Richmond Codecamp 2010.1

First off, my blogg is normally technical, and (hopefully) informative…. this post is none of that, I just wanted to wrap-up my experience at Richmond CodeCamp with a few random thought about the event.

I have been to plenty of conferences over the years, but never having never attended codecamp, I was not exactly sure what I was walking into.  In addition, never having been at a codecamp, having to present to a group of distinguished peers, I was not exactly sure what I was walking into.  What I walked into, was a group of welcoming, helpful, friends that were… to a person… ready to accept a new friend into their group.  Not only was my presentation well received, I feel that I have made some connections that I can count among my friends. … not the linked-in “friend” (that you don’t even know)… but a great group of people with a common goal of providing outstanding training to their peers, just because they can.

The event started with the Friday evening speakers’ dinner, which as you can imagine, was a high-power, room full of geeks (I am including myself in that geek designation… so nobody take that badly!) … a good time was had by all.

Saturday (in what I can call a truly impressive facility at J. Sergent Reynolds Community College) we kicked off the event, with a few hundred folks ready to go by 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning.. and a few hundred more by the time the first sessions started.  A few sessions into the morning, the only thing I can say…. is I was getting a bit nervous…. I had given the presentation before, but the presenters I saw were nothing less than professional speakers that knew their area of expertise so well it was starting to scare me a bit. Not to mention the fact that there were a few hundred really smart people willing to give up a Saturday to learn something. OK… I have the after-lunch session, so maybe people will be full and sleepy… is that good?!? not sure… Sleeping audience will not ask questions… but a sleeping audience is not exactly motivational…

Turns out the presentation was well timed (a TON of information to pack into just over an hour), reasonably well attended, and very well received.  Since it was the after lunch session, I was able to setup early and was answering questions from folks right up to the start-time of the presentation… so my nerves never had a chance to even enter into the picture.  I honestly can’t say I remember exactly how the hour+ went by in about 45 seconds, but in the end, I made it through the slides and demo with about 3 minutes to spare for questions.

The time-warp seemed to end after my presentation…and I felt good that (even those that attended this presentation for a second time now) stopped me and expressed how helpful it was, and how good my delivery of the material is… no I am not trying to pat myself on my own back on my own blogg, but seriously there were some GREAT speakers at codecamp… if people are comparing me to those folks and liking what I had to say… they (probably ate too much lunch)… so I guess the after lunch time slot worked to my advantage!

I tip my hat to the hard work of all the organizers… my new (and old) friends for the support! Unfortunately for those that will sit through my presentations in the future, I will be back for more!!