I’m back home from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. It was my first time, and a fun, productive experience. There are some great posts about WWDC that I read before I went, but here are some more things I noticed:
#1 — If you don’t live for the keynote, just fly in Monday morning
I heard stories about crazy lines for the keynote, so my friend and I decided to just show up around 9:30. When we arrived, they weren’t letting people in yet and the line wrapped around the whole convention center. Forget that! We went to a coffee shop, followed a live Twitter feed, and went back around 10:20. Much better, walked into the overflow room and saw almost all of the show. Next year I’m coming to SF on Monday morning and joining the overflow crowd again.
#2 — It’s easy to make friends…
… but most people there aren’t going to strike up a conversation. It’s up to you to make the first move. It’s ok! Mac geeks are friendly and you can meet some interesting people. (However, I didn’t have anyone come up to me who wasn’t trying to sell me something, so please don’t be that person.)
#3 — Don’t pass out business cards to random people
This concept is Business 101 in my opinion, but I don’t offer my business card to someone unless we’ve established a relationship. Handing out cards to people walking by is just wasting money and generating ill will. A few guys were doing this inside Moscone West; their cards went right in the trash.
#4 — Know where to find power outlets
If you’re at WWDC, you probably have a laptop. I was worried about keeping charged throughout the day, but it wasn’t a problem at all!
The session rooms had power strips like the one pictured mixed in with the seats. They weren’t always in every row, so sometimes you would plug into the row behind. When you’re roaming Moscone West, there were a number of tables with power strips, as well. Also, in the hallways there were small clusters of power outlets in the walls that many people overlooked.
#5 — Almost every seat is a good one
The display screens were very large and the acoustics good in every room. Unless you want to see the speakers up close, you can sit pretty much anywhere.
For the heck of it, I did sit in the front row for one session. I ended up with a sore neck from trying to see the screen. Just sit in the middle.
Anything else?
Feel free to post your own comments and accumulated wisdom from WWDC!
