or even a freelance site for a customer, should be aware of these issues and how to deal with them. We're confident these topics will give everyone tangible and valuable knowledge to walk away with and start using right away.

Remember, if you haven't signed up, it's only $10 per day to register. This is a great price for a great conference, and it is well worth it. Do not pass go! Sign up now!

We hope to see everyone in Bloomington!

In just ten short days I will be heading over to Bloomington, Indiana for the BFusion/BFlex conference. This conference is shaping up to be another great one. Bob Flynn and company are working very hard to make sure this year is even better than the last. I encourage anyone who is a developer or interested in development and able to go to attend this conference.

The cost is only $10, so there is no reason for anyone not to go. Registration is now open, so sign up today!

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner. Things have been insanely hectic. September was literally a blur that flew past in what seemed like an instant. I seriously cannot believe today is already the 2nd. What's even more terrifying is the fact that I have a huge amount of work to get done before the end of the month (and I mean HUGE).

Now, October is here, and three great conferences are rapidly approaching. Of course, there's MAX, then CF in NC and BFusion/BFlex. I will be at two of these, CFinNC and BFusion. Additionally, I will be doing two presentations at BFusion with Aaron Wolfe. Check out the info here.

I personally am really looking forward to CF in NC, the first-ever of this event. I'm looking forward to the drive from Ohio to North Carolina (and the warmer temps down south) and getting to see my sister-in-law and little niece, Abby. I need to get some of that southern barbecue, too! I think the conference itself is going to rock with Dan Wilson and Jim Priest at the helm. The location looks amazing, and the list of provisional speakers looks great. Aaron and I are also looking forward to the opportunity to present at BFusion/BFlex and redeem ourselves after having to miss CFUnited at the very last minute. Just as it did when we were accepted for CFUnited, it feels mind-blowing to have our names in the company of such names as Simon Free, Dan Wilson, Aaron West, Ben Nadel, etc. We hope everyone will take some time to consider checking out our sessions. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us directly! I hope to see everyone at a conference soon!

It was unfortunate. I was supposed to be speaking with Aaron Wolfe at CFUnited this year--one of the first presentations right after the keynote, to be exact. So, let me tell you how incredibly hard it was when Wednesday came and gone and the closest I could get to the conference was my Twitter feed. Of course, everyone has been saying this has been one of the best years so far, and I missed it. What does that mean? No teaching. No learning. No networking. No peer interaction. No socializing. No fun. No free drinks. No stay at a resort. No cool swag. No inspiration!!!

It's been a rough year for conferences for me. First, I missed Spring Break in Athens, OH. Then, it was the Centaur User Group Tour event here in Dayton. Then, CFUnited! Arrgghh!! For someone trying to stay active in the community (and a UG manager), I have failed miserably. Fortunately (or unfortunately), all of these instances have been out of my hands. Luckily, I might still get the chance to get some CF event love in before the end of the year. If any of you are in the same boat, you might get your chance as well.

There are two more events that I know of coming up in the next couple of months. The first is the first-ever FREE "CF in NC" cfinnc.com, a ColdFusion event in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event is being put on by the Triangle CFUG in Raleigh and spearheaded by Dan Wilson of nodans.com fame (and an accomplished developer and speaker). The event is October 17-18th over a weekend and is just getting off the ground. I am going to try to make this event as I have a sister-in-law who lives an hour away from Raleigh. Hopefully the drive won't be too daunting.

Another event closer to me personally is BFusion/BFlex in Bloomington, Indiana the following weekend, October 24-25th. This hybrid CF/Flex event is also over a weekend and has taken place the last few years. I attended last year and it was very well put together. There is a slight fee this year but it is miniscule and definitely shouldn't deter anyone from going. If anyone is within any reachable distance from Bloomington, they should be attending this conference.

While these are much smaller venues and not nearly as high-profile as CFUnited or MAX, they are also more intimate and often times a much better way to get to network and meet other developers. There is usually still some good swag from Adobe/sponsors at events like this, and the community interaction is always great.

