This came in an email from the JavaOne folks last week:

NEW FOR 2006!
You must use Schedule Builder to pre-enroll to ensure you get into your preferred sessions. It is one of the best ways to make the most of your Conference experience. Sessions fill up fast, so use Schedule Builder today!

Access Schedule Builder by clicking on the URL below. Enter your registration ID number (noted above) and your email address to log in.
URL: www.cplan.com/javaone2006/schedulebuilder

*IMPORTANT: YOU MUST ARRIVE BEFORE THE SESSION BEGINS TO SECURE YOUR SEAT.
Space may be limited, and empty seats will be given away three minutes prior to session start. Schedule Builder allows you to enroll in technical sessions and Hands-on-Labs only; attendees will be admitted to BOF and General Sessions on a first-come, first served basis....

I filed it away and didn't think much about it. But then the other day I read a blog entry by Yakov Fain where he said that some of the sessions were already full. Yikes.

So I spent a few minutes over each of the last few days trying to plot my strategy. I suspect in the heat of the moment I will end up changing my mind at the last minute and attending other sessions (if I can get in the door). I finished up my schedule earlier today and it was tough to make some of the decisions. To name just two examples (out of many):

1. Tuesday at 2:00. I would really like to see Mastering Mustang and Developing Dolphin by Mark Reinhold. At that same time, however, is Ben Galbraith with Eight Ways to Be More Productive Developing Swing Applications. I'm interested in both topics. I've never met or even seen either speaker, but I enjoy their blogs. So which one to choose? I'm currently leaning toward Ben Galbraith's session, but that could change.


2. Tuesday at 5:45. I want to see Large-Scale Client Deployment Using Java™ Web Start Software. There has been plenty of pro and con about Java Web Start and this presentation is being done by Matthias Schorer, who apparently has had significant success using Java Web Start at Fiducia IT AG in Germany. Hans Muller went to a similar presentation last year and was impressed, so it looks interesting. But at that same time is Java™ EE 5 Platform: Even Easier With Tools by Ludo Champenois and Pavel Buzek. I know both of these guys and they will do a good job. In addition, Pavel always answers my questions very patiently (even if they are dumb questions) and Ludo tolerates my lame attempts to speak French ("Je suis désolé, je parle seulement un petit puh français.").
   
   In the end this one was easy to decide. I can see Ludo and Pavel talk about powerful Java EE 5 development tools on May 15th at NetBeans Day San Francisco. The first four hundred people through the door will get a free copy of the NetBeans IDE Field Guide, 2nd Edition and a free USB drive. Seats are limited, so register now. The event is free and you do not have to be registered for JavaOne in order to attend.

The most entertaining part of the scheduling process was when I got to have a laugh at my own absent-minded expense. I was scrolling through the BOFs that are scheduled for Thursday night. I picked one for the 7:30 slot and then started carefully reading through each entry in the 8:30 slot until I got to Memory Leaks in Javaâ„¢ Technology-Based Applications: Different Tools for Different Types of Leaks. Doh! That's my BOF, so I can't really plan to attend anything else at 8:30 on Thursday. :-)