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Free Full Day Training for Flex/AIR/Flash!

May 28
Thu 8:00 AM
Location
Harbour Centre

Room 1900, 515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V5K 0A1
604 726 3329

How to find us
"http://technoracle.blogspot.com/2009/03/free-full-day-flexairflash-camp-in.html"

Estimated attendance
 170  people attended.
4.50 4.5027

Who organized?
Clive Goodinson,  Doug Schmidt,  Duane Nickull,  James Douma,  Peter Armstrong,  and Ross Ladell

We just booked a room and can now confirm that there will be a full day of 100% free hands on training for RIA development in Vancouver, BC May 28 at Vancouver Harbor Centre. The day will run from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a possible evening event with a live band. The venue will be the Fletcher Challenge Canada Theatre (room 1900) in Harbour Centre.

While we have not yet confirmed all speakers, the lineup will likely include Peter Armstrong (Author - Flexible Rails, RoR and Flex guru), Andre Charland (CEO - Nitobi, PhoneGap), Doug Schmidt (Effective UI and Moose killing shovel wielding Ninja), Clive Goodinson (Pixton), Ross Ladell and others. For RIA development, this is the one chance in a year of seeing all the top Vancouver developers under one roof. Bring your laptops and code along! You'll likely leave with tons of new code samples and ideas.

Call to action!

We want to make this a community driven event - if you want to present a code snippet, please email me (dnickull at adobe dot com)! We'll try to make the afternoon presentations democratic.

The day will be 100% community driven and hands on. Here is an update on some of the labs that will be available. Note that we can also cater to last minute requests and will do what we can to make this your day.

1. We have just uploaded the document to help you prepare for the May 28th event. It discusses the software requirements if you plan to complete all the labs and exercises. It is download-able from http://files.meetup.c...

2. There is an issue with the meetup site. We can accommodate 180 people in the room and the current registration is around 164 (including + guests). If you are wait listed, please come down - we'll squeeze you in.

3. Some of you have expressed that you might no be prepared for this technically. From experience, we have taught similar courses for this and will make sure everyone learns stuff. When a similar course was taught in San Francisco last year, we had absolute beginners come and ranked it as the #1 session out of over 500. Some of them had no prior experience and got high paying jobs right after. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO COME - this is your day and the peopel coming will be there to help you. We will adjust it to the audience level from newbie to advanced developer and everyone will leave with new skills.

4. Here is a list of the planned labs. Note that we are also going to do a community driven code camp in the afternoon so if you want to see or present something, be vocal (example - making a Flex application with an AS3 class as the main entry point). You could learn how to build a map using Flash in the morning and buidl a similar app for the iPhone in the afternoon.

5. This day is for developers! We poured our hearts and souls into this day. We hope you enjoy it! Here is a list of things we *could* cover. This will be adjusted as the attendees requirements vary. besides, it is free for you and you have some world class experts willing to spend an entire day there so you can ask questions 1:1 and get great feedback.

Lab 1: Advanced Hello World
Lab 2: Chromeless Applications
Lab 3: Exporting, Signing, Distributing and Installing AIR
Lab 4: Capturing a Video Stream
Lab 5: Playing Video and Full Screen Interactive Model
Project 6: Audio and Advanced Event Handling
Project 7: HTML
Project 8: Reading and Writing to a local disk from AIR
Lab 9 – AIR and PDF
Lab 10: REST & Handling Basic Communication Faults
Lab 11: Interacting with Ruby on Rails
Lab 12: Web Services Consumption
Lab 13: - Another Alternative Web Service
Lab 14: Internationalization Tricks
Lab 15: MYSQLite
Lab 16: AIR Native Windowing functionality
Lab 17: A Simple Yahoo Map
Lab 17: Yahoo Maps adding markers at specific lat and longs
Lab 18: Polyline – adding custom shapes to your geo-spatial Mashup
Lab 19: Simple ESRI MAP
Lab 20: Adding CSS to style controls
Lab 21: SVG Maps
Lab 22: - Flex Remoting Project
Lab 23 - Flex clients for PHP
Lab 24 - Flex Talks to ColdFusion
Lab 25 – Drawing Graphics
Lab 26 – Detecting Keystroke Events

PREPARATION:

The document outlining how to prepare for this is now posted online.

http://files.meetup.c...

If you have never programmed a Flex or AIR application before - do not be afraid. Show up ready to learn.

