One good thing about the lackluster economy is that hotel rates are dirt cheap I'll be there as well.
If you do development yourself, and are registered as a Business (as you need to be in Australia), then you can claim it all back on tax. My problem is that I will be in the US next week, and can't get time of from real work for a while.
If you do development yourself, and are registered as a Business (as you need to be in Australia), then you can claim it all back on tax. My problem is that I will be in the US next week, and can't get time of from real work for a while.
I'm not sure how it works in Australia, but I'm pretty sure in the USA its a valid business expense, so you can deduct it from the total amount you are paying taxes on, but it is not a tax credit. So you won't be paying money on the income used for the event, but you will still be paying for it :P
I've never been but am interested in going. Between ticket, hotel and flight, it's probably gonna run me well over $2500. Can anyone comment on how useful the event is? If it were close by, I'd go regardless, but considering the expense for a lot of us, is it worth it? What do you generally get out of it?
Also, is it necessary to stay the whole week or can you cram everything into 2-3 days? Are the sessions run on multiple days, or are they new every day?
It's been a few years since I've been to WWDC, but unlike some other conferences, it's pretty much a packed week full of useful information. Remember, you'll be under NDA for pretty much everything other than the keynote (which used to be covered as well in the past).
You're paying good money so you should definitely try to stay the whole week if you can. There are fun evening events too so you'll have a busy week. Though I've heard they stopped having the Campus Bash at Apple HQ--can anyone who's attended recently confirm this? Guess they must have outgrown it.
At least travel is pretty cheap nowadays. I managed to find a direct flight from the east coast and 8 nights at the Parc 55 (a perfectly decent business hotel just a couple blocks from Moscone West) for just over $1000, all taxes and fees included on Expedia.com. It would be less than that if I weren't staying a couple extra days.
If you are bemoaning the cost of staying in san francisco, may I recommend the awesome couchsurfing.com site? There are lots of people in san francisco who are willing to put you up on their couch. Hotels and privacy are certainly nice, but so are the people ;-)
I'll be staying at the Parc 55. Can't beat $73 per night through Priceline! (30% savings over their best internet rate of $105 per night, which also requires prepayment and is non-refundable.) This hotel is pretty comparable to other business class hotels in the area like Marriott, etc. but is significantly cheaper if you get it through Priceline.
Find a motel alone the BART or MUNI line. Make sure they have Wifi. And since you are visiting SF, you should stay from the Saturday before the conference and leave on the Sunday after, so you have two weekends to be a tourist.
If you rent a car, the hotel choice is even broader.
Find a motel alone the BART or MUNI line. Make sure they have Wifi. And since you are visiting SF, you should stay from the Saturday before the conference and leave on the Sunday after, so you have two weekends to be a tourist.
If you rent a car, the hotel choice is even broader.
I've been drooling over this event since it's announcement.
Anyone from Michigan/Detroit area going?
I have been doing apple code since last year and i would say i am pretty good at it but not an expert. i would also like to know from the people who went last year if it is worth to go for us beginners? Cost for the ticket and such is not an issue. I just want to make sure that the week will be worth it to a developer at an intermediate level of experience.
I have been doing apple code since last year and i would say i am pretty good at it but not an expert. i would also like to know from the people who went last year if it is worth to go for us beginners? Cost for the ticket and such is not an issue. I just want to make sure that the week will be worth it to a developer at an intermediate level of experience.
The sessions are usually very informative. Sometimes the best parts are the Q&A after the session. You can learn a lot by hearing what questions other developers have. Often they have the same questions as you anyway. Stay away though from the guy who puts on a lunchtime session about switching development from PC to Mac. Very boring speaker. Not sure if he'll be back. There is usually a lunchtime speaker from Pixar who's really great though.
If you've never been before, it's quite the site to see. There's literally a sea of MacBooks wherever you go.
The sessions are usually very informative. Sometimes the best parts are the Q&A after the session. You can learn a lot by hearing what questions other developers have. Often they have the same questions as you anyway. Stay away though from the guy who puts on a lunchtime session about switching development from PC to Mac. Very boring speaker. Not sure if he'll be back. There is usually a lunchtime speaker from Pixar who's really great though.
If you've never been before, it's quite the site to see. There's literally a sea of MacBooks wherever you go.
With all the money you made from your app it must not be too bad
I'm in. Just bought the ticket tonight. already got the hotel, getting airlines tonight...someone set up a meetup...sounds fun, see everyone there.....rob
I will be attending! Last year I got a Student scholarship from Apple and this year I'm paying my own way there from Australia. It's expensive, but flights and hotels are 1/2 the cost of last year.
There does look to be a ton of interesting sessions.. are conflicting sessions normally a big deal? Also are there normally hand outs/videos/copies of the presentation available at the sessions? I think the videos of WWDC 2008 run over 500$... any chance we get the videos for 2009 if we attend? I'm kinda worried about information overload and making sure I go to the most useful sessions... any advise from people who have been there before is appreciated.
Ya, information overload is a bit of a problem :-) But it's a good problem to have. And the disappointing part is that there's always great sessions running in parallel. But hey, that's the nature of time and space. Unfortunately we haven't yet figured out how to be in multiple places at the same time.
Fortunately though, if you attended WWDC, you get access to the videos inside iTunes from the year you attended. But I don't know if that policy will always be around. It just has been since I've been attending for the past 9 years or so.
Ya, information overload is a bit of a problem :-) But it's a good problem to have. And the disappointing part is that there's always great sessions running in parallel. But hey, that's the nature of time and space. Unfortunately we haven't yet figured out how to be in multiple places at the same time.
Fortunately though, if you attended WWDC, you get access to the videos inside iTunes from the year you attended. But I don't know if that policy will always be around. It just has been since I've been attending for the past 9 years or so.
Thanks,
Thanks for the info. Hopefully the continue the video policy so I don't have to fret about missing stuff too much
WWDC includes a breakfast snack (i.e. coffee, juice, muffins and/or danishes). Not that great really. Lunch is also included, but the quality has been declining year after year. There's also dinner on the night of the beer bash. But you go for the beer, not the dinner. There's also junk food (chips, chocolate bars, pop, etc.) that they put out during the sessions. But unfortunately if you're not out there during the sessions, by the time the sessions are over, there's often nothing left. Or at least nothing good. Movie night used to be fun, but they don't do that anymore. The Apple Design Awards and Stump The Experts is always a lot of fun.
WWDC includes a breakfast snack (i.e. coffee, juice, muffins and/or danishes). Not that great really. Lunch is also included, but the quality has been declining year after year. There's also dinner on the night of the beer bash. But you go for the beer, not the dinner. There's also junk food (chips, chocolate bars, pop, etc.) that they put out during the sessions. But unfortunately if you're not out there during the sessions, by the time the sessions are over, there's often nothing left. Or at least nothing good. Movie night used to be fun, but they don't do that anymore. The Apple Design Awards and Stump The Experts is always a lot of fun.
Yeah I wasn't sure what the beer thing was about. I saw that on another website. Is it normally an 8-5 thing each day? Sounds like it will be a lot of fun though. I'm really looking forward to it.
I'll be there as well.
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