But we are way overdue for another. The folks that put that conference together, Jay Zimmerman and Scott Davis, both heroes of mine, tried to organize another but when the economy took a turn for the worse they decided to hold off. I understand their concerns. One only has to look at the desperate attempts at drawing attendees the JavaOne organizers are going through to realize that this is a tough climate for conferences. But hey we're talking about Groovy, Grails and Griffon here.
These are technologies that transcend tumultuous times.
While other conferences are being scaled back or cancelled, The GR8 conference, dedicated to G3 technologies, has had to move to a larger venue! And from what I've heard, the turnouts at the growing number of Groovy and Grails training classes haven't been too shabby. The G3 user group community continues to grow. The Grails podcast audience is climbing. We even have a G3 dedicated magazine. We are ready for a G3 Experience.
So, what are we going to do about it? We could get together and put one on ourselves but I still have faith in Jay and Scott. Anyone who has been to a NoFluffJustStuff or related conference knows that nobody does it better. So, let's let them know that it's time. Here's a few steps you can take:
- Go to the 2GX website: http://groovygrails.com/gg/2gexperience and use the form there to register your interest.
- Go to the NoFluffJustStuff feedback form and tell them it's time. You can even plead for your favorite city.
- Send Jay and/or Scott an email (I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to track down their email addresses)
- Repeat this urgent plea on mailing lists, news groups, forums, at user groups, at work, in letters to the editor, etc.
- Finally, if you are attending an upcoming NFJS event (coming to Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Columbus) tell Jay or Scott that it's time for another G3 Experience.
Let's get to work, we can make it happen. After all, we are the G3 community. It's not like we're a bunch of (insert your favorite inferior language or technology here) hackers!
I'll see you at the next G3 Experience!