It’s been a little over a year and 4 months since Nolan and I started Hakano after the acquisition of Vocalocity. We have spent a lot of time during the past year trying to help a few companies build and launch rich Internet applications. It was hard and painful in the beginning. And, early on, we decided it was just still too hard to do interesting stuff these days. Javascript really sucks, and the cross-browser issues are a killer. Being software guys, we really wanted to solve the problem using a platform approach to the problem. That’s just the way we think, it’s our DNA.

Late last year, after spending the summer and Fall building some web2.0-style applications and struggling with tons of Javascript, stomping on each others variables (yeah, we eventually moved to namespacing in JS), playing with lots of javascript/ajax frameworks and learning the hard way about how to do complex RIAs in a lopsided browser world - we decided to build something to help solve the problem. We code named it Seamless and developed it with a few customers that were gracious enough to provide us with interesting enterprise projects that benefited from next-generation web features. We’ve continued to refactor it over and over this past year and today, I’m proud to announce that we’ve officially launched the product and company as Appcelerator.

Appcelerator is a name that signifies what we want to accomplish: More App. Less Code. It takes way too much code to do interesting web applications that push the limits of great user experience and a rich-application feel. And, throw in a little requirement to support IE6, IE7, Opera, Firefox, Safari, iPhone, Camino and a ton of other mutations and variations - and you’ve got entirely too complex of situation for even the most talented web developer.

There’s a lot of approaches out there. And ours is different and we think it revolutionizes the way people develop web applications today. We think model-view-controller (MVC) is no longer the best approach to building SOA-enabled web applications. We believe that SOA should include Service-Oriented Application architectures - a lot like the good old days of Client-Server. We believe that there should be a clean separation between the application and the services the application uses. And, the service should be developed with a clean contract and be available to different types of applications. Some people would call that a mashup (and if you get really fancy, an “enterprise mashup”) - where you can integrate multiple services using disparate pieces of information interwoven into a useful app. We think this is really just good SOA design. If you develop your services in an SOA architecture - and then cleanly separate your application from those services - you’ll get mashup capabilities out-of-the-box. It will also be much easier to layer cross-cut concerns across your architecture - such as security, auditing, governance, aggregation and composition and complex work flow - to name a few.

Separation also has the benefit of separation of concerns from a workforce standpoint. OK, we’ve been talking about this for a long-time - especially in the Java EE world. But have we realized this yet? No, c’mon. We still work with a designer (generally) to wireframe the design, we turn that into a page template (dependent on the server-side framework in use) and then we wire it up with our controllers (if you’re really good, otherwise, you just code it all inline) and call them “views”. Yea, right, “views” - nothing more than a fancy word for something that was really invented for tightly coupled graphical user interfaces of yesteryear. In Appcelerator, you have true separation between the application and services that the application interacts with.

Additionally, service-level separation provides a good demarcation for contract-driven programming (or as some might say, interface-driven programming but without real language interfaces). When you can cleanly separate services - you can now independently develop the application from its services - and even switch out those services underneath the cover (sounds like SOA, huh)? For example, application development can progress even before integration of services has even commenced - or can run in parallel. You can even completely mock out the entire application without any real back end services - which is how we recommend you do it - such that the user interface becomes true use-case driven development. And it’s very iterative - unlike traditional MVC where you have to re-templatize, re-wire and then re-integrate code for every UI change.

There are so many other great things about what we’re doing - way too many to discuss in one blog post. So, I’ll spread them out here and on our new developer community blog just launched, called Appcelerant (get it, rant!). Stop by sometime and subscribe with your RSS reader - we’ll be having some fun and interesting discussion over there.

A little bit about the company and the model. We’ve released Appcelerator under a GPL version 2 license and our business model is a traditional professional open source model. We’ll be offering strategic consulting, training, commercial licensing and a subscription model for support.

