One thing that I love about Flex is how it’s merely a framework built atop the Adobe Flash Platform.  It’s a framework of components that is very useful in building applications.  However, it’s just that: a framework.  A team of Adobeans (who were known as Macromedians, at the time) got together and said, “This is what we feel is the best framework for bulding components.”

Frameworks are like cars though.  Some are feature rich, allow you to carry 7 passengers and refridgerate drinks in the center console, ala the nicely name Ford Flex.  Others however are bare boned, carry only the driver and are built for speed, like an Indy race car.  Now, I’m not going to say which car represents the Flex Framework and which represents OpenFlux.

OpenFlux was originally designed as a solution to an area the Flex Framework was weak: Reusable component architecture.  Flex has always been good at allowing you to share components among different apps.  What OpenFlux allows you to do is share code among different components.  Flex 4 is also attacking this same problem.  This question now is: Does Flex 4 make OpenFlux obsolete?

Here’s Ryan’s description for his session that answers that very question:

Now that Flex 4 is getting closer, find out what that means for OpenFlux. Learn when is best to use OpenFlux and when is best to use Flex 4 for custom components. I’ll show the differences and similarities between the two architectures giving you a better understanding of both frameworks and how well they can actually work together. You’ll also learn what’s new with OpenFlux, including virtualized lists, and what our future plans are, including pure-AS3-only support.

Anything that makes you more productive is a huge win in today’s tough times.  This is but one of the many sessions that will teach you such time saving techniques.  At $480 per ticket ($550 if you don’t hurry), the Return on Investment will be quick.  It’s sessions like this that make people come up to us on End of Day Monday to say things like, “Today alone was worth the price of admission” and “I’ve learned more time saving and money earning techniques today than I ever have on my own.”  Register now to secure you spot for the only 2009 360|Flex show.

You read that correctly.  THE Matt Boles of Training From the Source fame and hit trainer of 360|Flex Seattle is coming back.

We’re proud to announce that Matt will be stepping up to fill the Sunday all day training.  This is the one geared to get people up to speed on Flex in a day.  You won’t walk away as a Flexpert or anything like that, but you should at least have a basic understanding that will carry you through the remainder of the show. By Wednesday night, maybe you will be a Flexpert :D

When Matt last did this in Seattle, he received glowing reviews from attendees.  You can be assured that this time around will be just as good, if not better.  We’ll be posting more info later on his session(s).  Yeah, that’s right, he may do two if you’re lucky!

We just wanted to let those who were asking that “Yes, Beginning Flex 101 will be back on Sunday in Indy.”  Many of you complain that we don’t have enough stuff for newbies.  This is aimed directly at newbies and is a great way to get jumpstarted into Flex development.

The best part about this pre-conference training is that its 100% FREE for all registered attendees.  While other shows charge $500 on top of the registration price for pre-conference training, we think that model sucks.  Instead, we charge you roughly $500 for your ticket and give you the preconference training for free.

All the low priced tickets are sold out and the $480 ones are moving pretty briskly.  You’d better step up and register now before those sell out too.  Trust us, if you’re new to Flex or have been away from it for a bit, this session alone will be worth the price of admission.

We floated this survey as a result of a twitter DM we received. We won’t say who it was from, but it put a bug in our ear. After starting 360|Flex, Tom and I wondered what we should do next. ColdFusion, was our first thought, we’re both CF’ers at heart, having met each other as CF developers. The only reason we never persued the idea was that CF.Objective() and CFUnited, seemed pretty strong, we’re not as sure now, based on the initial results of the survey, which is strongly in favor of a 360|CF.

A few folks asked what a 360|CF would be like, since they have never been to a 360|Flex event. That’s easy enough.

a 360|CF would

• be cheaper than CFUnited by more than half, be cheaper than all but the early bird price of CF.Objective()
• Be 3 days plus a free day of hands on training
• include a welcome reception Sunday night
• USB Drives with source code, speaker presos, and sponsor materials
• Parties Monday and Tuesday, for all
• and a bunch of other kick ass 360Conferences goodness, that I don’t want to give to “them” :D
• Did I mention far cheaper than either of the existing events?

Here’s the link to the survey: http://tinyurl.com/360coldfusion We want as many responses as possible to get the best possible idea of what the CF Community is looking for.

If you’re a maybe in either question, just explain it in the open ended section. We don’t want to split the answers too much to mess up the percentages.

If you’re still not sure about what a 360|CF would be like, ask a Flex developer, I promise it’d be like nothing you’ve attended to date.

Regsiter now for 360|Flex! If you’re looking for the best Flex/ActionScript/Air conference around, look no farther, don’t be fooled by imitators :)

One of the primary reasons we do 360|Flex is to help people grow their skills and network. The hopeful outcome of those two things are work. In the past, it meant getting a “better” Flex job. Now, in these tough times, it may be to just get A job.

Times are tough. There’s no denying that. However, even in down economies, there are always some skills that are in demand. One that is in demand these days is Flex/Flash development. I came across this post by Comet.

Here’s the jist in two lines from the post:

Day 0: Monday 18:00 hours I’m given the sack.
Day 7: I have an offer, I accept, end of the crisis.

It shows that even in this crazy economy, ActionScripters are in demand.  There is no want of work, and that’s good news.

Granted the post deals with Europe, but one of the commenters (Kyle of SDFUG) feels that the substance of this post is true for America too.

I have seen a similar trend here in the United States (I’m located in San Diego, California). There are a lot of layoffs going on, but that does not mean that there is not still plenty of work available for talented flash (and more and more flex) developers. If you’re concerned that your skills aren’t quite up to par, or that you may find yourself looking for work soon, my biggest suggestion is that you make sure you are strong in Actionscript programming.

I couldn’t agree with Kyle more.  It’s NOT a coincidence that 360|Flex is very cheap to attend, but yields a high return in knowledge, networking and job leads.  We knew that there was no way $2K or even $1K to attend a conference was gonna fly forever.  Heck, it didn’t fly very well with us when the times were good.

Don’t think that you’re “taking advantage” of 360|Flex, because you’re scared for your job.  People have been finding new work, new jobs and new employees there for years now.  You should take advantage of it.  That’s why it’s there!

Don’t think that you should be ashamed to attend your first show now, because the economy is bad.  We don’t care if you thought the low price point meant an inferior show.  Once you get here, you’ll realize that you walk away from our show with a lot more value than your small price of admission.

If you feel new to Flex or your ActionScript is just a little rusty, that’s why we have at least 7 hands-on sessions included in your price of admission.  We’ll likely have more, but 7 is definitely a good start.

Do yourself a favor and register now.   It’ll be the best $480 you spend this year on yourself.  Hurry up before the show sells out.  Ticket sales are the best they’ve ever been for a 360Flex show, so selling out seems very likely again.

Ticket Prices and Fees

If you were one of the first 100+ folks, you got in at the cheapest price. Those of you who waited, it’s now $480 per ticket. I suggest you don’t rest on your laurels much longer either, because in 200 ticket sales, it’ll be $550. Don’t start emailing that you were this close to buying your $360 ticket, can we cut you a break, etc. You had plenty of time and warning, sorry!

We’ve got 50+ sessions, hands-on trainings, and all around Flex Goodness going down at 360|Flex Indy in May. The economy may be tough, but this is a great way to get your skills up to make you more valuable. It’s also a lot cheaper than other shows if your company is on a tighter conference budget this year.

We have other announcements in the works too that we can’t announce yet, so the lineup of events will only get better. Register now and don’t miss out on what’s destined to be a great show!