why

360Flex – Flex vs HTML5: Flex work pays today

February 16, 2010 By Tom

With all the hub-bub about the future of Flash and HTML5 flying around the intertubes, we wanted to point out one obvious fact. While HTML5 or Flash may one day be the end all solution to all the world’s woes, there’s only one woe we at 360|Flex are concerned about: Getting people paid.

Because of the rebranding of Flash and the associated technologies, the term Flex is now a bit watered down. However, we still wanted to use it to point out something that should be obvious to all, but may be lost in the debate. Flex work pays now, as in today, and will for the foreseeable future. A lot of enterprises have invested heavily in Flex. They’re not going to give up that investment anytime soon, particularly since the Flash Player on the desktop isn’t going anywhere.

To prove this, I did a quick little search on the monster.com website. This is not a debate about this particular job site’s ability or merit. Monster is big enough to represent the world at large, i.e. outside the Silicon Valley bubble where this Flash vs HTML5 debate is going down most vigorously. Therefore, it’s good enough for my non-scientific experiments.

First off, I did a search for HTML5 jobs nationwide. Let’s take a look at the results:

The results of my nationwide HTML5 job search

Next, I did a search for Flex jobs nationwide. Let’s take a look at this results there:

The results for the nationwide Flex job search

Now, some people will argue, what if you did a search for “HTML 5″ vs “HTML5″. That brings the number up to 1700, but a quick glance shows that the majority are NOT HTML5 jobs. Rather, they’re HTML jobs with the number 5 somewhere in the job listing. Also, “Flex hours” must also boost up the “Flex” search, right? I found 1 “flex hour” posting in the first 100 jobs, so I don’t think the argument is valid

Now, what happens to the numbers if you search for “Flash” or “ActionScript”? I don’t know, because I didn’t . Why not? Well, because Flex’s 1300 is close enough to the results of “HTML 5″ and blows way past the results for “HTML5″ to illustrate the main point:

Today, you can get hired by roughly 1300 companies to do Flex work or you can get hired by 18 companies to do HTML5 work.

If there’s one thing we’re very aware of at 360|Flex, it’s getting paid to do work. We think getting paid is good. We also started the conference to help you better your pay (if your working with Flex) or to help you find a new job (if you’re not working with Flex). Therefore, we just wanted to point out that attending 360|Flex for the foreseeable future is a worthwhile investment. Register now and participate in the greatest gathering of Flex developers anywhere.

Filed Under: 360flex, Business, Reasons to Attend, San Jose, why Tagged With: Flex, Getting Paid, HTML5, Work

360Flex: Fond memories of past shows

February 3, 2010 By Tom

As a business person, you hope your product makes a difference. As an event organizer specifically, you hope that all the behind the scenes work and effort pay off in unexpected ways for your attendees. Thankfully, here at 360|Flex HQ, we get to see these results firsthand rather than just hoping.

Three people we have served have taken the time to write up a blog post on their first 360|Flex. These are attendees turned speakers, a path which seems common at our shows. This is because of the type of show we try to put on. John and I grew with each show, so it only made sense that attendees did as well. We didn’t think we could do a conference, but we did. Now, attendees don’t think they can become speakers but they do. 360|Flex has always been and will always be about growth. Growth, not just in Flex skills (because those do grow at the shows), but of also personal growth. Again though, you don’t have to believe us. You can go read these posts yourselves.

The three created this time around are:
Dan Florio, aka Polygeek
Doug McCune
Randy Troppmann

(If you have your own “First 360|Flex” story to tell, write it up and drop us a comment. We’ll add you to the list.)

The point of this post though is to show you one thing: The show is not about 360|Conferences at all really. It’s about the community that comes together to create a magic like no other. Again, don’t take our word for it. Read the accounts. Then, if you’ve never been or haven’t been back in awhile, head on over to the registration page and join us. Without you there, the magic just won’t be the same.

Filed Under: 360flex, Community, Reasons to Attend, San Jose, why Tagged With: attendees, Community, speakers, stories

360flex – Why you should be staying at the Marriott

February 2, 2010 By John

If you haven’t heard, we have an official hotel. That’s right, boys and girls. There’s a spot where all the party people are going to staying under one roof. It’s the spot where you can stumble or crawl to your bed after an all-night rager of drinking, coding or perhaps a bit of both.

Why an official hotel that’s not connected to the conference center? For one, the conference center is on eBay’s HQ. They are trying to run a business, not make your beds or pick up your mess. Aside from that obvious reason, we want to keep having fun after we leave eBay. We’re still gonna party at Ebay after the last sessions; However, instead of taking the post functs to someone’s room, we want to take the party to downtown San Jose!

One thing that’s always nice at a conference is bumping into the “superstars”. While it happens a lot at the conference, it’s tough to pull someone aside to buy ‘em a drink to say thanks for contributing to the community. While we (the organizers) may not be the superstars you’re looking for, we will be at the hotel with all the speakers (who are the superstars). If you’re flying all the way to the show to meet and learn from these people, why would you bother staying anywhere else? Yes, it would be silly, especially after you read up on the deal we have for you!

We have a room block of Sunday night thru Tuesday night. We lined up an amazing rate of $99, for you all because we love you so. :) You don’t think we love you? How about this? In addition to the low rate of $99 for a Mariott (read: Not Sleazy 8 or Motel 6, or the Holiday Inn down the street, close but gross), we’ve also negotiated free wi-fi access for everyone’s guest rooms. That alone will save you some additional coin.