We also have grown quite a bit since we started. We’re now at 12 employees and we have some very interesting people that are joining our team very soon that I can’t wait to talk about.

We have a good bit of work to do to really round out the product and community. We’d really like your feedback and support. If you’d like to join the community, please do so at http://www.appcelerator.org. The first 250 people to join will get a special gift and forever be known as “Early Appdopters”. Come out and support us and you’ll forever be famous (at least in our eyes).

appcelerator ria soa atlanta web2.0 hakano

It’s been a little over a year and 4 months since Nolan and I started Hakano after the acquisition of Vocalocity. We have spent a lot of time during the past year trying to help a few companies build and launch rich Internet applications. It was hard and painful in the beginning. And, early on, we decided it was just still too hard to do interesting stuff these days. Javascript really sucks, and the cross-browser issues are a killer. Being software guys, we really wanted to solve the problem using a platform approach to the problem. That’s just the way we think, it’s our DNA.

Late last year, after spending the summer and Fall building some web2.0-style applications and struggling with tons of Javascript, stomping on each others variables (yeah, we eventually moved to namespacing in JS), playing with lots of javascript/ajax frameworks and learning the hard way about how to do complex RIAs in a lopsided browser world - we decided to build something to help solve the problem. We code named it Seamless and developed it with a few customers that were gracious enough to provide us with interesting enterprise projects that benefited from next-generation web features. We’ve continued to refactor it over and over this past year and today, I’m proud to announce that we’ve officially launched the product and company as Appcelerator.

Appcelerator is a name that signifies what we want to accomplish: More App. Less Code. It takes way too much code to do interesting web applications that push the limits of great user experience and a rich-application feel. And, throw in a little requirement to support IE6, IE7, Opera, Firefox, Safari, iPhone, Camino and a ton of other mutations and variations - and you’ve got entirely too complex of situation for even the most talented web developer.

There’s a lot of approaches out there. And ours is different and we think it revolutionizes the way people develop web applications today. We think model-view-controller (MVC) is no longer the best approach to building SOA-enabled web applications. We believe that SOA should include Service-Oriented Application architectures - a lot like the good old days of Client-Server. We believe that there should be a clean separation between the application and the services the application uses. And, the service should be developed with a clean contract and be available to different types of applications. Some people would call that a mashup (and if you get really fancy, an “enterprise mashup”) - where you can integrate multiple services using disparate pieces of information interwoven into a useful app. We think this is really just good SOA design. If you develop your services in an SOA architecture - and then cleanly separate your application from those services - you’ll get mashup capabilities out-of-the-box. It will also be much easier to layer cross-cut concerns across your architecture - such as security, auditing, governance, aggregation and composition and complex work flow - to name a few.

Separation also has the benefit of separation of concerns from a workforce standpoint. OK, we’ve been talking about this for a long-time - especially in the Java EE world. But have we realized this yet? No, c’mon. We still work with a designer (generally) to wireframe the design, we turn that into a page template (dependent on the server-side framework in use) and then we wire it up with our controllers (if you’re really good, otherwise, you just code it all inline) and call them “views”. Yea, right, “views” - nothing more than a fancy word for something that was really invented for tightly coupled graphical user interfaces of yesteryear. In Appcelerator, you have true separation between the application and services that the application interacts with.

Additionally, service-level separation provides a good demarcation for contract-driven programming (or as some might say, interface-driven programming but without real language interfaces). When you can cleanly separate services - you can now independently develop the application from its services - and even switch out those services underneath the cover (sounds like SOA, huh)? For example, application development can progress even before integration of services has even commenced - or can run in parallel. You can even completely mock out the entire application without any real back end services - which is how we recommend you do it - such that the user interface becomes true use-case driven development. And it’s very iterative - unlike traditional MVC where you have to re-templatize, re-wire and then re-integrate code for every UI change.

