I've been excited for this for quite awhile, and now we can finally talk about it.  Scott Bellware made the first official announcement last night.  In early October, there is going to be a three day event hosted in Austin, Texas.  The theme of the conference is the ALT.NET idea and theme identified by David Laribee this spring.  As Scott mentioned in his post, I'm one of the members of the organizing committee, so feel free to send any questions or suggestions to me via the contact page.

Every so often in blogging discussions I read a line of BS that goes something like "I just use what's best for my project."  Ah, that's nice.  Cheap, useless advice, but nice. So back to where we started, what is best for your project?  Is it the standard MSDN proscribed solution, or is it something else?  What are the "something else" possibilities?  What's coming over the horizon in terms of techniques or technologies that could make development more successful?  What are other development communities doing?  Where can I find out more about these "something else" approaches and tools?  Finding answers to those questions, and the very rare opportunity to interact with fellow developers interested in these very same questions, is exactly the purpose of this conference.

You don't like the ALT.NET moniker?  Think we're arrogant?  Bunch of twaddle?  Fine, show up and add your voice too.

The best part of a conference for me is usually the people you meet and the discussions you have in the hallway between talks.  On the other hand, I'd say that one of the best ways to learn something is to be tagged to present on that topic.  So wouldn't it be nice to have a conference that gives you more chances to interact with other developers and the speakers, and while we're at it, give you the chance to give a talk as well?  If that sounds good to you, you're in luck, because the event is going to follow the Open Spaces format.  If you're going to come, start thinking now about what you want to talk about, and come prepared.  It's an awesome chance to do it in a collegial environment.

I'm pretty excited for the chance to get back to Austin.  I'm threatening some of the New York attendees with a heartburn-inducing tour of my favorite Tex-Mex places.  I'm already scanning the calendars for the Saxon Pub and the Continental Club.