CodeMash, Sandusky, Ohio, Janaury 18-19

I must have not been paying attention to the local IT scene, because I just learned about CodeMash a few days ago. "...educate developers on current practices, methodologies and technology trends in variety of platforms and development languages such as Java, .NET, Ruby and PHP." It has all of the leading experts that you would expect from a top-notch conference, but this one is different:

• It is in Sandusky, which is an hour east of where I live. We do not get a lot of the first rate events in this part of the country - we usually have to fly to a coast for this level of quality.
• It is dirt cheap. Part of that is the low cost of living around here. Part is because it was organized by user groups in Ohio and Michigan who are not trying to make a profit. A "community-driven developer conference" they call it. And a good set of sponsors - including IBM (in this case, Rational).
• It is being held at a waterpark resort - Kalahari. I spent a day there this summer (with the family) - it is fun. Maybe not quite like HICSS in Hawaii, but perhaps having technical conferences at resorts is a trend that will continue.
• The Mash part - from the reactions I have seen, the combination of platforms is appealing to people - people must be tiring of going to .net events separate from Java events.

I doubt I will be able to attend - since it is short notice and I do not do any "real" development myself. I am sure I would learn something useful from all of those experts, tho. Add in a "user experience" track and I'd be there, no doubt.

Even without attending, I am still helping to promote CodeMash. It is just too good not to let others in the area know about it. Through NWOACM, the local ACM chapter, we are offering a special discount - save $50 on the already low price. Here is our announcement that we are emailing out to spread the word:

It is not too late to register for CodeMash, a world-class technical conference being held in our area - January 18-19, in Sandusky, Ohio (about an hour east of Toledo). Go to https://www.codemash.org/register.aspx and use 06ZY86 as your "Sponsor Invitation Code" to save $50 - making the 2 day conference only $99. This is an unbelievably good price for a top-notch technical conference - especially one that is a short drive away. Also, the conference is being held at the Kalahari waterpark, so you can have some fun as well.

What is CodeMash? CodeMash is a unique event that will educate developers on current practices, methodologies and technology trends in variety of platforms and development languages such as Java, .NET, Ruby and PHP.

Some of the internationally recognized speakers include:

• Bruce Eckel, internationally recognized speaker and author of "Thinking in Java" - presenting "The World is Dynamic"
• Neal Ford, application architect at ThoughtWorks - presenting "The Productive Programmer"
• Scott Guthrie, General Manager, Microsoft Developer Division
• Scott Ambler, internationally recognized speaker and author on Agile development and database refactoring - presenting "Introduction to OpenUP"

One of our leading local experts, Greg Huber, will also be presenting on several Ajax topics.

Check out http://www.codemash.org/ for more information about this conference. Do not forget to register using 06ZY86 and get your $50 discount.

Feel free to pass this information on to others who may be interested. If you are a professor, please encourage your students to attend. It is priced right for them, and a chance for them to hear about a wide range of issues they will be encountering after they graduate.

This information is being distributed by NWOACM, Northwest Ohio's professional ACM chapter - http://nwoacm.org/

If you go, let me know how you liked it. (Here is a Technorati tag for codemash so that I can track what happens.) I hope this is the first of many similar events in the area.