There are so many other great things about what we’re doing - way too many to discuss in one blog post. So, I’ll spread them out here and on our new developer community blog just launched, called Appcelerant (get it, rant!). Stop by sometime and subscribe with your RSS reader - we’ll be having some fun and interesting discussion over there.

A little bit about the company and the model. We’ve released Appcelerator under a GPL version 2 license and our business model is a traditional professional open source model. We’ll be offering strategic consulting, training, commercial licensing and a subscription model for support.

We also have grown quite a bit since we started. We’re now at 12 employees and we have some very interesting people that are joining our team very soon that I can’t wait to talk about.

We have a good bit of work to do to really round out the product and community. We’d really like your feedback and support. If you’d like to join the community, please do so at http://www.appcelerator.org. The first 250 people to join will get a special gift and forever be known as “Early Appdopters”. Come out and support us and you’ll forever be famous (at least in our eyes).

appcelerator ria soa atlanta web2.0 hakano

I blogged a while back about a terrible experience with Dell. And again, today, like an idiot - I feel victim to their stupidity and anti-customer service system once again. I should know better, shame on me.

I felt like I should give them one more chance. Maybe it was really the delivery company’s fault - and it partially was - but this time, it was pretty straightforward. Dell is just not customer service friendly anymore. I say anymore because their was a time that I felt like they were.

Yesterday, we order a few servers for the new office. I ordered through the standard Dell Small Business Lease program. Nothing unusual. Not for that much money. I should have just paid cash as usual and moved on. But, hey, leasing equipment makes more sense.

Today, I get a phone call from Dell saying that they cannot verify that we’re a real business and in fact, have suspicion that I’m a perpetrator. Huh? They ask to call me back at my business line - which they do - and then ask me a number of questions about the order and the company name, etc. Of course, I answer them all. After being put on hold several times, with questions in between, they come back and tell me that they can’t verify that I’m the CEO of the company and that they have suspicion that this fraudelant in some way. OK, cool. I tell them they’re just doing their job and that I’d like to help them out. How can I help you verify that information? This day in age, I appreciate that kind of security. No, in fact, I cannot. I’m told I’m probably trying break their security and do something fraudulent. I assure them that I in fact and the owner and CEO of the company. She goes on this kick about how information I had given them didn’t match up with the company information (huh?) and that in fact, they could no longer trust me.

I’m aggravated now. I try and be pleasant, tell them that I can appreciate their concern but ensure them that that’s not the case. What can I do - through external verification means - to verify this info? Do you want the manager of our bank and do you want to call them? Would you like to talk with my accountant? How about you call the phone company and ask them information? Or our building manager?

Nope. No luck. I’m the bad guy.

So, now I’m really pissed off. I’m telling myself over and over again in the back of my head: “you shouldn’t have done it Jeff. Dummy”.

“OK - please cancel my order, I’ll take my business elsewhere”.

“No, we cannot cancel your order”.

Huh?

“What? You can’t cancel my order?”

“No, because we don’t believe you’re the CEO, we can’t cancel your order”.

“OK, this is getting ridiculous. You can’t verify my order and you can’t cancel it. I’m not going to be paying for this if you don’t ship my order to me.”

“Well, sir, I’m sorry, the order will just have to stand until we can verify this information with the CEO of the company.”

Huh?

“OK, when you talk with him, please have him call me”.

How amazing. Truly spectacular performance. Dell Small Business, yeah right.

dell smallbusiness badcustomerservice

I blogged a while back about a terrible experience with Dell. And again, today, like an idiot - I feel victim to their stupidity and anti-customer service system once again. I should know better, shame on me.

I felt like I should give them one more chance. Maybe it was really the delivery company’s fault - and it partially was - but this time, it was pretty straightforward. Dell is just not customer service friendly anymore. I say anymore because their was a time that I felt like they were.

Yesterday, we order a few servers for the new office. I ordered through the standard Dell Small Business Lease program. Nothing unusual. Not for that much money. I should have just paid cash as usual and moved on. But, hey, leasing equipment makes more sense.

