Some people don't know it, but Apple does kind of shoehorn an IT track into the conference, and it has its own list of things for which one should be prepared.
This year I attended with some old colleagues from a previous, corporate IT life, and we spent the time staring at all the hot women, eating all the delicious food and basking in Steve Jobs' warm glowing warming glow ... and after we all sobered up, we came up with our own list.
So, in a transparent attempt to goose my page views, here's my "12 Things Every IT Nerd Should Do @ WWDC 2008."
Skip anything that says "State of the Union." Monday will be dedicated to lesser keynotes, all involving the state of some sort of technology. The IT one invariably is a snoozefest, punctuated by semi-veiled cheerleading and a few vendor commercials. You can skip and not miss a thing.
Attend anything that says "Feedback Forum." Nothing will let you learn what's really going on with your compatriots quite like feedback forums. And bring good stuff, not just complaints -- Apple's engineers are human, after all (though coated with a thin layer of coolness that only an Apple badge brings).
Go to the labs. You can learn quite a lot here, especially if you come armed with a specific list of questions/issues. It's like one-on-one coaching from Apple.
Avoid the wraps. In fact, avoid the food altogether ... this year they plied us with a hot lunch on Monday (after the Stevenote) that was actually tasty -- a cruel trick, for the rest of the week we were served old carpet, twigs and berries and road gravel. Oh, and they're cheaping out on the snacks, too -- what used to be Jamba Juice and tons of candy bars now is fruit and cookies. It's welcome, but I went to Walgreens and stocked up on things I liked instead.
Comfortable shoes are a must. You'll be standing in line. A lot. Be ready for that. Woe be unto you who wear dress shoes or high heels. (What you do in your free time is totally cool with me, though.)
Newbie? Prepare to be amazed. Oh, the pointless minutia that will fill your mind (and notes) -- it comes at you so fast, and it's all so new, that your head will be swimming by Tuesday afternoon. This is how professionals do it!
Seasoned veteran? Prepare to be skeptical. Fuck this, you'll mutter to yourself after the fourth annual "This time, our AD plugin really works!" session. And that cool new feature in (insert OS name) Server? It only works with Open Directory because "we write it for what we use internally" ... Fuck this running, you'll mutter. Over and over.
Name badge says "Apple?" Go bug that person. This is about the only way you'll ever get close to Apple software and hardware engineers, and they're attending precisely so that you can talk to them, directly, about your wishes and dreams. Take advantage, because you're not likely to get this kind of access for 12 months.
Swag +eBay = Profit! Not saying it's ethical, but I am saying it's profitable.
Stay in school, don't do drugs, call your mother. One of my former colleagues suggested these, and I'm sure he lives by most of them. Well, some of them. Maybe.
2 comments:
I felt like the IT track was a lot less shoehorned this year. Despite the content being stale, this year I actually had sessions to attend pretty much open to close all 5 days. In past years, there was nothing relevant for me about 50% of the time.
I was also happy that despite the crappy crowd control, I was not turned away from any sessions, even the ones that I was late to. In past years, there were many that were "sold out"
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