Shedding Some Light

Just in case you have not subscribed to our new RSS feed (recently created for us by Rick Borup), we have a change in the schedule for Saturday. The Arizona Golf Resort and Conference Center notified us of a change in the venue that really helps us and triggered a slew of changes I want to make sure you hear about. Previously we had the pre-conference sessions and keynote in another building, but now all sessions will be in Fairway 1-4. Another conflicting event in the same building Saturday night has been moved too.

What this means is:

1. The vendor sessions on Saturday will be full 75 minute sessions.
2. Lunch has been extended to a full hour (previously we had to crunch it to 45 minutes).
3. A new version of Dave Aring’s Kokopelli scheduling app has been updated this morning (so if you previously downloaded it please get a fresh copy). There are no changes to the regular sessions, but we did include the new Visual MaxFrame and Stonefield Query user group meetings on the printed schedule.
4. You will have more opportunities to visit the vendors (more to be announced soon on this topic soon).

Behind the scenes things are nuts. Over the last three days I probably have 250 emails on various aspects of Southwest Fox. We are close to 140 registered attendees and more than 160 people including speakers and vendors coming to the conference.

Only three weeks to go until we meet in Mesa.

So are you looking at getting a book from Hentzenwerke Publishing (our newest Bronze sponsor), but want to chat in person with the publisher or one of the many authors in person before picking it up, or ordering it? No problem, just be in Mesa between October 18th and 21st and stop by the registration desk.

Whil (who is presenting a couple of sessions at the conference) is selling his entire line of Visual FoxPro books between sessions at Southwest Fox. Just in case you did not know, Hentzenwerke is the biggest publisher of VFP books on the planet.

As one of the many Hentzenwerke authors and tech editors I know the books sell best at conferences so this is very exciting news. The conference just keeps getting better.

Only a month to go before we all gather in Mesa.

Honestly, I never thought this was something I was going to announce when we decided to work on Southwest Fox 2007, but we are setting new registration records almost daily! We still have more than a month to go and we have close to 150 people set to come to Mesa in October. Unbelievable.

So THANKS!

Only 37 days to get registered! See everyone in Mesa.

Yep, we are getting close to the conference, but more companies are getting on board the already crowded Southwest Fox Conference sponsor bus. I want to introduce you to xSQL Software. These guys have some cool SQL Server tools and have become our newest Bronze sponsor.

One tool in particular is a tool I have been looking for for more time than I care to admit. I think their xSQL Builder tool is as close to the Stonefield Database Toolkit Update feature for SQL Server as any product I have looked at. I am hoping to cover this tool during my SQL Server Developer Toolkit session.

xSQL Software is providing several doorprizes to be given away during the conference. Very cool stuff.

Today I get to leak the cat out of the bag for a new “feature” of Southwest Fox: K.O.K.O.P.E.L.L.I.

What the heck is K.O.K.O.P.E.L.L.I.??

One Web description is:

“Kokopelli is one of the most intriguing and widespread images surviving from ancient Anasazi Indian mythology, and is a prominent figure in Hopi legends. The figure represents a mischievous trickster or the Minstrel, spirit of music. Kokopelli is considered a symbol of fertility who brought well-being to the people, assuring success in hunting, planting and growing crops, and human conception.”

Another description:

“Magical flute player, humpback or hump-backed flute player”

You see three Kokopelli characters on the Southwest Fox logo. But today I bring a different definition to you…

Knock Out Konference Orientation – Produce Elective Lecture Layout Interactively.

What?!?

Dave Aring (from Visionpace – owners of the VFP framework MaxFrame Professional) has created a new Visual FoxPro applet that assists you in selecting a schedule customized for you based on the choices and preferences you have for the session slots. The app is quite simple: pick your favorite three sessions in any one slot for the entire conference. The application then uses a magical algorithm to determine the best fit so you get as many of your favorite sessions as possible.

You pick your priorities for the slots, click on the Create Schedule button, and then the Print Schedule button to preview the results. The output can be printed and brought with you to Mesa. The printed schedule when folded on the lines provided should fit nicely in the badge holder we will provide when you register Thursday.

