It was the first conference I’ve ever been to; I have to say, I can definitely see what all the fuss is about. I’ve already started following several new and interesting people on the twitter. I met so many cool and smart and nice people this weekend, and just got a chance to talk with people who want to share what they know. Even being part of the event staff, I got to see plenty of really good talks, and I learned so much.

Before last weekend, I was pretty dismal. I wasn’t really excited about web development anymore, in my mind, ColdFusion was a dead, bloated, washed up corpse of a former lover, being pecked at by sea gulls, and Flex was about as far from my mind as it could be. This conference completely re-energized me and gave me a new sense of motivation and a fresh new batch of ideas to go explore. It could not have come at a better time. I feel so excited and motivated about working with ColdFusion and Flex again.

And that is just about attending the conference. It was pretty awesome being able to work with really great people, especially the two really cool guys who shouldered a large portion of the responsibility. I can’t believe we actually did it. I can still remember our user group meeting back in the spring when Dan said he wanted to put on a conference. Nothing major, just a one day affair for locals of the Triangle Area, maybe people from Charlotte or even Asheville. Somehow, over the course of a summer it turned into a full-fledged, free, two day, international event with people coming from New York, California and Canada and a full list of well-known speakers. We kind of just did it as we went along, and some it was really done by the seat of our pants, but due to the hard work and determination of everyone involved, it turned out pretty okeydokey.

I think most of the people involved feel the same way: Last night, we had our debriefing/postmortem of the conference, at the beginning of the meeting, we cautiously approached the subject with the attitude of we may do this again next year, but let’s not commit. By the end of the meeting, when asked who would want to do it again, everyone in the room raised their hands. So without letting too much more out of the bag, it looks like there will definitely be another CFinNC conference next year and I’ll be  happy to work to make it better than this year’s.

So that’s about it.

After two days, I want to say that my new job is fantastic, thanks for asking. I’ve signed on to be a ColdFusion developer with SRA International in Durham. Again, today was only my second day, but the first two were great. Yesterday was an orientation that was presented via a teleconference call with people across the country. Today was my first real day. I have to say, I’m very impressed with how organized and employee-oriented the company is. I have a nice sized cubicle that will have a name plate on the outside wall. Inside my cubicle today was a Dell PC with a dual LCD setup, which I thought was pretty cool. Also inside my cube were a stapler, a tape dispenser, a staple remover, a magnetized paper clip holder, paper clips, staples, and tape, two pads of paper, two pens, two pencils, two stacks of post it notes a telephone directory and instructions on how to use the phone. All of the office supplies were brand new in boxes. It was incredible, and also a little exciting to see the company that hired me putting in just a little bit of effort to show that I’m welcomed. That little bit went a very long way. It’s quite exciting to be working for a company that has their act together and tries to let their employees know how they feel about them.