JavaOne schedule

Here is my JavaOne schedule:  I can't mimic the nice colouring that Steve On Java has, but hey :-).


Please note the JCP EC meeting is open and free for all to join (Sunday 15:45) - we need the voice of the community there, so come along!


I'll actually be speaking at:

• 30440 - Java User Groups and the JCP (Sunday 14:30)
• 23647 - JCP and the Developer Community (Monday 11:00)
• 23641 - Meet the Executive Committee Candidates (Monday 1900)
• 23645 - Lightning Talks: JSRs in Progress (Wednesday 0830)
• 25303 - The Diabolical Developer (Redux)  (Wednesday 1500)
• 25303 - The Diabolical Developer (Redux) - repeat!  (Wednesday 1630)
• 37780 - Java Community Keynote (Thursday 0845)

Let me know if you want to catch up!  I'll be fairly flexible about turning up to most sessions, the benefit of attending a conference like JavaOne is as much isn't catching up with friends an colleagues as much as anything else :-)

Tips on presenting at a conference

So I stumped up my £95 (+VAT) and decided to go to the Open Source and Finance eXchange. The day had some fairly interesting topics which unfortunately were (more often than not) ruined by poor presentations. This was particularly irritating as this was a paid conference and I expected a minimal level in the quality of speakers.

Of course the great value in going to a conference is always the interaction with the other attendees, but still it was a little disappointing.

So I thought I'd point out some tips for presenting at a conference:

1. Be passionate in your delivery, no-one and I mean no-one is going to care about what you are talking about when you deliver it in a dull monotone.
2. Don't let that screen saver/power saver cut out your presentation!
3. Slow Down - Often people are nervous when they present, which is only natural, but it means that they have a tendency to speak far too quickly.
4. Slow Down part 2 - If the language you are speaking in is not your first language, or if you know you have a strong accent, then again for the sake of clarity, slow down!
5. If you're going to have graphics in your presentation, make sure they are readable when they are projected on the screen.
6. Don't use complicated graphics, keep it simple! If in doubt get a Graphic Designer to take a look for you.
7. Don't just repeat what are on your slides, the audience has already read them and you're adding no value.

Thankfully towards the end of the conference we had some good speakers including probably the best presentation I've ever seen at a conference. If you ever get the chance to see Simon Wardley (from Canonical) speak, then do yourself a favour and go and see him. The podcast of his talk will arrive here soon.

Java Unconference

Hi all,

Brief post (I know, haven't updated in ages!) to advertise the London Java Community's first Unconference on the 28th of November! I'm helping organise this one and time permitting I'll also be presenting at a couple of the sessions with juicy? topics such as "How to run a successful Open Source project" and "How to be a Rock Star Developer!".

See http://londonjavacommunity.wordpress.com/ for details of the Unconference.

Hope to see you there!

P.S: For those of you who don't know what an Unconference is, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference for details.

Presentations - Argh!

So once more I find myself preparing to give a presentation to a group of (mostly) strangers, scary much? This time it's on "How to run a successful Open Source project", a topic that I have lots of opinions on having spent the last 8-9 years involved in several projects.

There is a ton of good literature on how to run an effective presentation ("talk like so", "make slides like that"), but since I'm a geek I'm just going to mention the help that modern technology has given me :).

Firstly on the way back from a Hi-Di-Hi! style holiday camp (much fun, go the Falconry lesson!), I was able to use my Wife's Samsung NC10 Netbook to hastily finish off the first draft of the presentation. It's amazing what you can type out on that little monster even when crammed into the back seat of a non people carrier. Oh and thank you good genes for not making me carsick, very useful trait that.

Next up is the use of MS Powerpoint. Yes it's much maligned but it still beats writing notes up on a whiteboard with your back to the crowd. It also helps to have a Wife who happens to be a Graphic Designer, pretty Powerpoint template heaven!

Then there's the borrowing of my Flatmate's Macbook Pro to run the presentation from (not all of us can wear turtlenecks ;p).

Last but not least there's the use of the iClicker utility for the iPhone. I can go back and forth through the slides and have a mini representation of each slide in front of my nose, again I don't have to turn my back on the audience which is a good thing. Bonus points to the developers of this utility for allowing you to swap between the notes for the slide and the slide contents itself.

I'll post the post-mortem on the talk sometime tomorrow, assuming I don't incite the crowd into rioting (IT people are generally far more passionate than people give them credit for).