RESTFest 2013 is coming!
it's that time of year again!
RESTFest 2013 is less than two months away
(Sep 19-21) and preparations and are full swing. now in its fourth year, RESTFest has become one of my favorite
events on the calendar. and i am very much looking forward to this year's event.
REST is Just the Beginning
this year the keynote will be delivered by Brian Sletten. and, judging from the title (and from my knowledge of Brian's experience and knowledge), it will be a great talk. we're honored that Brian accepted our invitation and looking forward not just to his presentation but the resulting converstations and explorations that are a hallmark of RESTFest.
everybody talks
an important part of RESTFest is the principle that everyone who shows up must give a presentation. the talks are typically quite short: a five minute Lightning talk followed by a short Q & A session. there are a few 30 min "featured talks", too. but the basic idea is that we all get to talk about things that are interesting to us and we don't have to make a big deal about it.
every year i learn 30+ new ideas and novel approaches to problem-solving and get to talk to the people who are coming up with these great things. RESTFest is a great boost to my creative spirit.
everybody listens
the corollary to our key "talk" principle is that we all get to listen, too. and listening is, IMO, even more important than speaking. RESTFest attendees come from all sorts of background, experiences, and points-of-view. the chance to hear how others view the Web space, how others are tackling problems, and how others are advancing the practice of services on the Web is always an eye-opener.
less theory, more practice
and that leads to another key aspect of the weekend. the focus is on "doing", not "theorizing." we're a decidely non-pedantic bunch and are usually much more interested in cool solutions than compelling theories. while it may still be common to think of anything with the REST acronym in the name to be a meeting of pointy-headed geeks, that's not us. each event i get to see actual code solving actual problems in the real world.
we hack, too
every year we host a hack day where everyone gets together to work on cool REST-related web stuff. this year Erik Mogensen will be leading the day. from what i've seen, he's got some cool ideas in store for us, too.
it's easy to join us
just as we cut down on the "ceremony" surrounding speaking and participating in a conference, we also try to eliminate the "ceremony" around signing up and showing up for RESTFest. it's quite easy:
- join our mailing list to see what we're all about
- drop into the IRC channel to chat us up
- hope onto the github wiki and create your People Page and tell us about yourself>
- head over to the registration page and reserve your seat for the event.
there's no waiting to see if your talk was accepted. no wondering if what you're working on would be "interesting" to some review committee. just sign up, post your ideas, and head down to sunny Greenville, SC for a great weekend.
need more RESTFest NOW?
can't wait for RESTFEst 2013 to get started? check out our vimeo channel w/ all the talks from previous years. there's lots of very cool stuff there!