Announcing ESDC 2010: A new conference for developers

You’ll want to be in San Mateo, Calif., on March 1–3, 2010. Why? Because of ESDC 2010, the Enterprise Software Development Conference, a conference that we’re launching for development managers, software architects and developers, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

ESDC 2010 addresses a tremendous need in software development. Over the past few years, we’ve watched the proliferation of technology-specific and vendor-specific events. While such conferences play an important role in developer training and building community (we produce one as well, SPTechCon: The SharePoint Technology Conference), they don’t cover everything.

A too-narrow educational focus can lead to platform siloing and foster a monoculture mindset. That scares dev managers, especially those who live in heterogeneous real-world environments and who want to keep their options open when it comes to platforms, tool chains, methodologies and languages.

When TechWeb shut down SD West after the March 2009 event in Santa Clara, we heard — loud and clear — that the conference’s demise would leave a big hole. We’ve decided to step up to the plate and fill that need.

As conference chairman for ESDC 2010, I’m reaching out to the best and brightest software development experts and instructors in the industry. The goal is to assemble the best platform-neutral, technology-neutral educational and community-building experience for enterprise developers — ever.

Please take part in ESDC 2010. Here’s how:

• The conference is March 1-3, 2010, at the San Mateo Marriott. Registration will open mid-July; we’ll kick it off with huge “Wacky Early Bird” discounts available through Sept. 25, 2009.

• If you’re a software development expert and instructor, check out the Call for Speakers. The deadline is July 31, 2009.

• Stay up to date by following us on Twitter, or watch for the #esdc hashtag.

I hope you’ll join us at ESDC 2010 — and thank you for your support as we launch this new conference.