I also won’t lie and say it was a surprise or that I hadn’t already started thinking about possible futures for 360|Flex.

I’ll also point out that none of us were Flex developers 10 years ago, most of us came from somewhere else, and likely would move on eventually, guess Adobe chose the when for us, which is never fun or ideal, but it is what it is.  As an Adobe community we’re at least used to things changing and messing up our plans, usually directly at Adobe’s hands :)

So what does this mean for 360|Flex?

Well it means that our hopes of having a kick ass 10 year anniversary 360|Flex conference are probably not gonna happen :) I play to be doing conferences in another 5 years, but 360|Flex as a brand, well we’ll have to see.

But it DOES NOT mean 360|Flex 2012 won’t happen.

It DOES NOT mean 360|Flex 2012 won’t kick ass.

It DOES mean there’ll be some awesome new content around the Adobe Stack at 360|Flex 2012, which if you’ve been to any of the last 2-3 360|Flex’s that’s nothing new. Sim has presented some JS stuff before, and we’ve mixed in a few non Flex sessions from time to time to help present other options for developers. We’ll continue doing that.

It DOES NOT mean we’ll be having any Microsoft sessions, or sponsorship. That’s not what 360|Flex or myself are about. There’s plenty of events that will take anyone’s money for placement and speaking opportunities. We’re not one of those events.

It DOES mean that 360|Flex will (as all good programmers do) start looking at other aspects of delivering awesome experiences. We’re not running away from Flex, not in the least, but Adobe has a stack that’s interesting, and the community is likely to do really awesome things with Flex. Now that it’s in our hands.

Think about the timing of 360|Flex 2012… 5 months after this announcement, after the last official Adobe release of Flex. What do you think the Open Source team will have to share by April? I suspect quite a bit. If you’re at all curious/worried/interested in the post Adobe Flex roadmap, I think 360|Flex 2012 will be the place to be. Not just to hear what the future has in store for you, but to be a part of that future, which is in my opinion, the most important reason to attend.

We’ve always supported past abortive attempts at helping Adobe and the Opening of Flex. We think that was and is a positive direction… It’s great that maybe now, finally Flex will be in the hands of those who most want it to succeed. Some of the best (by survey response) sessions at 360|Flex have been ones pushing the envelope, showing what’s possible when you get creative and think outside the box, also those that talk about open options. Remember the Spoon general session?

All of this is to say that, 360|Flex is going to grow and evolve the same way Flex and the overall Adobe Stack are going to. I can’t wait for April to get here and see not just what the community has in store for Flex, but what Adobe has in store for the community with tools like Muse and Edge, and PhoneGap.

As a teaser, here’s a look at some of the session titles that we’re looking at having.

• It is in the details (CSS3 magic)

• Choosing the Right Mobile Development Platform
• Geolocation 201
• Introduction to Robotlegs
• Maven by example
• Advanced Mobile Q&A
• Lets write some unit tests.
• How not to suck as a Flex Developer
• And of course way more. But that’s some of that stuff we’re looking at.

Tickets were already moving fast, and that hasn’t stopped, I’d register now before we sell out. Yeah I still think we’re gonna sell out. If you’re doing Flex today, you’ll still get a ton out of 360|Flex, and likely you’ll be doing it in April too.

Register Now.

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We’ve been invited back to Adobe MAX this year to host 360|MAX. The Call for papers is currently open, so go submit something awesome!

To make sure there’s no confusion. Speaking at 360|MAX does not mean you get into Adobe MAX for free. In fact you have to have an Adobe MAX pass to present. We do have a few expo only passes, so if you submit a topic and can’t afford to attend MAX, we might be able to help you out

360|MAX takes place all three days of MAX in the community pavilion, and sessions are 50 minutes. The goal of 360|MAX is to bring a bit of the 360|Flex community feel to MAX. Sessions outside the norm, or talking about things Adobe doesn’t or can’t talk as much about.

What’re you waiting for? GO submit a topic!

See you in LA in October!

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1. We’ll be recording the sessions, and posting them on the sessions recordings page as quickly as we can. Hopefully while we’re at MAX! Keep an eye on the session recordings page.

2. If you know you plan to join us in Denver this coming spring (Exact Dates TBA), AND you’re at MAX next week, come by the 360|MAX Unconference area and pick up a super cheap ticket. We’ve done this before, and it’s popular with our strongest fans. If attending 360|Flex 2011 Denver is a foregone conclusion, then you should jump at this offer. Early tickets to 360|Flex are typically $499. After that the regular price of $599 kicks in. Well if you’re at MAX, and like I said, you know you plan to join us in Denver, then make sure you stop by. We’ll be selling 360|Flex 2011 Denver tickets for $250!!! That’s a huge savings! It’s a great deal off the early price, and a crazy deal off the regular price.

It’s our way of 1. thanking folks for coming to Adobe MAX, and 2 showing some of our fans some love. Don’t worry the ticket is completely 100% refundable. If we announce the dates, and you can’t make it, just let us know and we’ll refund the ticket price. Tickets are always transferable too, so if you can’t make it and want to give someone else the awesome deal, by all means! All you have to do is let us know who the new owner of the ticket is! It’s that Simple!