If you're in the same position I've been in this year as far as conferences go, try to make one of the aforementioned events, or start your own! Talk to your local user group manager(s) about putting together a local event in your area. If there are other CF events you are aware of that I've not listed here, please leave a comment for all to see.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention one other small conference--MAX. I think I excluded MAX from being a CF conference despite the fact it is put on by Adobe mainly for two reasons: 1) I never get to go to MAX anymore because it is WAY too expensive and my company will never foot the bill 2) MAX is really an "Adobe" conference as opposed to a "ColdFusion" conference. Yes, there are quite a few CF tracks, but not the high concentration of CF-related presentation that comes with a CF only conference such as CFUnited or CfObjective(). There is a lot of concentration on other Adobe products I frankly never, ever use, like InDesign, After Effects, Soundbooth, etc.

MAX is a great conference, if one can afford it. But you know it's expensive when there is a "convince your boss" page on the site! I was lucky enough to get to go in '05 when it was in Anaheim, CA, the year before when it was in New Orleans, and the year before that in Salt Lake but haven't been back since. I don't know if I'd go back anytime soon. I'd rather attend a smaller, more intimate conference that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Yes, I enjoy traveling to locations like California, but it's just not cost-effective and honestly I'd rather go to California to play rather than to work. Just being honest!

MAX takes place October 4th-7th in L.A.

How can I say this without shedding some tears? It turns out Aaron Wolfe and I won't be speaking at CFUnited this year. Let's just say it's due to issues out of our control. We'd like to apologize to everyone who was looking forward to our session on error handling best practices. We know a lot of people were really looking forward to it. It breaks our hearts to not be able to go this year after all the preparation and planning.

This will be the first time in five years I personally won't be attending a major ColdFusion conference, and it's very, very disappointing. Aaron and I have been preparing for this talk for almost a year, and to drop out at practically the last minute, well, sucks.

On the bright side, for those of you fortunate enough to be able to attend the conference this year, there are some absolutely fantastic sessions at CFUnited '09. Check them all out here. I highly recommend anything by Ben Nadel--he is a major contributor to the community and one heck of a nice guy, so be sure to introduce yourself to him. I also recommend any sessions by Hal Helms, Ray Camden, Dee Sadler, Adam Lehman, and Elliott Sprehn, to name just a few.

I'm hoping we have another shot at speaking next year--right now we'll just have to wait and see.

The countdown is on! CFUnited is just a mere 49 days away, and the excitement is building. I think everyone has great anticipation for Centaur this year--I know I do! I think the sessions are going to be absolutely great as well. I've never seen a lineup this good.

I'm also looking forward to speaking for the first time at a major ColdFusion conference. It's a little nerve-wracking, but I'm glad to not be alone. Aaron and I make a great team, and our presentation is going to be awesome! If you haven't checked it out, see all about it at CFUnited's site:

http://cfunited.com/2009/topics/237

We're covering error handling with ColdFusion--a very hot topic and a highly popular request by the community. We're looking forward to sharing our experiences and knowledge gained through the years on this important subject. Hope to see you there!

Liz over at Teratech asked us speakers to answer a few questions for our profiles for CFUnited. This has been posted over at the CFUnited blog, but I thought I'd blog them again myself here.

With less than 90 days to go, the countdown is on! Enjoy!

Have you spoken at CFUnited in the past? This is my first time speaking at CFUnited.

What would you tell someone who hasn't been to CFUnited before?
I've attended for the past three years and would tell anyone who is in any way a CF developer to get themselves here! This is by far the best CF conference around.

Why should people attend your session(s)?
Most developers understand the importance of error handling in an application, but many don't utilize it to its full potential. Error management is critical in site development and having the right information at the right time can save you and your customer a lot of headaches.

Do you have any projects in the works that you will be revealing at CFUnited?
Unfortunately, all my projects are top secret. Ok--not really, but still can't show them ;-)

Besides your topic, what other sessions are you looking forward to?
I'd like to see Ben Nadel's presentation and some of the more advanced topics as well as John Paul Ashenfelter's bleeding edge technology presentation.

What are some of the hot topics you'd like to see at RoundTable discussions?
Nerd talk--Star Wars, Transformers, G.I. Joe/80's toys...stuff like that.

Where can people find you at CFUnited? (At the bar, networking, working, in your room, etc.)
I will be everywhere this year except the room! I hope to get some networking in with the greatest minds in the biz! Oh, and I'll be in that Thinkgeek room for sure...

