Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/ 18 Conferences for Mac and iOS Professionals in 2015 Adam C. Engst Historically, Macworld Expo would be receding in the rearview mirror about now, but honestly, early January was a terrible time for a conference, between winter travel and proximity to the holidays. But with Macworld Expo no more, those of us who earn our livings within Apple's orbit will have to get our conference fixes from smaller, more intimate gatherings. Luckily, there's no lack of independent conferences both before and after Apple's WWDC, which usually takes place in June and has far fewer slots than developers who would like to attend. At the moment, Tonya and I are tentatively planning to be speaking at MacTech Conference in November; we'll let you know if we or other TidBITS/Take Control writers are asked to speak at any of these other events. MacTech Pro: March'September 2015 -- A new regional event series from the folks behind MacTech Conference, [1]MacTech Pro is designed for professional Apple techs and consultants. Events are single-track, hotel-based seminars, and the all-day schedule includes lunch. Topics may include Deconstructing iCloud Drive, Time Machine Deep Dive, the Professional Apple Tech's Toolbox, Using OS Resources to Diagnose Troubles, and more. Early bird pricing is $299, with pre-registration pricing at $399, and regular pricing at $499. Educational pricing is $199. MacTech Pro events will take place in nine cities throughout the United States: * March 4 in Seattle, WA * March 25 in San Francisco, CA * April 15 in Boston, MA * May 6 in Atlanta, GA * June 24 in Washington, DC * July 22 in Chicago, IL * August 12 in New York, NY * September 2 in Dallas, TX * September 30 in Denver, CO CocoaConf: March'May 2015 -- Focusing on training for iOS and Mac developers, [2]CocoaConf is a touring conference that travels around the United States. Sessions look to be more technical than many of the other conferences. Currently scheduled dates include: * March 27'28 in Chicago, IL * April 10'11 in Washington, DC * May 8'9 in Portland, OR * May 22'23 in Austin, TX As you might expect from a travelling conference, [3]speakers vary by location, but include a number of stars in the development training field, including Daniel Sternberg, James Dempsey, Mark Dalrymple, and Rob Napier, among many others. Early-bird registration for CocoaConf events costs $550, or $700 if you want to attend a pre-conference workshop held the day before (also available on its own for $300). NSConference: March 16'18, 2015 -- For Mac and iOS developers in Europe, or anyone looking for a conference further afield, the seventh [4]NSConference will take place March 16th through 18th, in Leicester, UK. It's located at the Athena conference center, and a variety of lodgings are available within walking distance. Speakers include Overcast developer Marco Arment, designer and consultant Jessie Char, MarsEdit developer Daniel Jalkut, Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis, and Laura Savino of Khan Academy, among many other notable developers and designers. In particular, Daniel Steinberg will be offering a one-day workshop about Apple's new Swift programming language. Conference [5]tickets cost £549 (US$825) and include three lunches and two evening meals, with additional banquet tickets priced at £33.33 ($50). The Swift workshop is £99 ($150). Scholarships are available. Ãll: March 30'31, 2015 -- Continuing the European focus, the two-day [6]Ãll conference takes place in Killarny, Ireland at The Europe hotel and resort. Conference dates are March 30th and 31st, although it's designed so you can come a day early and stay a day late. Ãll is designed for 'people who build and love great products'¦ presented through an Apple-shaped lens.' Frankly, it sounds like big fun. The [7]speaker list is weighted heavily toward writers and podcasters, including familiar names like Jason Snell of Six Colors; Jim Dalrymple of The Loop; analyst Horace Dediu of Asymco; Serenity Caldwell, Georgia Dow, and Rene Ritchie of iMore; Lauren Goode of Re/Code; Medium advisor Anil Dash; and John Gruber of Daring Fireball. Similarly well-known developers and designers on the ticket include James Thomson of PCalc