As a last resort, I hereby pledge to go the extra mile to do what I can to help the local tech people coming to this event.

Duane

Photos of this Meetup

No photos yet.

Talk about this Meetup

  • Carmen Choy
    Posted May 29, 2009 10:49 AM
    Carmen Choy
    Thanks guys for a really great meetup, I really appreciate all of the effort put into organizing this. I thought it was an excellent way to expose everyone to different things and it was a really comfy and supportive environment. I just wish the usual evening meetups are on days other than Thursdays, I can never make it to these.
  • Alfredo Chu
    Posted May 29, 2009 9:58 AM
    Alfredo Chu
    Great job guys... Keep up the good work. Thank you all for your time and effort.
  • Pre-Meetup comments below
  • Duane Nickull
    Posted May 27, 2009 11:31 AM
    Duane Nickull
    Assistant Organizer
    If you are on the list, you will get in. Seating will be done first come first serve. Power outlets will be shared.
  • Posted May 27, 2009 10:20 AM
    VM
    Really looking forward to this event, but can't make it in until 9:00AM. Is this first-come-first-serve? Or will people who registered weeks ago be guaranteed a seat? Will you let people sit on the floor if more than 180 people show up? I'm concerned because there are currently 189 people attending with only 180 spots.
  • Duane Nickull
    Posted May 26, 2009 7:59 PM
    Duane Nickull
    Assistant Organizer
    Please do not be too shy to attend. We have taught these before and people with no programming experience have left with the joy of compiling and building over 15 apps. You will leave with 28 code samples for various projects and a deep understanding of how the best RIA framework in the world works. You will be able to reproduce web service clients for SAP systems, catch faults, compile multi-source projects and how to learn what you need to know at the time you need to know it. Duane
  • Duane Nickull
    Posted May 25, 2009 10:06 AM
    Duane Nickull
    Assistant Organizer
    will be posting the setup soon
  • Eddie Potros
    Posted May 21, 2009 9:58 AM
    Eddie Potros
    I'm guessing most of this stuff will be for AS3. I think I'll find some time to learn at least the basics of AS3 before this event.
  • Henry Ho
    Posted May 20, 2009 11:02 AM
    Henry Ho
    Can I install ColdFusion instead of BlazeDS? It already has LiveCycle Data Services ES built in... :)
  • Dave
    Posted May 15, 2009 8:15 AM
    Dave
    Definitely going to be there. Leaving Kelowna Wednesday night, woo!
  • Prasanna
    Posted May 5, 2009 11:42 AM
    Prasanna
    How many of you are coming from Seattle Area? Can I carpool with you (i will be willing to chip-in for gas)
  • G Jane
    Posted May 5, 2009 12:17 AM
    G Jane
    Hey, I was wondering if anyone could show how to do something like this (with Flash): http://www.cemberlitashamam...
  • Duane Nickull
    Posted Apr 19, 2009 4:21 PM
    Duane Nickull
    Assistant Organizer
    Kevin: We are working out the AM schedule. Most of the PM schedule will be community driven (what people want will be delivered live). I'll post the AM. Do you have any specific requests? Duane Duane
  • Kevin Harley
    Posted Apr 17, 2009 5:31 PM
    Kevin Harley
    Hi, is there any kind of itinerary set yet? or what kinds of topics that will be covered in sessions, such as moving from AS2 to AS3 etc...??
  • Duane Nickull
    Posted Apr 10, 2009 10:08 AM
    Duane Nickull
    Assistant Organizer
    Hi Anosh Yes. At the very beginning, we will take everyone from 0-60 very quickly. Before the course, there will be a post here telling you where to get software and how to install it and prepare for the day. After the AM, we will get into advanced topics but the presenters can adjust it up or down as needed. everyone will get some benefits out of this. If you have never programmed before, this is a great place to learn. Duane
  • Posted Apr 10, 2009 9:57 AM
    Anosh
    Will there be sessions intended for beginers?

Who attended?

