Kalamazoo X Conference 2010

It's that time of year again. Time for the Kalamazoo X Conference. This year promises more soft skills and talks that are not offered at your typical tech conference. Registration is open and you can find out more information at www.kalamazoox.org

Results from the Kalamazoo X Conference

I have to admit that as one of the planners for the first ever Kalamazoo X Conference, I was concerned about the results and experience we would be providing. Up until the last week or so, we had few registrants and so we decided to change the format from a a multi-track, multi-session format to one track. This was a challenge for the speakers as they had to pare their talks down from an hour to 25 minutes. This did allow all attendees to see all of the sessions instead of choosing between two speakers they wanted to see.

The format also allowed the speakers (almost all who were close friends) to bounce jokes and their talks off one another and earlier sessions transitioned into the later sessions.

I was also impressed with the number of attendees, which was close to 90 or more. We received positive feedback on the format and content of the conference, which tended to be more soft skills that you do not see at most other technology conferences. If you missed out on the experience you can see more feedback and slide decks on the website in the upcoming weeks. Wish you could have been there this year, stay tuned to the Kalamazoo X site for more information on next year's conference.

Kalamazoo X Conference

If you are interested in a conference that offers speakers and discussions unlike any other conference around, check out the Kalamazoo X Conference. It features topics including:

• Human interaction, including social, personal, and career development.
• Interface and graphic design
• Development processes and best practices
• Requirements analysis, architecture, design, and modeling

The conference is April 25th from 8AM to 6PM in downtown Kalamazoo, MI, at KVCC's Center for New Media. Registration is only $20 for professionals and $10 for students. For more information and to register go to www.kalamazoox.org.