Business of Software 2008

If people are interested in staying in touch between now and the next conference, then I've set up a social network at: http://network.businessofsoftware.org/ It'd be great if you could join it.

What are the chances of adding "open spaces" or an "un-conference" portion to this event next year? We've gathered some of the most creative and intelligent individuals. Connecting and discussing shared questions, struggles and challenges has been one of the biggest benefits for me. The table top discussions are a step in that direction. I'd like to see more of it - open spaces provide a great medium for it. Thoughts?

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Justin Standard: 1. I think the "All Keynote" style is VERY effective. 2. Maybe adding a third day is a way to bring an "open spaces" or "un-conference" approach in. I do agree: the high quality of the attendees seems ripe for an un-conference. If you did add an un-c... [read more]

Carl Schmidt: A few folks I talked to were also pretty excited about having more time to chat and meet folks. I found I just didn't have the time to meet everyone I wanted to. Adding a third day, perhaps optional, might be a good way to please both crowds, those i... [read more]

Corey Reid: I loved the "single stream" nature of the conference -- I don't want to lose that. It was great at the end of each day that we had all basically had the same experiences and could talk about what we'd been through. But I agree, a little more time to ... [read more]

Hi, If I set up a wiki for people's notes from the conference sessions, would anybody use (ie write as well as read) it? If so, any recommendations for an easy to use, hosted system?

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Justin Standard: I will provide my notes if you add a wiki. By the way, Neil, will the video of the sessions become available to conference attendees at some point?

Neil Davidson: It's going to take a few weeks, but we'll put *some* of the sessions videos online (it really depends on the wishes of each speaker).

Neil Davidson: OK, I've set the wiki up. Hopefully somebody will seed it with some content: http://wiki.businessofsoftware.org

I've put some of my recollections in an article on the web at http://java.dzone.com/articles/boston-business-software-confe - I'm sure lots more will appear.

I imagine some people who follow JoelOnSoftware are also in the stackoverflow beta. Who at BoS is in the S.O. Beta??

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Justin Standard: Great idea with the link, Portman. Here's mine: http://beta.stackoverflow.com/users/92/justin-standard

Portman Wills: I knew I recognized you from somewhere!!! The unofficial S.O. Faq!!

Justin Standard: This goes for everyone who've tried S.O. Look for my bright orange hat if you want to meet up at the reception tonight and chat about StackOverflow. And post a link to your user profile if you're in the Beta.

My partner Brendan King and I will be at the conference and we're very much looking forward to learning lots and meeting the many bright minds that we see on the reg list. We're a couple crazy Canadians that started our software company in January 2008. Out of the gate we had a very healthy amount of consulting work from a major corporation and we chose to fundraise via VCs in order to execute/build our social-network platform idea (MyFrontSteps.... [read more]

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Rick Rubin: Delia So and I are driving in from Montreal.

Christian Dandeneau: Winnipeg, Manitoba has at least 1 software company and we're here.

Jody Stocks: Jody from Tucows in Toronto here, looking forward to meeting everyone

If you are flying into Logan, note that the Silver Line Bus will get you from the airport to very near the hotel for only $1.75. I've done this twice and it has worked well for me. Fast, convenient and it warms my CFO's heart.

Giles Thomas: Thanks, Kevin. I've just spent a while on the MBTA's website trying to work out whether the Silver line is a bus or a train, and was beginning to despair of ever finding out ;-)

Oleg Proudnikov: Silver Line worked great for me.Thanks for the tip. It is just as easy to get back to the airport. The fair has gone up to $2 :-) But the service is superb.

If anybody's around on the evening of Tuesday 2nd then I'll buy you a beer. I'll probably be in the hotel bar around 8ish, but I'll post up a place and a time beforehand. To gauge demand, post here if you're interested.

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Fred Guanzon: My flight gets in around 5ish - I'll be there.

Corey Reid: My flight gets in at 10:30 but if there's any nite owls around I'd love to join in. Besides, I love hanging around in hotel bars trying to get total strangers to talk to me.

Dharmesh Shah: Checked in and on my way down. Might need to break off a small group for those interested in dinner at Aura (hotel restaurant). I'm starving and have a long night ahead...

Anyone interested in grabbing a bite with us on Tuesday evening before Neil's cocktail hour? (Us = the contingency from Gratis Internet.) We were thinking Morton's (2 Seaport Ln) at 7:30 pm. Probably much too late notice for all of the "planners" out there, but if anyone is a fellow procrastinator and hasn't yet made any concrete dinner plans, leave a comment or message. PS: We're by no means wedded to Morton's; it was the only place I had heard ... [read more]

Melissa Tan: Hey there, I'm interested. Chris Baker recommended Legal Test Kitchen on another post, which looks good.

Portman Wills: We've been in no-Internet land (i.e. inside of an airplane). Legal Test Kitchen sounds grand. Cell phone is 703 485 5590 for anyone who wants to meet up around 7:30 pm. Restaurant: 225 Northern Ave Boston, MA 02210 (617) 330-7430

I'll be in Boston from Tuesday morning, so if anyone else is there and has some free time, let me know!