Today, I get a phone call from Dell saying that they cannot verify that we’re a real business and in fact, have suspicion that I’m a perpetrator. Huh? They ask to call me back at my business line - which they do - and then ask me a number of questions about the order and the company name, etc. Of course, I answer them all. After being put on hold several times, with questions in between, they come back and tell me that they can’t verify that I’m the CEO of the company and that they have suspicion that this fraudelant in some way. OK, cool. I tell them they’re just doing their job and that I’d like to help them out. How can I help you verify that information? This day in age, I appreciate that kind of security. No, in fact, I cannot. I’m told I’m probably trying break their security and do something fraudulent. I assure them that I in fact and the owner and CEO of the company. She goes on this kick about how information I had given them didn’t match up with the company information (huh?) and that in fact, they could no longer trust me.

I’m aggravated now. I try and be pleasant, tell them that I can appreciate their concern but ensure them that that’s not the case. What can I do - through external verification means - to verify this info? Do you want the manager of our bank and do you want to call them? Would you like to talk with my accountant? How about you call the phone company and ask them information? Or our building manager?

Nope. No luck. I’m the bad guy.

So, now I’m really pissed off. I’m telling myself over and over again in the back of my head: “you shouldn’t have done it Jeff. Dummy”.

“OK - please cancel my order, I’ll take my business elsewhere”.

“No, we cannot cancel your order”.

Huh?

“What? You can’t cancel my order?”

“No, because we don’t believe you’re the CEO, we can’t cancel your order”.

“OK, this is getting ridiculous. You can’t verify my order and you can’t cancel it. I’m not going to be paying for this if you don’t ship my order to me.”

“Well, sir, I’m sorry, the order will just have to stand until we can verify this information with the CEO of the company.”

Huh?

“OK, when you talk with him, please have him call me”.

How amazing. Truly spectacular performance. Dell Small Business, yeah right.

dell smallbusiness badcustomerservice

I arrived late last night in San Francisco for Web2.0 summit which kicked off this morning. It’s a nice, rainy day in San Fran. So far, I’ve sat through one not-so-wonderful presentation by Microsoft talking about Popfly. The concept is interesting. The UI is terrible. Not sure how practical this is as something viable long-term beyond “gadgetware”. It seems a lot like Yahoo Pipes.

I’ll probably twitter stuff I’m seeing and hearing versus liveblog it all. You can follow my twitter tweets by subscribing to http://www.twitter.com/jhaynie

web2.0 summit sanfrancisco

I arrived late last night in San Francisco for Web2.0 summit which kicked off this morning. It’s a nice, rainy day in San Fran. So far, I’ve sat through one not-so-wonderful presentation by Microsoft talking about Popfly. The concept is interesting. The UI is terrible. Not sure how practical this is as something viable long-term beyond “gadgetware”. It seems a lot like Yahoo Pipes.

I’ll probably twitter stuff I’m seeing and hearing versus liveblog it all. You can follow my twitter tweets by subscribing to http://www.twitter.com/jhaynie

web2.0 summit sanfrancisco

Barcamp Atlanta ended around 5pm tonight after a nice day and half of intense sessions, discussions and great one-on-one interactions with some really cool people.

Thanks to everyone that came and contributed. We had some awesome sessions and I really wished there was a better way to be able to see everyone’s presentations. There were so many good presentations happening at the same time I feel like I missed a lot of great content.

For all those who think Atlanta is hosed - well, whatever…. I think we continue to prove that Atlanta has a place in the startup ecosystem and that we have a great social network built-in right here in town. We even had 2 people from Jacksonville, Florida attend - as well as from Alabama. I’m going to save my perspective on this topic to another post dedicated to that.

