Andrew Powell

(Note:  My colleague, David Tucker, has joined me in helping to author this post since we put on our Flash Camps as a collaborative effort between the two of us.)

It's come to our attention that there are a lot of people out in the community who do not know what a Flash Camp event really is all about.  If they do know, it's a pre-conceived misconception that they're things like "glorified user group meetings".  This couldn't be any further from the truth.

In our minds, a Flash Camp is, in essence, a mini conference.  In these days of tighter budgets and the premium placed on our time, we try to make these events as time conscious and price conscious as possible.  Why fly across the country to an event when we can bring something that will offer comparable content to your region?  We try to keep the presentation quality of these events high so that people will want to attend and they will feel that they're getting a good value for the money.  

Typically, a Flash Camp event will be one day, 9:00am to 5:00pm. We try to shoot for a Friday so that people can have a nice end to the week. We've talked about going to multiple days, but we want to make sure we've got this formula down pat first.  Lunch is also included in the price of admission.  If we're going to ask you to sit through a full day of content, the least we can do is feed you, right?  

During the camp, you will hear from a lot of different speakers presenting (in a typical conference presentation format - these aren't 'hands-on' sessions).  The speakers are diverse.  This means that, yes, as it is a community event, we try to pull a good mix of local speakers and nationally recognized speakers within the Flash Platform community as a whole.  This gives attendees a good motivation to attend because you will see both your peers from the local community, plus people who you know from twitter, reading blogs, etc.  

Along with a diversity of speakers, we try to maintain a diversity of content as well. In Atlanta, we did an Intro To The Flash Platform session that was really rudimentary, and almost a bit of a marketing pitch.  We have had topics as a advanced as "Custom Metadata Processors For Swiz", which is going to be way above an entry-level developer's head.  We can't make the content too basic, or too advanced, so we try to shoot for a bit of both with the hope that everyone will take something away from the event.

Cost is always the interesting element.  A lot of things go into the calculation of the cost like venue cost, catering, travel for out of town speakers, etc.  Our ultimate goal is to get enough sponsorships so that we can keep the event cost to attendees below $100.  We feel that that price point is a good place for a one day conference with top-notch content.  Some people want it to be free, but the way I see it, you can't please everyone.  Paying under $100 to have a full day of presentations from speakers that you would hear at 360Flex and Adobe Max is a bargain.

At the end of the day, Flash Camp events are catalysts for the local user community.  Some areas, like San Francisco, have vibrant and highly active Flash / Flex communities.  In these areas, the Flash Camp event serves as a way to reconnect with people and inspire the community to more user group meeting and such.  In areas like Phoenix, where the community is not as active, the Flash Camp events serve as a way to launch the development community.  It's an opportunity to get a large number of people in the room and have the user group managers pitch the user groups and their value to potential members.  As these local communities grow and thrive, the Flash and Flex communities as a whole will grow and thrive.  They are beneficial to the whole Flash Platform ecosystem.

On May 7th, Flash Camp Seattle will be held in the Adobe offices in Seattle.  One of the sessions we are working out for that event will be a panel discussing where Flash and HTML5 will both fit within the future of the web.  It's not going to be a "bash-fest" either way, but a frank, open discussion with representatives from both sides. Tickets are going fast, and registering via this link will save you 50% off the ticket price.  

Speakers Include:

• Ryan Campbell
• Ryan Stewart
• Duane Nickull
• Carl Smith
• Jeff Croft
• Christian Saylor
• Antonio Holguin
• Nate Beck
• David Kelley

Flash Camp is coming to Washington, DC on April 16th.  It will be a full day of great content on topics ranging from UX to Flex.  Admission is dirt cheap and lunch will be provided.  Come on out for a full day of great content and great networking with some of the area's industry experts!

When:  April 16, 2010

Where:  Navy Heritage Center (Naval Memorial stop on the Metro)

More Info:  www.capitalflashcamp.com

We're just over a week away from Flash Camp Phoenix and tickets are almost sold out.  If you're interested in going, but have been on the fence, all the sessions are posted here.  