Mark Stephens: I'm flying in from UK monday night as I arranged to see a potential client on tuesday afternoon (grab the opportunity). So I'll be around. If you have some free time, the Boston Aquarium is well -worth a visit (I've promised my children I'd get some ... [read more]

Jerry Jalenak: I've checked in to the Seaport - if anyone else is already in and would want to meet up in the lobby, I'm sure we can find something to do. If anything, we can start Neil's tab in the bar!

I'm particularly interested in bootstrapping - getting a new venture off the ground. Would love to hear about experiences, successes, and (particularly) things to avoid - in exchange for a beer... .. KJ

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Todd Venhaus: I haven't made "the leap" yet, but I'd love to hear about everyone's experiences and ideas.

Ian Tebbutt: Ken, Nigel etc - I'm in mid leap - the road runner moment when the cliff is behind you, not sure whether you'll fall or not. I'm willing to share experiences, beer, and war stories. My best experiences so far come from communication - don't hold back... [read more]

Dave Bernard: Ken - I'm just starting my second bootstrapped technology startup, although the market place and offering is completely different than the first. I'd love to discuss with you over a beer (or two).

I'm curious what development processes people find best, especially for very small dev teams. Was recently turned onto SCRUM and I'm learning about it more now. What do you use?

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Neal Rayner: My two pennuth.... We're very pragmatic about what we choose to use, cherry picking from the various methodologies out there. Agile agilists as someone else pointed out. TDD, Standups, Continuous Integration, story tracking. We've got the technical "... [read more]

Corey Reid: "Building trust can be a slow painful process." Absolutely. But really, how could it be any other way? I find keeping expectations realistic especially critical in the early stages -- repeating again and again that progress will be slow, that we need... [read more]

Daniel Weinreb: We produce regression tests for everything, run large sets of tests automatically each night and send email to everybody who committed a change since the last successful build saying that they may have broken the build. We also run overnight performa... [read more]

Been here with my family (wife, 2.5 year old, 4 month old) for a few days already. If anyone else has any stories I'd be interested to read them. Here are my findings: Silverline from the airport - we managed to juggle 2 kids, a stroller and 4 pieces of luggage on the bus. The ride was only a few minutes and you can't beat $4. A shuttle offered to take us for $30 + the $5.25 taxi toll. Breakfast Buffet @ Aura - $18.50 and worth it. Room service -... [read more]

A colleague and myself are heading to the Red Sox game on Tuesday night (no tickets) - if anyone would like to meet up and join us, please email me at dan@leaseteam.com.

Devan Sabaratnam: Are they playing at Fenway Park?

Steve Jones: I'm going as well. I have a ticket, arriving at the hotel around 5. Be happy to share a cab over. Steve Jones (sjones@sqlservercentral.com)

Zakir Hemraj: I would love to go (and I don't have tickets yet). I just went to Yankee stadium this past Saturday for the first time, and going to Fenway would be the icing on the cake for this trip! I'll be in the hotel around 5 as well. Look out for me:)

Its a really nice hotel... :-) People will think we're all making far too much money ;-)

Straw poll - post here.

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Brian Leach: I want to come back with a notebook full of ideas, things to try, and peers I can stay in touch with.

Steve Jones: Ideas on how the software business is evolving, what it can do well and what changes we might see over time.

Dharmesh Shah: Hoping to have rich discussions with people that are interested in the *business* of software. I think I'll be in the right place for that!

Seth is keen to end his presentation on an up-note rather than with me saying "er, no more questions so, er, that's it". So, if you've got any questions that you'd like to ask Seth can you post them here. Joel will choose a few of the best ones and put them to Seth. It'll be a little tricky given that you haven't heard his talk yet, but hopefully you can come up with general ones based on his books and blog.

Josh Grob: One question that I think would be interesting is whether it is just as important to build a strong community of the users around one's product as the product itself? I know that there is a strong correlation between the quality of a product and its ... [read more]

Steve Jones: What does Seth think about SQLServerCentral.com, Simple-Talk.com, similar to JoelOnSoftware.com as communities that engage customers in a more subtle way. Is that a good idea for a software company to build a community that is related to, but not dir... [read more]

Any recommendations for food for tuesday night?

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Christopher Baker: Devan - Not too far from Jury's is the Copley Place Mall they have several kid friendly places (mostly chains like: Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's, and 2 Legal Seafoods) Nearby also is the Top of Hub restaurant on top level of ... [read more]

Oleg Proudnikov: Dewan, Chris gave some great insights, something only a local can do. Visiting Copley Place is on my list and I would not mind trying Tapeo myself. Coming from Australia you may like to eat outside and have a nice park and water to look at. My wife a... [read more]

Christopher Baker: Oleg - I think you are talking about Tia's. Good idea for lunch, but later at night it turns into much more of a bar scene (or at least it used to years back when I used to go there!). If you go to Tapeo, everything is good - I've ordered almost ever... [read more]

It's much easier to recognise you that way.

Welcome everybody! Hopefully this will be a fruitful way of getting to know people before, and during the conference.