What's the latest news with you? Has anything changed since last CFUnited?
The biggest change since last year is that I'm now the father of twin boys! After Ray Camden, I feel like the busiest man on earth.

What is unique about CFUnited?
I personally enjoy CFUnited more than conferences like MAX because it's a little smaller and more intimate, and you can really get to know some people here. The CF community is full of such great people--it's unlike any other dev community in my opinion.

When you are not working what do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my two boys, digital photography, travel, hiking and camping, general computing, and in my spare time rebuilding my collection of 80's G.I. Joe's.

Aaron and I are presenting at CFUnited this year--"Handling Errors with Error Handling". Check out our short vid!

http://www.youtube.com/v/XvjMPNKLMcg&hl=en&fs=1

If you haven't registered for CFUnited 2009 yet, you'll want to be sure to do so TODAY to take advantage of the early bird pricing option. CFUnited, now in its fifth year, is the #1 ColdFusion developer conference in the world. This year, it will be bigger than ever with more speakers and topics than ever before. If you're a CF developer, do whatever you have to do to get to Washington, DC this August for the CFUnited ColdFusion conference!

Also, don't forget that Aaron Wolfe and yours truly will be presenting the topic "Handling Errors with Error Handling". A funny topic name, perhaps, but definitely one of the most important and informative sessions at the conference this year. We'll be covering the importance of error handling in a site and the potential consequences developers face with little or no error handling in place. It's definitely going to be a worthwhile session.

Managers, if you're still not convinced about sending your team members away for a week, follow this link for an informative manager's guide: http://cfunited.com/images/CFUnited2009_managerguide.pdf.

See you at CFUnited!

The CFUnited speaker voting form is now available online. Go here to vote for me, Aaron, and Mike Harman now!

Every vote counts! This would be our first time speaking at CFUnited and would be a great opportunity for all of us. Please take a few moments to make a difference! Thanks for your support!!!

For 2009, Liz Frederick at CFUnited is doing a call for topics and speakers, and Aaron Wolfe, Mike Harman, and I are going to put in some topics we'd like to present at the conference this year. We will be entering six topics, listed below. You can vote for one or all of the topics you think would be a good presentation.

"Have a Site that Forgets Users More than the Stock Market Changes? - Cookie/Session Problems Solved" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Is your site getting lots of timeouts or are users complaining they are continuously logging in? Are you ready to learn how sessions, cookies, and different browsers really work in an application? Look no further. In this track, we'll start with the basics of sessions and cookies and go all the way through to more advanced session management techniques. We'll demonstrate how to deal with pesky persistence problems, debug those problems, and ultimately prevent unwanted session timeouts. We'll also show how session management can make or break an application and detail how to prevent major headaches by using server logs and other tools to your advantage.

"Got an SLA problem? ColdFusion Enterprise's Load Balancing has the Solution so You Can Get Some Sleep at Night" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Tired of emails/phone calls at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning telling you the server is down? Rest easy, ColdFusion Enterprise's load balancing, sticky sessions, and session replication features will come to the rescue. In this session, we'll show you the advantages and pitfalls of using these features without any expensive network hardware. We'll also show you how to properly load balance multiple ColdFusion instances while getting the best performance you possibly can by using web server stress testing tools. If you ever need to admin a ColdFusion server and like your personal life, you won't want to miss this session!

"Inheriting Legacy Applications – Dealing with That Application from 1999" – Aaron Wolfe, Lance Smith, and Mike Harman Just about every developer has had to deal with that "10 year old site" that's been online since the dawn of the Internet (or at least your company's Internet department). We've all been there. Many of us deal with legacy applications in our every day job--full of spaghetti code, no code formatting, no cfc's, bad or no security, or all of the above. In this session you will learn how to stop wrestling with those old sites and get them under control. Not all of us have the budget, time, or luxury of building sites from scratch in a fancy new framework, and we'll provide the knowledge to make old applications better.

"Not Just Another Security Presentation" – Aaron Wolfe, Lance Smith, and Mike Harman A lot of talk has been going around lately about site security, yet many developers don't feel they have the time or ability to add the necessary extra security to their sites. Yet, every day sites fall victim to SQL injection, cross-site scripting and other common and not-so-common hacks and attacks. With each passing day, hackers find new ways to bring even the biggest and best sites to their knees. In this session, we'll cover some simple yet effective methods of using ColdFusion to your advantage to make your site more secure in an increasingly more dangerous Web.