  • 170 attendees
    • “ It was good overall. The workshop could be improved by focusing on fewer technologies, and diving deeper into those covered. With so many workshops & demos in one day, it felt like we were only skimming the surface of what Flex/Air can do. Flashy demos, while impressive, don't give a concrete sense of when to use the tools. ”
    • “ I was very glad that I came today. I've got a lot of source code and learned much more about Flex and the different possibilities I can use it for. I appreciate all the time that was put into organizing this event. I do wish that the preparation would've been a bit better (for faster start of the day). A tip was instead of passing the usb's to get the small files around, you could've posted them in a zip file on a ftp for people to download. Speed of labs were great (mostly for beginners though and since I am one, that worked out well for me). I did have problems installing BlazeDS and Java and I wished more people were able to help with that (I tried to install them the day before so maybe I could've done that a few days before to be fully prepared). Thanks for this and I hope for more to come! ”
    • “ The event was a great forcing function to get me to dedicate a day to learning Flex. I loved the handout with the list of "labs" or learning exercises, with sample code. It will be a great vehicle for self-study. ”
    • “ This was probably the best group I have ever seen assembled for a code camp! I can't wait to repeat. Everyone who showed up was the best of the best. What a productive day (still on a natural high from this). ”
    • TM
      “ Thanks a lot! ”
    • “ Very interesting, wish we could have more like this. ”
    • “ It was great and very informative. I learned a lot and the notes were provided so when I got lost I could follow along. ”
    • “ It was great for the people who didn't really have an idea about the full scope of flex and judging by the number of people who have only been using for around 3 months it was beneficial tho those people especially. Having the labs for people to take home was a good way to introduce them to the technologies you were not able to touch on, in their own comfortable environment. I've been using flex since flex builder 2 and I was very familiar with all the topics covered however this day was still good for me to network and she who's doing what in our community with these products. ”
    • “ Big Thank You! to all the presenters, Duane, Doug, Peter, Andrew. Great job! The event was the best I've been to for a while. Very focused, no bells and whistles. Delivered on all the technical possibilities of what Flex/AIR can do. You guys squeezed into one day, what could have filled a few days. I am glad that I came early/on time to copy the files, and prepared the day before by installing the necessary software. Although the coding went fairly quickly, I did not have trouble keeping up, especially during Duane's amazing demonstrations. I can also see a lot of possibilities from the Sqlite applications. I am glad to have participated, and am excited by the technology. Thank you to the organizers, and thank you to Adobe! ”
    • “ The event was excellent and well worth attending. Although there was a ton of information presented in a short period of time, my knowledge of Adobe Flex Builder and Air is 10 times greater than it was before. I'm excited that I can now start playing around with Flex Builder and start building simple apps. The SQLlite addition near the end was great but I would have liked more time to explore that. My only negative comment would be towards Doug's sessions. In both of his demos, he started off building something, which I followed in Flex, and then he switched to a completed version that he had built previously, which included way more functionality. That was really confusing, and de-valued the demo. He probably felt pinched for time, so I can understand that - Doug obviously has great talent. All in all - well done guys!!! A huge THANK YOU for an awesome day!!! ”
    • Ivy (+1 guest)
      “ It was an awesome event!!! I learnt a lot. ”
    • Andrey Soubbotin (+2 guests)
      “ Great meetup session, my understanding it would be for Flex developers thus more advanced topics, but given that it wasn't - it was still an enjoyable session. ”
    • “ Some components were too dry like the localization and SQLLite ones. Some were too fast but overall it was a good learning experience. ”
    • “ An excellent array of topics that weren't just the usual stuff covered online. Sometimes things were a bit rushed or disorganized but overall an excellent day that was well worth my trip from Seattle to attend. ”
    • “ It was a great opportunity to learn some Flex and meet other Flash and Flex professionals in the industry. Thanks to everyone who put this together! ”
    • Alina (+1 guest)
      “ It was great for beginners. I think it would be better if split trainings by attendees level. Only 2 sections were new for me: restfulx and generation AS code using wsdl I personally need more advanced training. ”
    • “ I definitely appreciate Adobe + other leaders in the Flash/Flex community putting this event on. A couple of the labs were great! However, we have too diverse an audience coming to this sort of event to not break folks into different, simultaneous sessions. i.e. Start in the theatre, then break into 2 or 3 smaller rooms where everyone can choose which lab they wish to attend. We had a broad audience w/ diverse set of skills, presenters attempting to somehow cater to this, desire to cover a broad set of subjects, but also get into some technical depth. This set of compromises led to somewhat of a compromise of substance. Again, great presenters, good topics, well put together, thank you! Just need to split such a large group up and devote a little more time to each lab. Thank you ”
    • ash
    • Dave (+1 guest)