Assuming you’re arriving Saturday to take advantage of our awesome Sunday Hands-On training, and staying until Wednesday to make sure you don’t miss the final 4 sessions, which will rock and be worth your staying ’til the end we promise! You’re still only paying about $125 a night when you average the prices. Compared to other hotels in the area, that’s a damn good deal. Saturday night and Wednesday night are a bit beefier on the price because the majority of people just stay Sunday to Wednesday, so that’s what our block is for.

I’m sure you have all been to conferences where there’s the, “Which hotel are you at dialogue?” Then there’s time and effort spent on who will go where and when to meetup, etc. Make it easier on yourselves and sure to be newfound friends. Just stay at the Mariott so you’re all in the same place and will be easy to find each other. We’ll be there, the speakers will be there, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be.

You can book online, easy peasy :) Just click here. Check out the Hotel and Travel tab for information on the hotel and getting around San Jose

While you’re booking your room, you have registered for the conference right? We have so much awesome lined up it’s hard to contain ourselves when talking about it :) Register now!

Filed Under: 360flex, Announcements, Community, Hotel, Reasons to Attend, San Jose, why Tagged With: 360flex, Amazing Deals, Community, Countdown, Reasons to Come, San Jose, Schedule, Sessions

360Flex – Get your New Year’s Resolution on

January 12, 2010 By Tom

It’s that time of the year.

You know, the one pictured in the image. It’s a time where the gym population magically balloons. The times when streets fill with walkers and joggers (at least out west). It’s a new year and, thus, resolution time.

Aside from the health one, there are two resolutions that are pretty popular.

Learn something new
Get a better job/position

Now, let’s see how it is that 360|Flex can help you fulfill those resolutions.

Learn something new

This one should be fairly obvious, but just in case let us reiterate some points.

There are over 40 sessions at the next 360|Flex, lead by industry leaders and devs in the trenches just like you
2 Keynotes – Adobe always delivers a great keynote, often with big news for the Flex community. The community portion of the other keynote is always an amazing glimpse into projects that blow your mind and inspire
Free Hands-On Sunday Workshops – That’s right, a lot of shows make you pay for your conference pass then extra for hands-on workshops. At 360|Flex, you’re regular admission ticket lets you into the Flex 101, Mate and Flex/Hardware workshops. Just bring your laptop
Panels – New to 360|Flex this year are panels. This will be your chance to hear from many experts at once and pick their brains
Meet the Flex Team – We usually have a Birds of a Feather where you can pick the brains of various members of the Flex team

Get a better job/position

Whether you’re tired of your current job or just want to move from Junior Flex Dev to Senior Flex Dev at the same company, we can help:

Highly technical sessions got finally get you over that hump from Junior to Senior
The parties offer an opportunity to meet and interact with many Senior Developers as well as those from contracting or full-time realm. Meet your peers, ask for advice and learn from them.
Hallway chatter is always amazing at conferences and 360|Flex is no different. Many people come simply for the hallway chatter, where very heavy discussions happen on the fly.
People who are looking for Flex developers know that they can find developers at 360|Flex. Learn about opportunities and the market to better help you decide to stay with your current job or to possibly seek out another

As you can see, 360|Flex can help avoid the “Nothing’s changed” feeling that usually accompanies resolutions. Registers now and make that first step in achieving your goals. ”Help us, help you.” :)

Filed Under: Hands-On, Reasons to Attend, why Tagged With: Better oneself, Increase Skills, Learn Flex, New Years Resolution

Gift Idea: Conference Pass vs New Gadget

December 11, 2009 By Tom

As the holidays are coming up, we find there is the proverbial question: “What would you like for a gift?” I know for me, it’s a tough question. It’s not tough for me like it is for say my 5 yr old. He changes what he wants Santa to give him almost daily. No, instead, for me, I just can’t really say there is something that I want. Sure, there’s a bajillion new gadgets out there that would be neat, but it just seems silly to me to ask for one of those.

I’ve been pondering it though and I think there is something that I would ask for. In this new economy, one can really only depend on oneself for professional success. Gone, it seems, are the days where you could spend 30 years at a company, dedicating your life to help it succeed and where it would reward that dedication with retirement. My dad caught the tail end of that bus and had to retire “early” for fears of the company pulling those benefits altogether.

I know that there will likely not be Social Security for me. 401Ks just seem crazy to me because I don’t see how it differs from gambling in Vegas (at least Vegas has buffets!). No, the only thing that will pay for me to live it up in old age will be my hard work. I’ll need to create the future that I want to live in financially and professionally.

That’s why I think I’d ask for a conference pass as my gift. Yeah, I can hear all you naysayers out there, touting this as a gimmick to sell tickets. I’ll admit, it’s true. However, you have to remember, I helped start this conference for one reason: to help people better themselves by increasing their skillset in Flex and ActionScript. That’s still the reason why I work on this show. It may be my final 360|Flex as an organizer, but it won’t be my last 360|Flex ever. The vibe is too magical to miss. The community is too full of friends that I *must* see to keep my spirits high. The speakers are too amazing to miss from a learning perspective.

Therefore, if you find yourself wondering what to ask for (or give) that would be meaningful this holiday season, I’d suggest a pass to 360|Flex. While a new gadget gets boring after a few hours, a 360|Flex conference creates bonds and memories that last a lifetime. Don’t believe me? Check out what past attendees have to say. Here’s the registration site: http://360flex.eventbrite.com I hope to see you there in March.

Filed Under: 360flex, Business, San Jose, why Tagged With: 360flex, Gift Idea, Reasons to Come