"Handling Errors with Error Handling" – Aaron Wolfe and Lance Smith Most developers know the importance of having error handling on their site. But, many do not know how extensible error handling can be and the control they have over it with the power and ease of ColdFusion. In this presentation, we'll show you how to use Application.cfc and custom error pages to their full potential to handle custom errors, missing pages, and other common site errors without using that cause massive emails in your Inbox.

"CF User Groups – Worth the Investment" – Lance Smith and Aaron Wolfe Have you thought about starting a CF user group in your area, but aren't sure how? The benefits of managing a user group are numerous. User groups receive many opportunities single individuals normally don't, including access to training, materials, software, and reduced conference rates. While it might seem like too much work for some, it is well worth the effort. We'll show you how to go about starting a user group in your area, what is involved once you start a group, and how to attract and keep members. We'll also cover how to avoid common pitfalls that many failed user groups tend to fall into.

We will post a link to where to vote as soon as it's available. Remember, the speaker(s) who get the most votes will win something extra special--possibly another free CFUnited ticket. If you're interested in attending the conference for free this year, be sure and vote for us!

Tuesday, September 30th at 7:30 p.m. at Canal Street Tavern will be the first ever combined user group event between the WPCFUG and MVCFUG. The event will be absolutely awesome! That's about all I can say right now. Just be prepared to get yourself there and have a great evening with other Adobe developers and enthusiasts.

More details to come soon! Check out the MVCFUG site for more details!

This past weekend I attended the BFusion/BFlex conference in Bloomington, Indiana, and I must say it was very well done. I was sad I wasn't able to stay through Sunday for the Flex portion of the conference, but the ColdFusion sessions on Saturday were terrific. I can't comment on the Flex sessions, but I imagine they were just as well done. Others in the community have blogged about this event already, but I would like to throw in my two cents as well.

Mike Brunt and Elliott Sprehn from Teratech were on hand with some very good sessions (I was impressed with both of them at CFUnited), and they didn't fail to disappoint. I also sat in sessions by Adam Haskell, Dan Wilson, and Adam Lehman--all well done. It seemed as though the advanced tracks were a little thin, mainly due to the fact that I think there were a lot of noobs in the beginner/intermediate tracks, which is wonderful!

This conference felt VERY organized and well put-together as opposed to some others I've attended this year. I attended Spring Break in Athens, OH earlier this year and was sorely disappointed in the entire experience. I didn't like the session tracks, the speakers (Adam H--if you're reading this--I wasn't in your session), or the keynotes, and it felt completely disorganized. I don't think it's anyone's fault necessarily, it just didn't "do it" for me this year. However, BFusion didn't feel that way at all! In fact, it was extremely well put-together. This almost felt like a mini CFUnited in a way, and it was FREE! If this event lasted a few days they could easily charge several hundred dollars to attendees (I hope they don't in the future!).

One additional note--The IU campus is absolutely beautiful. It has a small-town university feel with some ivy-league thrown in (Greek row is nice). The town is clean, quiet, and quaint. I highly recommend the Irish Lion to anyone who visits Bloomington, and definitely try the blarney puff balls.

I am so glad to finally see the CF community getting stronger with quality events such as this. I've been coding CF for almost ten years, and have seen a lot of people come and go in the community. Lately, though, it seems as though there are a lot of good people who not only know what they're talking about, but are also active in the community and want to contribute in some way. And, it's always good to network with other developers who are enthusiastic about CF and want to see the community grow and evolve. There are a lot of really great people out there, like Aaron West and Chris Hough, to name just a couple. Great seeing you guys, by the way.

As many of you know, I am co-founder of the Miami Valley CF User Group, and hope to promote many more CF events right here in the Dayton area. I would even go so far as to say I'd like to do an event like BFusion in the Dayton area--but the logistics of such an event are huge. With twin boys on the way, I just don't know if I have the time or availability. We will see!

To the BFusion/BFlex crew if you're reading, job well done! Please keep up the great work and do this again next year! We will be sure to bring all the CF guys in our department to the next event.