Remember, Flex isn’t just something to make money off of as an additional conference or track. 360|Flex exists and was started because we love the Flex community, and want to be as active a part as we can in helping it grow and be more awesome!

There’s really no downside to picking up one of these tickets, but there are downsides to not getting one.

1. 360|Flex in 2011 will be 1 time only. In Denver in the spring, that’s it. We won’t be doing a fall conference. The likely hood of the conference selling out is much greater now, because there’s not a second show to attend if you miss the Spring show.

2. We’re planning around more realistic numbers, which means selling out is much more likely, and better for everyone. Selling out ensures financial success for the conference and ensures we can be around to do another 360|Flex.

Don’t miss out. 2011 is gonna be THE YEAR OF 360|Flex, and missing it will suck for you ;) Oh and remember, spring is usually the time when we’re getting early christmas presents from Adobe… :)

See you there!

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I’m bringing our Rock Band setup, the PS3, and penty of games (Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc) It’s gonna be a great time!!

Make sure you come to the community pavilion before 5 (They close it while setting but, but whoever is in, can stay in) grab a beer over at the FITC unconference booth, and head over to 360|MAX for some Rock Band Rockin’ Out!

See you there!

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I went with 60 minute slots this time because I wanted to emphasize quality of quantity. The last two MAX’s it always felt really rushed to have speakers jam content into 30 minutes or less and have no time for talking to attendees. So rather than speed round it, like we’ve done in the past, we’re doing fewer, longer sessions. I’m really excited for this line up!

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Don’t miss out on what is (IMO) the best part of MAX! 360|MAX is a great time, of community presentations, and all around fun.

Submit your topic now, it’s a great way to share your knowledge with the Adobe Flex Community.

And don’t miss out on 360|Flex DC! Register now before it’s too late!! Attendees of 360|Flex get a special discount to Adobe MAX!

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Today officially opens the window to submit topics. Previously we’ve done it as a wiki and more or less a free for all. This time around we’re trying something different.

1. we have a theme of sorts, The 3 Ms: Mobile, Multitouch, multi-device. We’d love to really raise the bar for the MAX agenda with some deep dive, kick ass, mind blowing stuff on these Ms.
2. You don’t have to submit something on one of the Ms, but we’re trying to pack as many as we can in, so keep that in mind.
3. We’re curating the content this time. We love the openess of the wiki approach, but it’s a bit to hectic, and first come first served. So use the submission form (pay attention, you’ll see forms like this one more often from now on.)
4. As always the rules are easy. You have to be attending MAX. We don’t get passes for our speakers to use, so you have to be attending already. We do have some passes we’ll attach to sponsorship. They’ll be expo only, but that’s an option if you’d like to present but weren’t planning on attending, saves you a few bucks :)

We’ll publish the schedule as soon as we can. MAX is gonna rock, if it’s within your budget to do MAX and 360|Flex, you should do it. If you have to choose, choose 360|Flex ;) we’re smaller and need your money more than MAX does :)

Come to think of it, go ahead and register right now for 360|Flex DC. It’s gonna be a great show, kick ass line up, and frankly the best place to get this kind of Flex/AIR/AS action. 40 sessions on nothing but this stuff, that’s bad ass!

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Last year in Indianapolis, Doug McCune got pelted with bouncy balls during his preso, he was also half naked, but the two things aren’t related, LOL.

Almost a year later in San Jose, Doug got his revenge. Nate Beck was presenting on Wednesday (his birthday) and Doug arranged for a special visit during his session.

We actually have better video of that, but it’s being processed. This was captured by my iPhone.

There’s a lot that makes 360|Flex special, but I have to say, this type of thing, really is icing on the cake. That our speakers and attendees, are capable to having so much fun, WHILE learning a ton, is incredible.

Despite the interruption, Nate’s session got lots of love on twitter, as mind blowing. No one complained afterward, no one bitched on twitter, etc.

It was said shortly after “You won’t see that at MAX” I completely agree!

MAX is great, but this kind of camaraderie, doesn’t happen there, or at any other event that I’m aware of, certainly not at any I’ve been to.

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We’ve got 2 sessions we’re working on with Greg;

1. Top Ten things you should know about developing for the iPhone
2. Flex Mobile (Slider)

Both discussions are gonna be kick ass. Greg is gonna be talking about awesome Adobe mobile stuff, which being so close to MAX, you’re not gonna see around anywhere else to this level yet.

A little about Greg: Greg has both pioneered and lead the engineering effort on many mobile initiatives, inside and out of Adobe. Most recently he has founded the Slider project which is bringing the Flex framework to mobile. Greg has over a decade of experience developing for mobile devices and consumer electronics. You can see examples of his work on devices across the world from cellphones to cameras to kiosks to point of sale systems ..and more. Greg will be giving a session outlining Slider and a session on iPhone development using Flash.

Don’t miss out, times running out! Register now!

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