Thanks are in order for a number of people that helped - here are just a few off the top off my head that really pitched in: Lance Weatherby, Michael Mealing, Stephen Fleming, Glen Gordon, Lee Hadsock and Nick Ali. But, it wouldn’t have been an event if we didn’t have everyone that attended and all the great contributions by each of the presenters. I had a blast!

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

Barcamp Atlanta ended around 5pm tonight after a nice day and half of intense sessions, discussions and great one-on-one interactions with some really cool people.

Thanks to everyone that came and contributed. We had some awesome sessions and I really wished there was a better way to be able to see everyone’s presentations. There were so many good presentations happening at the same time I feel like I missed a lot of great content.

For all those who think Atlanta is hosed - well, whatever…. I think we continue to prove that Atlanta has a place in the startup ecosystem and that we have a great social network built-in right here in town. We even had 2 people from Jacksonville, Florida attend - as well as from Alabama. I’m going to save my perspective on this topic to another post dedicated to that.

Thanks are in order for a number of people that helped - here are just a few off the top off my head that really pitched in: Lance Weatherby, Michael Mealing, Stephen Fleming, Glen Gordon, Lee Hadsock and Nick Ali. But, it wouldn’t have been an event if we didn’t have everyone that attended and all the great contributions by each of the presenters. I had a blast!

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

I had planned on blogging yesterday evening during the event but couldn’t get much of a chance - too much offline discussion that was interactive, engaging and darn interesting.

We kicked off around 6pm with registration. Around 90 people or so showed up and we had dinner at the top parking level deck next door. The sky was incredible and the weather was absolutely perfect.

After dinner, around 8pm-ish, we kicked off sessions that ran until around 10pm. The most interesting talk I think I attended was Stephen Fleming and Michael Mealing’s “Space 101″ talk. I don’t remember the exact title - but it was essentially a lesson in things like gravity in space, low earth orbit and a lot of other space-geek stuff. Amazing how much I thought I understand but really didn’t about “the basics”.

After sessions, we had a lot of engaging group discussions - for a long time we talked about ideas for Startup Weekend Atlanta. We also talked about a lot of bigger idea issues like debating the semantic web, portable reputations and fun stuff like that. I went to bed around 3:00am and 7:30am came quickly. People are just starting to get up and arrive now and breakfast from Justix is very sweet. Off to get some more food…and get the sessions going.

Check out the picture pool on Flickr. Thanks for Stephen Fleming for the picture to the right.

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

I had planned on blogging yesterday evening during the event but couldn’t get much of a chance - too much offline discussion that was interactive, engaging and darn interesting.

We kicked off around 6pm with registration. Around 90 people or so showed up and we had dinner at the top parking level deck next door. The sky was incredible and the weather was absolutely perfect.

After dinner, around 8pm-ish, we kicked off sessions that ran until around 10pm. The most interesting talk I think I attended was Stephen Fleming and Michael Mealing’s “Space 101″ talk. I don’t remember the exact title - but it was essentially a lesson in things like gravity in space, low earth orbit and a lot of other space-geek stuff. Amazing how much I thought I understand but really didn’t about “the basics”.

After sessions, we had a lot of engaging group discussions - for a long time we talked about ideas for Startup Weekend Atlanta. We also talked about a lot of bigger idea issues like debating the semantic web, portable reputations and fun stuff like that. I went to bed around 3:00am and 7:30am came quickly. People are just starting to get up and arrive now and breakfast from Justix is very sweet. Off to get some more food…and get the sessions going.

Check out the picture pool on Flickr. Thanks for Stephen Fleming for the picture to the right.

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

We’re less than 24 hours from the kick off of Barcamp Atlanta and I wanted to drop you one last email before the event kickoff to give you some finals details.

We’ll kickoff registration tomorrow at 6PM at the Georgia Tech ATDC which is located on 5th street at Tech Square. Parking is available in the parking deck adjacent to the Centergy building. Unfortunately, parking is not free for this event.

