Flash on the Beach ’07 – The Aftermath

Well it’s been a few weeks since FotB ’07 ended and I’m probably the last speaker to blog about it. Now this isn’t because I couldn’t be bothered up until now. It’s more to do with the fact that since I installed Leopard on my MacBook Pro it has been like opening Pandora’s Box every time I lift the lid. Suffice it to say I have had to rebuild this machine numerous times (fingers crossed it won’t need to be done again too soon).

Away back to F0tB ’07. Well it started of well, the weather was on our side this year – for those who weren’t there last year it was a tad wet :p. It was great to meet up with friends I hadn’t seen in person since last year, and to make new ones this year. The great thing about Flash on the Beach this year was that it was even better than last – I know that must be a hard thing to believe, but John excelled himself this year and I personally think he deserves the title of best European Flash conference for Flash on the Beach.

So what did I do while I was there (for those who didn’t attend my session was on the last day right at the end (only Jared was after me).

As it happens I didn’t get as much time to attend session as I had wished. What with making sure that my presentation was bang on timing wise (I like to rehearse until it is almost second nature), and meeting up with colleagues I only got to attend a few during the day.

In the evenings there were the Inspire sessions ,Brendan Dawes and Eric Natzke’s were awesome, each doing a different evening. And what a great idea the Inspired session format is. The idea was to get everyone back to the conference center for a one off session in the early evening before that evenings main festivities started (and there was free beer too :p).

Session I wished I caught were: Jared Tarbell’s, Dave Williamson’s, John Grden’s (so if you have a video of these sessions or know where they are on YouTube let me know :p). Marcos Weskamp’s session was very interesting. I love it when data is visualized in more creative formats. Ted’s session was OK – it was nothing new to me, and I had a bit of a hangover from the night before (actually it was from a few hours before – once I got into bed).

The keynote was a blast, not because there was much more than what had been shown at Max in Chicago / Barcelona, but due to the fact that Ted Patrick and Andrew Shorten did a Sherlock Holmes routine which was just spot on. It was like Laurel and Hardy do Basil Rathbone :p (With Robin Charney as the “mysterious caller”). All I can say is that Andrew enjoyed it so much that he’s itching for someone to ask him to wear the costume at another conference. (He’s a real Holmes fan – but I didn’t tell you that).

The conference schwag was top draw this year (I didn’t think it could possible beat last year, but again John was got it spot on). Free bags, flip flops, towels, a free copy of Moock’s Essential ActionScript 3.0 for EVERYONE that attended. And as a speaker one of the coolest laptop bags ever (John will attest to my fixation with bags and that none fit my 17″ Macbook Pro), as this puppy fits my Macbook perfectly :D.

Now I have to sort out the session notes out and the tutorial that Leopard kindly destroyed on Monday :'( so I can upload them.

Oh and before I forget Flash on the Beach ’08 is September 27th to October 1st so put it in your diaries now and I’ll see you there (unless I’m on my honeymoon ;-P)