The applet comes complete with text Help, and an interesting approach with truly graphical Help. Dave even included a block out feature so you can schedule session blocks you plan on skipping. Maybe the boss wants you to attend a conference call or staff meeting, or you have a session to give in that slot (can you tell what three organizers asked for this enhancement request {g}), or you just want to play hooky and attend one of the less formal offline sessions that happen in the hallway.

You can try out different session priorities to get different results. If you already know the sessions you want to attend you can just make them your number one sessions and not pick the 2nd and 3rd, and your schedule can be printed out.

In the user acceptance testing phase of this app I found it picked 50% of the sessions I had slotted with the “Rick Schummer Method” to picking sessions. I think this is pretty good. I hope you download it and give it a try, if not to help pick some sessions, but just to see how Visual FoxPro applications can be created and not look like your typical VFP app.

For more details on the new tool, see Dave’s blog entry on the Visionpace blog.

Thanks Dave for putting this together in your spare time and for contributing it to Southwest Fox!

Only 43 days until we all meet in Mesa!

The initial session schedule for Southwest Fox is posted! Please note that the organizers have reviewed it and passed it by the speakers, but it is still subject to change if we discover a flaw. This will be finalized over the next couple of weeks.

You may be wondering how did I get two 8:00am sessions?!? You think I would have some pull being one of the organizers, but no, Tamar thinks I am good enough to keep people awake on Saturday and Sunday morning (at least this is what I am telling myself {g}). Seriously, I am not really complaining because I don’t mind the first session of the day.

I went through the schedule a few weeks back and picked the sessions I would like to attend (knowing darn well I might not get to any of them) and I only had one I could not schedule. There are definitely some tough choices, but that is the idea. We packed this conference with lots of great sessions presented by some of the best minds available.

I have two recommendations to those who cannot see all the sessions they really have to see. One thing I am doing is seeing sessions in advance of the conference. Check out the Fox user groups around the country kind enough to let speakers test-drive the sessions before they might be ready for prime-time at the conference. I see the Detroit Area Fox User Group (my local group) and the Chicago FUDG already have presentations scheduled. I am sure other groups will be scheduling some soon. You can find some of the user group meetings on the Fox Wiki Upcoming Events page.

The other option is to bring a teammate or friend to the conference (yes there is still time to register and we are not sold out yet {g}). You can each see different sessions and later go over the material you learned to help the other person as you review the white papers from the session together.

Only 50 days until we meet in Mesa!

I am very happy to announce F1 Technologies is officially a Gold sponsor of Southwest Fox 2007, and is making a very generous offer to each and every registered attendee of Southwest Fox. Here is the official deal:

1. All registered attendees of the SW Fox Conference that are not registered Visual FoxExpress users will receive a free copy of Visual FoxExpress including a 6 month subscription.
2. All registered attendees of the SW Fox Conference that are registered Visual FoxExpress users will receive a 50% discount on a renewal of their Visual FoxExpress subscription.
3. This offer is non-transferable and expires on 11/20/2007.

Wow. Mike and Toni have always been big supporters of the conference, and this is another fine example of F1 Technologies commitment to the Fox Community.

There is still some time and space available if you want to get registered. Only 66 days until we meet in Mesa!

Thanks Mike and Toni!

Catching up on the sponsors front… I want to announce two new sponsors recently signed up:

1) The Intellection Group, Inc. is a bronze sponsor. Dave Bernard is one of the leaders of this company and speaks at VFP conferences, and has been a friend of Southwest Fox at past conferences by writing up coverage on the UniversalThread. Dave’s company does some really cool stuff with Visual FoxPro on the Web, and is well know for his mantra: “There are no technical problems, only business problems.”

2) Servoy USA Inc is a gold sponsor. Servoy is making a serious push to FoxPro developers with their Java application development and deployment tools. I really do not know much about this company, but figure this is one of the reasons they are coming to Southwest Fox – to get their message out to the Fox Community.

More details about all the Southwest Fox Sponsors can be found here: http://swfox.net/sponsors.aspx