For a map to the location, please see: http://tinyurl.com/yurkx3

Dinner will be served at 6:30PM. We are planning on having dinner and social time on the top level of the parking deck. In case of inclement weather, we will move dinner indoors in the ATDC space. If you arrive before 6:30PM, please first visit the 3rd floor (signs with directions will be visible in the main lobby of the building) to register and get your badge and more information. If you arrive between 6:30-7:30PM, please come to the parking deck. If you plan on arriving after 7:30PM, please join us in the ATDC space.

We will post the open schedule for session before 6:00PM tomorrow. We are planning on starting the Friday night sessions at 8:00PM. Saturday sessions are planned to start at 9:30PM. We will serve breakfast from 8:00AM-9:00AM Saturday and lunch will be served at noon.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our key financial supporters for this event:

> Appcelerator - http://www.appcelerator.com
> ATDC - http://www.atdc.org
> Convergence Acceleration Group - http://www.casgroup.biz
> Georgia Tech Venture Lab - http://www.venturelab.gatech.edu
> Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com
> Peer 1 - http://www.peer1.com

If you have not filled out the event details form, please do so now! http://www.barcampatlanta.com/details.html

Official tags for Barcamp Atlanta are: barcampatl, barcampatl07

Thanks for Amber Rhea for setting up the Flickr group at: http://flickr.com/groups/barcampatlanta

Also, if you use IRC, you can join us at #barcampatl on http://irc.freenode.net

See you tomorrow!

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

We’re less than 24 hours from the kick off of Barcamp Atlanta and I wanted to drop you one last email before the event kickoff to give you some finals details.

We’ll kickoff registration tomorrow at 6PM at the Georgia Tech ATDC which is located on 5th street at Tech Square. Parking is available in the parking deck adjacent to the Centergy building. Unfortunately, parking is not free for this event.

For a map to the location, please see: http://tinyurl.com/yurkx3

Dinner will be served at 6:30PM. We are planning on having dinner and social time on the top level of the parking deck. In case of inclement weather, we will move dinner indoors in the ATDC space. If you arrive before 6:30PM, please first visit the 3rd floor (signs with directions will be visible in the main lobby of the building) to register and get your badge and more information. If you arrive between 6:30-7:30PM, please come to the parking deck. If you plan on arriving after 7:30PM, please join us in the ATDC space.

We will post the open schedule for session before 6:00PM tomorrow. We are planning on starting the Friday night sessions at 8:00PM. Saturday sessions are planned to start at 9:30AMPM. We will serve breakfast from 8:00AM-9:00AM Saturday and lunch will be served at noon.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our key financial supporters for this event:

> Appcelerator - http://www.appcelerator.com
> ATDC - http://www.atdc.org
> Convergence Acceleration Group - http://www.casgroup.biz
> Georgia Tech Venture Lab - http://www.venturelab.gatech.edu
> Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com
> Peer 1 - http://www.peer1.com

If you have not filled out the event details form, please do so now! http://www.barcampatlanta.com/details.html

Official tags for Barcamp Atlanta are: barcampatl, barcampatl07

Thanks for Amber Rhea for setting up the Flickr group at: http://flickr.com/groups/barcampatlanta

Also, if you use IRC, you can join us at #barcampatl on http://irc.freenode.net

See you tomorrow!

barcampatl barcampatl07 barcamp atlanta

I’ve received a few questions from people inquiring with the following question: “Why would I actually want to camp out at Barcamp?”

This is a good question and let me attempt to give my perspective. First, Barcamp is about sharing, collaborating and and learning. It was initially created as a spin-off from Tim O’Reilly invitation-only FooCamp, which I had the privilege of being invited to this year.

One of the advantages of a true camp out is that it helps create an environment for bonding in a different level than you get at normal conferences or meet up events - it’s part of the off-line experience. One of the best parts of FooCamp was the camping itself - the middle-of-the-night conversations and the game playing that took place after the sessions ended and the real work of getting to know each other started.

