JavaOne 2010 Improvements for JavaOne 2011

I was going over my list of things to improve for JavaOne 2011 based on my experience in 2010. All things considered, it was a worthwhile conference to attend as always.

I love to see my friends, peers, colleagues, collaborators, and everyone who participates in the event that is JavaOne.

I thought I would publish this list I made last year, and see what changes are made for 2011. We can see if Oracle took some of the feedback to heart, and what improvements they will make.

1. If you are going to advertise a scheduling application, make sure it works. It was an epic failure at a developer conference.
2. Make it known to the attendees where sponsors are located, and pavilion areas. Ensure that attendees can get into the areas. Security was turning people back.
3. Communicate. The lack of communication was very apparent. Use social media more to show changes, and updates. Do some house keeping at the beginning/end of keynotes.
4. Have more entrances at the OTN party. No one knew how to get in, and the security were very unpleasant.
5. Have the Duke Awards given out in a public venue. Don't hand them out at an event that only a select few could attend.
6. Ensure that the labs work. The machines, and setup failed at most labs that people attended.
7. Set up the schedules, and do not constantly change them. Confusion was the rule rather than exception.
8. Provide accurate maps to the technical sessions. The Hilton is a maze. I would rather have it at Moscone, but if we must use hotels, have clearly displayed maps to the sessions.
9. Deliver some content, and QUIT prefixing every presentation with "safe harbor". Face it, if you mention it at a conference, the street expects you to deliver. Get over it.
10. Try to separate the community events sufficiently to allow attendees to go to multiple events like JUG and GlassFish events. Maybe split it into late morning/afternoon.
11. Offer food/beverages to community event attendees to keep them in the venue.
12. Have the Community Leaders/Technical Leads attend the JUG event so they can meet their advocates.
13. Keep the JUG Leader/Java Champions breakfast with Oracle staff. This was extremely beneficial.
14. Host a young developers/Lego Mindstorm/FIRST Robotics competition at the event and give the kids free passes. Start them young, and show them opportunities in the larger Java ecosystem.