Speakers Include:

• Kevin Fauth
• Dan Holth
• Dan Orlando
• Christian Saylor
• Carl Smith
• David Tucker
• Ryan Stewart

There are cheap flights and hotels available still.   Sign up today and ensure your seat before they're all gone!

Brian put on a great event this past Friday at Bentley University.  The attendance was more than most other conferences I've been to this year.  I am wondering if these one-day events are the way that conferences should be trending.  The content was great (amazing speaker lineup) and the location was great.  

I gave an overview of some Experience Design concepts, from a developer's point-of-view.  Here are the slides, but I really feel that without the rest of the preso experience, but here they are if you want them.

My Slides

We're just over a week away from Flash Camp Atlanta and tickets are almost sold out.  If you're interested in going, but have been on the fence, all the sessions are posted here.  There are cheap flights and hotels available still.   Sign up today at www.flashcampatlanta.com and ensure your seat before they're all gone!

The early bird pricing for Flash Camp Atlanta ends in less than 24 hours!  Tickets are on pace to sell out soon, so if you don't want to pay more later, go sign up now.  The early bird pricing is dirt cheap, only $40 for the main session and $15 for the introductory session ( an intro to Flash, Flex, and AIR ). 

A few days ago, we were having some internal discussions about Flash Camp Atlanta.  We had gotten a couple of topics in, and oddly enough, they all had a common theme.  So, through part of our discussions, we decided that we were going to have a theme for Flash Camp Atlanta.  The first theme we came up with, "80's day", had been done before and was a bit tired.  The second idea we had was much better:  "Enabling The Convergence of Art & Design With The Flash Platform".  

A couple of things inspired this theme.  Firstly, this document, by Christian Saylor, has been a huge inspiration in everything we do at Universal Mind.  Go ahead, take a minute or two and read it;  this post will still be here for you to read.  Second, Ben Stucki submitted a topic along these same lines (session descriptions are coming soon).  So what does this mean?  It means that we are going to strive to have all of our topics tie into this common thread through the day.  We've got a great littany of speakers lined up and it's an event that you won't want to miss.

REGISTER TODAY!

I'm also working on lining up a great venue (not Stats, it's been played out) for the community get together the night before.  Also, Delta Airlines announced a slew of cheap fares (as low as $80 roundtrip from Charlotte, NC) today that are valid for the dates of Flash Camp Atlanta.  

REGISTER TODAY!

Flash Camp is coming to the ATL! 

Flash Camp Atlanta is a full-day event featuring some top industry experts on the Adobe Flash Platform from both inside and outside Adobe. Come advance your Flex and Flash skills, meet members of the Adobe team and network with local companies and fellow developers. Sessions will be geared towards developers and designers with little to advanced level of experience with Flex and/or ActionScript. There will be plenty of giveaways, raffles and swag (and lunch).

In addition to a great Main Session (9am-5pm) there will also be a special Introductory Session (8-9am) for developers who are new to the Adobe Flash Platform.  This special session only costs an additional $15 (until July 30th and $25 thereafter).  This session will get these developers up to speed aspects of the Flash Platform like Adobe Flex, AIR, and Flash Builder.

Register Today

When:  August 28th 2009, 8:00AM - 5:00PM

Where:  Georgia World Congress Center - Room B405

Confirmed Speakers:

Greg Wilson

David Tucker

Christian Saylor

Carl Smith

Douglas Knudsen

Ben Stucki

Jesse Warden

It's going to be a day of great content and fun!  Go and sign up today so you don't miss out on your seat!

Register Today

We are trying to gain more information about potential attendees for Flash (Flex) Camp ATL.  If you would like to help shape the direction of the event, please fill out the following survey:

http://bit.ly/9SWSF 

We are trying to get an announcement together for early next week regarding the location and date of the event.