Annette Vernon's Blog

JavaOne Archives

It's (Java)One Big Happy Family

The JavaOne team finally took to heart the attendee feedback for "more community involvement" in content selection. After whipping up a "friendly and collaborative" legal agreement, we enlisted the expertise of these folks to review, comment and selection of technical session and birds-of-a-feather. I've also identified the track that they were involved in reviewing:

Andre Charland: Nitobi, President - Tools and Languages track
Dan Creswell: Lone Crusadar Ltd - Cool Stuff track
Neal Gafter: Google, Software Engineer - Core Platform track
Ben Galbraith: Self-Employed, Consultant - Next Generation Web and Desktop tracks
Leonardo Galvao: SouJava / Java Magazine Director / Editor-in-Chief - Open Source track
Romain Guy: Freelance Software Engineer - Desktop track
Cay Horstmann: Professor - Tools and Languages track
Stephan Janssen: BeJUG Chairman - Open Source track
Theodore Leung: Apache - Open Source track
Brian Lewis: Intel, Inc. - Cool Stuff track
Fabiane Nardon: JavaTools Community - Open Source track
William Pugh: Univ. of Maryland, Professor - Core Platform track
Dirk Riehle: SAP/Research - Open Source track
Hani Suleiman: Formicary, CTO - Next Generation Web and Enterprise Platform track
Dain Sundstrom: IBM, Apache Geronimo - Open Source track
Fabio Velloso: Summa Technologies, Senior Consultant - Open Source track
Joe Winchester: IBM UK, Software Engineer, IBM Rational Software Group - Desktop track

We invited our external reviewers to comment on their experience. For a unfiltered piece of advice to submitters, you might want to check out the Bile Blog by Hani

Next time: the long awaited conclusion of JavaOne Conference Call for Papers, The Sequel! Having wrapped up on Dec 15, 2006, it was an amazing (but predictable) climax.

Heart Pounding Drama

The 2006 JavaOne Conference was my very first one. I joined the team just prior to the launch of the Call for Papers, in early November. I was warned to "hold on". I had no idea what to expect, it was a pulse racing couple of days.

And this year is shaping up in very much the same way, it's JavaOne Conference Call for Papers, The Sequel!

I just checked our database and at 6pm on 12/13 I found 315 submissions. May sound pretty good to an outsider, but it gets my blood pressure up. Will we have enough good content to select from? Where is everyone? As the suspense builds over the next 48 hours, the plot is (hopefully) predictable. As in JavaOne Conference Call for Papers, The Original, I experienced the hockey stick effect like I never have before - over 1000 submissions came in over a 24 hour period. For The Sequel, the suspense is killing me, but like all good action/dramas, I am waiting for that strong, climactic ending.

That climactic ending is in your hands! GO now! Submit your paper for 2007 JavaOne Conference.. Tick, tick and at 6:10 the count is up to 319...

A JavaOne Wish List?

It's official, the 2007 JavaOne Call for Papers is open. Now is your chance to submit a proposal for a technical session or birds-of-a-feather. Be sure to read the information on the new areas we will be including, under the Topics tag at the top of the call for papers site. The deadline for submitting a paper is December 15, 2006.

While submissions come in over the course of the next two weeks, the Program Committee is working on designing each track: what talks should be in this track, who is the right speaker for these talks. We start with these ideas and build the track content from the best of the submissions.

I'm going to offer you a unique opportunity - if you were in a position to lay the foundation for one of the tracks for JavaOne, what talks would you include and who would give them? What's on your wish list for talks at JavaOne?

What's New for JavaOne in 2007

A quick recap: 2006 JavaOne: Over 15,000 attendees, nearly 400 technical sessions, BOFs and Hands On Labs. Multimedia versions of all technical sessions can be found on Sun's Software Developer Network (SDN) website, best accessed from the 2006 JavaOne Conference homepage. And data. Lots of it. Over 36,000 individual session surveys were submitted. Over 35% of the attendees submitted a post conference survey. And it's my job to make plans to respond to this feedback.

In the last few years, many attendees (and especially the speakers) commented that the selection of content should be more open and involve the community. After all, Java does belong to the community, shouldn't the selection of content involve members of the community.

One of the most exciting new developments in the Program Committee is that we are going to invite some of the community's brightest stars to review submissions and help us select the content for JavaOne. I can't tell you who yet, but I'm willing to bet you will recognize them.

And it hasn't been a completely popular idea. There are some who believe that as the major sponsor, Sun solely owns the responsibility for content selection. Not quite. As I see it, Sun's responsibility is to be a champion for the developer. Provide a community environment where they can gather, network and share their experiences. In the context of content selection, that means we need to be more open and transparent. We may own it, but we can and should invite members of the community to share their comments on which sessions will make JavaOne an event that truly "rocks."

You do have the date in your calendar, right? May 8-11, 2007 at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Fulfilling Dreams and Shattering Dreams: All in one day

On Friday, January 20, I made a few Java developers very, very happy people. The Program Committee finalized their selections for the Technical Sessions for this year's JavaOne. We accepted 145 sessions (so far.) Additionally, 35 sessions were selected as alternates. I ended my week by sending out email notifications to those speakers, telling them the good news and setting in motion a rigorous presentation development and review process that culminates in front of an audience of their peers at JavaOne. Joy. Happiness.

Then today, I had the dubious task of finishing the notifications and telling the rest of the submitters (roughly 850!): "The high quality of submissions made the selection process extremely difficult. We regret to inform you that we will be unable to accept your proposal" Oh... But... I put so much thought into that proposal I was sure it was better than the one that got accepted last year. The disappointment that comes with rejection never feels good, no matter what the situation.

The Program Committee is always thrilled when the submission count is high. But with that thrill comes the tough job of selecting only about 15% of ALL submissions for technical sessions.

Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to provide some insight into the selection process and criteria - all in an effort to make the competition even TOUGHER next year.

But we still have Birds of a Feather sessions to finalize on Friday, 1/27. So, hang on, your dream may still be fulfilled.

JavaOne Excitement Is In the Air

It isn't holiday excitement that I am experiencing right now, but the thrill of having nearly 1400 papers to review for the 2006 JavaOne Conference. You've heard of the "hockey stick" effect - the steep upturn in revenue or sales as a fiscal period nears a close? I've never witnessed anything quite like this.

The Call for Papers opened on November 1, 2005. The deadline was November 30, 2005: one month to write and submit a brief abstract on some technology to be (hopefully) presented at JavaOne. Was it the Thanksgiving holiday that caught so many of you off-guard or was it plain old-fashioned procrastination? 2006 seems like months away (less than 2!)

On Tuesday, November 29 at 2pm, our content website showed 359 papers submitted. In the next 36 hours, nearly 1100(!) technical talks and birds of a feather proposals were submitted. A huge thanks to the Java developer community for your overwhelming support of the 2006 JavaOne Conference Call for Papers.

I am the newest member of a team inside of Sun Microsystems that lives and breathes JavaOne all year long. My role is to manage the content along with the Program Committee (more about them in a future episode.) In the 23 weeks from now until the 2006 JavaOne Conference, I'd like to share some insight into the review process, the criteria we use to judge submissions and provide tips for future submitters. You might even get a peek at some of the "Rock Star" speakers that will be making appearances at JavaOne and the topics they will present.

In my next episode - a tribute to the "Rock Stars." An interview, photos, maybe, just maybe a excerpt of an award winning performance. Stay tuned.

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