About 3.5 years ago, 360Flex was begun with a simple statement: “We should start our own Flex conference.” John and I didn’t have any idea on how to run a conference. When John pointed that out, I responded with, “How hard could it be? You get some people, put ‘em in a room and feed ‘em. Done.” For our first 360|Flex, that’s quite literally what we did. Luckily, Ted Patrick was there to help drive awareness of our new event. Without Ted, I have to say that we’d still be trying to get word out about the event! (I know this is the case, because 360iDev still struggles getting the word out.)

At the time, John and I were both full time developers. We used that knowledge to help us figure out what the event needed to succeed. I’d like to think those instincts proved to be more right than wrong. Much like any true hacker, we consistently compile/debug and rework the show over the years. The frustration for me was the slow pace of that reworking. I like to see results quickly and not have the following kind of moments: “That didn’t work. Oh well, we’ll tweak it in 6 months and hope it works better.”

John will still constantly improve the show. Of that, I have no doubt. I think it’s good that I’m leaving because the show needs one leader. Up until now, a lot of the internal fighting was on how to get us profitable. We’ve reached that point now, and barring another global financial meltdown, the show should remain profitable. Now, it needs one leader to sorta take the show to the next level. A singular vision from someone who’s passionate about the act of building a conference and bring the community together. Without a doubt, that’s John. Like the title says, you’re in good hands.

For those of you wondering what I’ll be doing now. It’s two-fold. My day job is still Flex development. (I’m an indie contractor, so feel free to let me know about projects you have coming up.)  I’ll start blogging Flex tutorials again. You can follow my blog (which has been collecting dust for months) where I’ll post my new take on tutorials. First up will be a tutorial on how to create your own special type of column chart. Exciting, I know! ;) I’ll also start helping out with community projects: First one is FlexUnit, since I’ve discovered the greatness that is unit testing. I’ll probably drop a note to the Reflex guys too, since the Reflex team is a fun group of guys. In other words, I’ll be returning to my roots that got me into 360Flex in the first place: directly helping people learn how to do cool things with the marvelous tech that is Flex.

Because my head is broken and I can’t just do one thing at a time, I’ll also be doing something else I’ve always dreamed of: making video games. My new company is going to be called Area 161. My partner there is my best friend from high school, so it’s gonna be a blast to work with him on this new enterprise.

I’d like to thank all of you who ever went to one of our 360Flex shows. You were (and always will be) the driving reason for the shows. I thank you deeply for spending your hard earned money (or your boss’s) and traveling out to spend time with us. Your faith in me (and John) was scary at first, since we had never ran our own business before. We never took your faith in us for granted and always try to not just live up to, but surpass expectations. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be my first customers.

For those of you who’d like to stay in contact with me, here is my various contact info below. Please keep in contact with me and I’ll see you at 360Flex, only now I’ll never have to run off mid-conversation to go fix something. :)

Personal Info:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lordbron
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lordbron
Blog: http://lordbron.wordpress.com
Email: tom.ortega@gmail.com

Area-161 Info:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/area161
Website: http://area-161.com