Shedding Some Light

Last minute, just 14 hours to go! Now is the time to get your ideas submitted.

Just a reminder that session proposals for Southwest Fox 2014 and Southwest Xbase++ are due by 8 AM EDT this Friday, March 21. If you’re interested in speaking, please see http://www.swfox.net/callforspeakers.aspx for instructions. We look forward to hearing from you.

We are grateful for all the submissions so far, but we are anxiously awaiting to hear from the rest of you what you would like to share with your peers. Thanks for considering.

We’ve issued the Call for Speakers for both the Southwest Fox and Southwest Xbase++ 2014 conferences. If you are interested in presenting at either conference, please check out the Call for Speakers page.

This is your chance to share what you know with others in your development community. There is no higher calling as a software developer and a great opportunity to take what you have learned and bring that knowledge to your peers in person.

Someone recently asked the organizers why they should submit sessions to a conference their boss is going to send them to anyway, and what they would get from the experience. Honestly, speaking is really more because you want to do it than what you can get from it. We responded with the following:

1. Preparing materials is a great way to really learn a topic deeply. (my personal favorite reason)
2. There is the pleasure of knowing you are sharing your knowledge with others. For some of us, it is addictive.
3. For independent developers, it’s also a great way to become known as an expert and as a result sometimes you get more business.
4. You get invited to the speaker dinner. Who doesn’t want food and drinks and some laughs with your friends?

There are many more reason to speak at a conference. It is personal and the reasons for doing it are personal. Additionally, you get my personal gratitude. I know the effort it takes to prepare sessions and I know the sacrifices made by each person who accepts the challenge. Speakers are remarkable in so many ways.

All the details are found in the Call for Speakers doc.

Once again, Geek Gatherings is using the conference Submission, Registration, and Evaluation site developed by White Light Computing. Think up some topics and make it your next stop.

Guidebook

Southwest Fox and Southwest Xbase++ have gone mobile! We’ve created a conference schedule on Guidebook, a popular mobile guide for events. Simply install the Guidebook app on your mobile device, then load the Southwest Fox/Xbase++ 2013 guide. You’ll be able to see complete session descriptions, view the conference schedule, see speaker photos and biographies, create to-do items, and best of all, create a customized schedule of sessions.

See our Guidebook page for details on how to set up our guide on your mobile device.

Broadcasting Sessions

For the last 7 years we have broadcast the conference Keynote and this year we are adding one conference session we think will interest Visual FoxPro and Xbase developers.

1. Keynote: “In Code We Trust” by Christof Wollenhaupt
2. “Project PolarFox: Sneak Preview” by Steffen Pirsig

See SWFoxTV for all the details including dates and times. Sessions should be recorded if all goes well in case you are busy with other things and cannot watch it live.

Please go listen to the recent “FoxShow #77: Southwest Fox 2013″ produced by Andrew MacNeill for some important news concerning Southwest Fox 2013.

I’ll wait here while you listen….Done?

OK, now go read the official written word from the organizers on the same subject on Doug Hennig’s blog post “You can save Southwest Fox.”

I’ll wait here while you read….Done?

Great, thanks for taking the time to listen and read. The Fox Communitgy has done a terrific job supporting this conference for the last nine years. We really want to do it for a tenth.

We want you to hear our voices so it was loud and clear, and not misinterpreted. The conference needs your support. If you plan to come to the conference, please, please get registered. It has never been more important!

Geek Gatherings Registration Page

Only 122 days until we (hopefully) gather in Gilbert.

Geek Gatherings LLC has officially opened registration for Southwest Fox 2013! The developer conferences will be held October 17-20, 2013 at the SanTan Elegante Conference and Reception Center, the same great location as last year. Last year was a huge success.

Super-Saver Registration, which saves you $125, is available only through June 30th, so don’t wait. Head over to the registration Web site today: http://geekgatherings.com/Registration

Registration fees are the same as last year! More details are available on the conference’s registration page.

Today is one of those big days here at Geek Gatherings because we officially announce the speakers and sessions for Southwest Fox 2013 and Southwest Xbase++ 2013. All the details can be found on the Speakers page.

Combined with the two conferences is 45 sessions (white papers for all), 6 pre-conference sessions, a keynote and lots of the usual networking opportunities with tons of fun thrown in too.

Registration opens later this month

White Light Computing is a platinum sponsor again this year.

You can stay up to date on announcements via Twitter too: @swfox and @swxbase

I hope to see everyone in October. Only 169 days until we gather in Gilbert!

The Ceil Silver Ambassador Fund brings a developer to the Southwest Fox conference as an ambassador for the developers in his or her country. This gives the recipient the opportunity to meet and share experiences with developers attending Southwest Fox and gives other attendees the opportunity to learn about VFP development in the recipient’s country. The trip is paid for by the VFP community’s donations to the Fund.

Nominations

We are looking for nominations from the VFP community for the 2013 recipient. The Ambassador selection committee consists of Southwest Fox organizers Rick Schummer, Tamar Granor, and Doug Hennig, former Ambassadors Emerson Santon Reed, Cesar Chalom, Bernard Bout, Borislav Borissov, and Jun Tangunan, and VFP community members Christof Wollenhaupt and Rick Bean. To nominate someone you think deserves to be selected, please email their name and a brief list of their contributions to the VFP community to ambassadorfund@swfox.net. Names must be submitted no later than May 31, 2013.

Donations

In addition, we are looking for donations to allow us to pay for the travel costs for the ambassador. We urge you to consider donating any amount you see fit, small or large, to this fund. See the Ceil Silver Ambassador Fund page for details. 100% of donated money goes to the travel costs for the ambassador. Not a single penny is used to cover administrative costs. All time managing the fund and working through the selection process is donated. No one is paid for their time.

Thank you for any donation you make.

Note: if you want to send in a donation via PayPal, please mark it as a “gift” so we do not incur transaction fees.

Here are a few last-minute things about this year’s conferences:

• Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Kokopelli scheduling application will not be available this year.
• We are streaming the keynote presentation again this year, Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/swfoxtv
• The conference guide (http://www.swfox.net/ConferenceGuide.pdf) is now available for download. Please download and read it because there are important details about the conference you need to know. This is the only copy of the guide you are getting; in our continuing efforts to make our conference greener, we are not printing them this year.

And yes, there is still some time to register.