Tips for Attending the DevConnections Event in Orlando
I attended last year and, though a bit on the spendy side, it was a worthwhile trip and will probably be attending this year as well. Here are some tips if you've never been to this event at the Orlando, Florida location.
- The hotel is ginormous. Not just big, ginormous. Plan on getting lost a few times. The size of the resort and the conference rooms is truly amazing.
- The hotel is not within walking distance of any other restaurants, bars, clubs, stores, etc. Unless you have a car or are willing to spend $30 minimum to go somewhere by taxi, plan on being in the hotel the entire time. Naturally, prices at the hotel's restaurants, bars, and convenience store reflect this lack of external choices. Take advantage of the meals provided by the conference so you can splurge in the hotel restaurants at night.
- You might be cold the entire time. "Cold", you ask? Yes, cold. My room was set to 64 degrees when I arrived and the conference rooms seemed about the same. Like most venues I've been to where the outside climate is hot, the A/C is always pumping. If you are used to this, great. If you come from a drier, colder climate. As dumb as it sounds, you'll may want a coat or something to keep you warm in...Orlando.
- BYOPS (bring your own power strip). Outlets are scarce. There is always a scramble to find a plug before each session and during breaks. "Would you like to share my power strip?", would make an excellent pickup line and could perhaps net you some evening entertainment. ;-)
- Bring a long ethernet cable. The room only has a 6' cable and they won't bring you a longer one.
- There was no Internet access in the conference rooms, but you could get onto the hotel wireless in the lobby area if you purchased Internet access for the day. Get the "World Pass" if you are going to buy Internet access. It's $2 more a day but you get some perks including free use of the driving range.
- The resort is rated "5-star", but due to the size and volume of guests, they simply can't provide a real "5-star" experience. Room cleaning was hit and miss. Odd things like sometimes I had coffee, and sometimes I didn't. There is always a lot of noise--construction, guests, cleaning, etc.--not very peaceful. Checkout was at 11am but they were banging on my door at 9:30 wanting to know when I would be leaving. I opened the door and said, "I will be leaving after I finish my shower and get my clothes on."--yeah, that's how I roll.
- The TV in the room did not have any auxiliary A/V inputs.
- When you're not at the conference, unless you have a car, entertainment choices are limited--especially if you are by yourself. There's golf, but only until dark. There's tennis (contact me if you're interested in playing some evening). There's a nice 24-hour fitness center. There's the expensive hotel bars.
- The dirty little secret--Parking. Parking in the parking center will run you $10.65 a day and is a long hike to and from the hotel. I think there might be a shuttle (yeah, it's that far), but don't quote me. Someone could probably make some money as a suitcase Sherpa at this hotel if they were so inclined. Valet parking is $19.17 a day.
- DISCLAIMER: I don't know if this is allowed/legal or not, so don't do this if it's not.
You get resource discs for the track that you pick (SQL, ASP.net, etc). You don't get discs for the tracks you are not in--even though you can attend sessions from any track you want. I don't know why this is but it not very nice. So, find people who are in other tracks and rip their discs before the end of the convention. There was a lot of this going on, but again, read my disclaimer. If you are traveling with a group, get everyone in different tracks so you don't all get the same resources.
Bottom line...
While I don't really like the venue, I prefer it over Las Vegas. The sessions are "meaty" and the workshops are even "meatier". Lots of developers and lots of opportunities to meet others.