Gluecon Ramps

One of the great things about running a conference is curating the agenda. Actually, it's probably the thing I enjoy most. I get to have tons of interesting conversations with people that are smarter than I am, act like an industry analyst for a bit, and then try to nail something down that will excite, inform and surprise. Of course, all of that means that the agenda version that's in my head is ALWAYS better than the one that's on-line until about one month out from the show. But, trust me, this year's Gluecon is ramping, and it's going to be special.

If you've been to past Gluecon's, you'll notice right away that the agenda has more solo slots on it. At the end of last year, I checked myself on my mission of "being more technical in the content presented," and, as I expected, I didn't hit the mark (hint: you NEVER hit the mark). One of the format changes to facilitate that a bit more this year is mixing in more solo sessions that are longer. The risk is that we get a dud (60 minutes of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). The upside is that the sessions are out of this world good. I'll take the upside.

The other thing you'll notice is that "cloud computing" isn't as explicit as a topic this year on the agenda. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of stuff that makes Gluecon a "cloud computing" show, but the feedback from the developers in attendance (the *cloud* guys) last year was clear: API, API, API, and - oh yea - API. Basically, if you don't understand that cloud computing is big, go to some other "cloud show." On the other hand, if you know it's big and you want technical content, duh- Gluecon - Winning!

The last thing I'm taking a swing at is a bit more content on mobile stuff. That's really because I have a deep-seeded belief that development for the mobile device in the cloud is the form factor that we're heading toward (even if "mobile device" means tablet). The irony, as many of you know, is that I don't carry a cell phone.

When you mix all of that up, you begin to see this. Like I said, it's still pretty incomplete. But give it two weeks...

In the meantime, Gluecon's "super early bird" (that's earlier than the earliest of early birds) pricing expires this Friday. Use the code, "alu12" (ALU for Alcatel-Lucent, our glorious partner sponsor and community underwriter) to receive an additional 10% off of the price (i.e., to drop it to under $475 to attend Gluecon). The price includes breakfast food, lunch food, open bars at receptions, hackathons, workshops, schwag bags, rock-solid wifi, power strips at tables, and a truckload of 80s hair metal on the conference soundtrack. It gets no cheaper, my friends.Join us.