On a related note about conferences, 360Flex is one of 3 major Flex conferences that happens in the year. The next one coming up is in Washington, D.C. during the month of May. It’s Webmaniacs 2008

Personally, I would not attend this one for myself because there isn’t enough new content to warrant going again but I have to say it was a really really good experience. I would recommend this conference to anyone who has an interest on enhancing their current Flex interests regardless of what level you are at. The 3rd major conference is the Adobe MAX conference. It’s the industry equivalent to those Steve Jobs/Bill Gates presentations in front of a massive big screen and there are lots of clapping, ooohs and ahhhs. Big announcements are made on that big stage. The early bird price for that one last year was $1,095.

I have to say conferences as such are not critical to what we do at the place I work at. However, they expose developers to ideas they would normally would not be exposed to in their workplace. If some of us go, it helps everybody. However, it’s unlikely to have everybody go. It is very possible for someone to be an adept Flex developer without going to expensive conferences using community resources like:

- Flexcoders Mailing List
- Macromedia XML News Aggregator
- LiveDocs

There you have it, all my secrets that I frequent the most!

Out of the two North American Flex conference offerings this year, I’ve committed to going to 360Flex Atlanta. The line up of topics and speakers look to be very promising. The price of a 360Flex ticket, flight and accommodations can add up to be very expensive experience. The following is my recent success in reducing the impact on my wallet.

Conference Ticket
Price: $480
Paid: $480

No savings here. However based on what I’ve read from previous 360Flex conferences comments and other conferences I’ve attended, I am placing this at high value as I believe it will help me with my day to day in the future. I couldn’t convince enough people to get in with a discount pack of 4 so I’ll be representing Toronto by myself at the expense of regular admission.

Accommodations
Price: $567 @ $189 each night for 3 nights at 4 star Omni Hotel at CNN Center
Paid $215 @ $71 each night for 3 nights at near-by 3 star Holiday Inn

Priceline for the win, baby! It’s not exactly on-site but it is in Downtown Atlanta. Coupled with a $12 4-day bus pass, I should be good getting back and forth from the OMNI.

Flight
Price: $617 from Toronto, ON to and from Atlanta, GA
Paid: $199 from Buffalo, NY to and from Atlanta, GA

Flying out of Pearson International Airport is ridiculously expensive. Driving a little more of an hour saved me more than $400!!! Why go international when you can go domestic.

A grand approximate total for my 360Flex experience is about $906. That’s like 54% off the regular price relative to where I am. Not bad but expensive for my tastes. As for food, I believe the organizers are catering lunch for all 3 days. Certainly that helps a lot.

Looking forward to Atlanta!