I'm writing from a breathtaking mountain summit in Keystone, Colorado where I've been giving talks on Developing Web Services with Eclipse to a few hundred software developers. Yes, I am at the aptly named Colorado Software Summit, which is currently in its fourteenth year of operation. The venue, Keystone Resort, is breathtaking both for its strikingly beautiful natural setting high in the Colorado Rockies, and its thin air. Every once in while I have to literally stop to catch my breath. However, this minor detraction is more than compensated for by the towering mountains, clear air, bright sun, and most of all, by the friendly and incredibly knowledgeable attendees. I'm also talking about What's New in WSDL 2.0, and have posted both presentations and some programming examples at the WTP Presentation Archive.

This conference is without a doubt the most well-organized software gathering I've ever attended. The logistics are ably handled by Wayne and Peggy Kovsky and family. There is virtually zero marketting hype here - no sponsors or demo booths, just solid technical talks. I say virtually zero because most of the speakers do sneak in a brief plug for their companies and products. But such transgressions are mercifully short and accompanied by appropriate apologies. The event runs for a full week and each talk is repeated three times so everyone has a chance to hear the talks they are interested in. The presentation rooms are spacious and even the wireless Internet access works!

The conference was originally named ColoradOS2 and it focused on OS/2. However, it has since evolved to track the latest trends in software development. This year's themes are Web Services, Java, XML, Apache, and Eclipse which is a perfect match for WTP. There are many Web Service talks on the agenda, but just one, mine, on Eclipse. My polls of the audience revealed that almost all attendees use Eclipse or a product like WebSphere Studio or Rational Application Developer that is based on it. I strongly encourage Eclipse experts to submit talk proposals for next year's event. I also highly recommend attending this event since the talks have all been excellent so far and the venue is wonderful.

posted Wednesday, 26 October 2005 11:45 AM