Now we’re not talking about camping like you might have done if you were in the Boy Scouts like I was growing up. We’re not doing marsh mellows around the camp fire and telling ghost stories. And if you pitch a tent, it’s likely next to a chair or desk in an office. This is all-out urban camping - where tents are optional and pillows are needed for the concrete floors covered with thin carpeting. This is an urban experience - not home on the range.

I would encourage you to think about being part of the total experience - at least for one night - rather than skipping home and returning in the morning. Will you get out of your normal routine and venture into an unfamiliar territory? yes. Will it be a little awkward to wake up in a building after not much sleep and have to try and brush your teeth in the bathroom of an office complex? Absolutely. Will you have a better time and get a little deeper with some people you may know and others you won’t? Darn straight...

Camping is optional. If you can’t or aren’t interested in hanging out overnight with a bunch of geeks - that’s cool… we won’t care too much. But if you’d like to experience something a little more raw and people centric - consider staying overnight and hanging out.

And as a closing note for all of those out there that have children and spouses (like myself, I have 3 kids)… take this an opportunity to have a “night out”.
barcampatlanta urbancamping

I’ve received a few questions from people inquiring with the following question: “Why would I actually want to camp out at Barcamp?”

This is a good question and let me attempt to give my perspective. First, Barcamp is about sharing, collaborating and and learning. It was initially created as a spin-off from Tim O’Reilly invitation-only FooCamp, which I had the privilege of being invited to this year.

One of the advantages of a true camp out is that it helps create an environment for bonding in a different level than you get at normal conferences or meet up events - it’s part of the off-line experience. One of the best parts of FooCamp was the camping itself - the middle-of-the-night conversations and the game playing that took place after the sessions ended and the real work of getting to know each other started.

Now we’re not talking about camping like you might have done if you were in the Boy Scouts like I was growing up. We’re not doing marsh mellows around the camp fire and telling ghost stories. And if you pitch a tent, it’s likely next to a chair or desk in an office. This is all-out urban camping - where tents are optional and pillows are needed for the concrete floors covered with thin carpeting. This is an urban experience - not home on the range.

I would encourage you to think about being part of the total experience - at least for one night - rather than skipping home and returning in the morning. Will you get out of your normal routine and venture into an unfamiliar territory? yes. Will it be a little awkward to wake up in a building after not much sleep and have to try and brush your teeth in the bathroom of an office complex? Absolutely. Will you have a better time and get a little deeper with some people you may know and others you won’t? Darn straight...

Camping is optional. If you can’t or aren’t interested in hanging out overnight with a bunch of geeks - that’s cool… we won’t care too much. But if you’d like to experience something a little more raw and people centric - consider staying overnight and hanging out.

And as a closing note for all of those out there that have children and spouses (like myself, I have 3 kids)… take this an opportunity to have a “night out”.

barcampatlanta urbancamping

Tonight, I pushed out a registration details form to collect a few more bits of information from registered attendees. If you didn’t get the form but you signed up - you might not be on the official list. Please email me if you didn’t receive the email invitation to complete the form. You might also want to check your spam folder in your email inbox.

As a technical note, I used WuFoo to create the form. If you haven’t played with WuFoo, it’s awesome. It will allow you to create nice, web2.0 looking, forms. There are some simple tools to design the forms, manage the responses and run reports and export your data.

barcampatlanta atlanta wufoo

Tonight, I pushed out a registration details form to collect a few more bits of information from registered attendees. If you didn’t get the form but you signed up - you might not be on the official list. Please email me if you didn’t receive the email invitation to complete the form. You might also want to check your spam folder in your email inbox.

As a technical note, I used WuFoo to create the form. If you haven’t played with WuFoo, it’s awesome. It will allow you to create nice, web2.0 looking, forms. There are some simple tools to design the forms, manage the responses and run reports and export your data.

barcampatlanta atlanta wufoo