fame, Dave Wiskus of Vesper, and Napkin developer Guy English. [8]Ãll tickets will be available starting 27 January 2015, and will cost either '¬645 (about US$735; rooms are an additional '¬250/$285 per night) for just conference admission or '¬1,999/$2,275 for the Eagrán ticket for Ãll 'superfans,' which includes conference admission, transport from Dublin, four nights of hotel accommodation, and dinners on the day before and after. Prices do not include VAT. NSNorth: April 10'12, 2015 -- Perhaps closer to home, the Canadian [9]NSNorth conference once again focuses on developers and designers who specialize on the Mac and iOS platforms. This year, NSNorth features rustic elegance at the Château Montebello, a five-star resort along the Ottawa River, mid-way between Ottawa and Montreal. The three-day conference kicks off with an opening reception and keynote on April 10th and winds to a close on April 12th. [10]Speakers include Canadian journalists Jim Dalrymple of The Loop and Georgia Dow of iMore, but more importantly, numerous developers and designers, such as Gordon Fontenot of thoughtbot, Matt Klosterman of Infofission, Ash Lindquist of Storybird, Chris Liscio of SuperMegaUltraGroovy, Vanessa Logan of Sago Mini, Christa Mrgan of Rogue Amoeba, Ashley Nelson-Hornstein of Dropbox, Mark Pavlidis of Flixel Photos, and JP Simard of Realm. [11]Tickets cost CAD$699 (about US$565) and include all food and drinks for the weekend. Companion tickets for spouses or children (6'12) who want to eat and participate in group activities cost CAD$299/US$240 for adults or CAD$149/US$120 for kids. Hotel rooms start at CAD$179/US$145 per night, and a two-night stay is required. A limited number of scholarships waive conference admission for students. Yosemite by CocoaConf: April 20'23, 2015 -- Put on by the same people who organize the touring CocoaConf events, [12]Yosemite is billed as 'the Apple conference with a view,' largely because it will be held in the heart of Yosemite Park in National Park, CA. Although a session list isn't yet available, it's aimed at Apple developers, designers, and enthusiasts, and will likely be less technical than a classic CocoaConf event (though that's worth double-checking with the organizers if you're worried). It will also include guided hikes, a photo walk with TED photographer James Duncan Davidson, and a Breakpoint Jam with James Dempsey. The four-day conference takes place from April 20th through 23rd. The [13]speaker list includes 17 stalwarts of the conference circuit, such as the inimitable Andy Ihnatko, Brent Simmons of The Omni Group, Serenity Caldwell of iMore, Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, Neven Mrgan of Panic, Christa Mrgan of Rogue Amoeba, Laura Savino of Khan Academy, Jason Snell of Six Colors, Andrew Stone of Stone Design, and oodles more. Not surprisingly, given the location and the length of the conference, registration is a bit higher than most other conferences. Admission costs $1,299 per person, with a companion ticket for group activities and meals priced at $599. Rooms at the Yosemite Lodge are about $230 per night, though you can instead opt for a heated tent for a mere $134 per night. UIKonf: May 17'20, 2015 -- Billed as 'Berlin's independent conference for serious iOS developers,' [14]UIKonf is still lining up [15]speakers, but currently features Facebook tester Graham Lee, Mike Lee (now independent, but with experience at Delicious Monster, Tapulous, and Black Pixel), SwiftKey iOS keyboard developer Maxim Cramer, and Swift enthusiast and iOS engineer Natasha (the Robot) Murashev. The conference will end with a hackathon. Early-bird registration costs '¬400 (US$455) and includes social events on the first day of the conference and drinks and lunch throughout, but not the 19 percent VAT. A limited number of free scholarships will be made available. ACEs Conference: May 20'21, 2015 -- A completely new conference organized by Apple consultants and technologists Justin Esgar and Luis Giraldo, [16]ACEs Conference promises to be 'for consultants, by consultants.' Focusing on topics of interest to Apple consultants, topics may include brand coaching, business workshops, and even meditation for dealing with high-stress situations the job entails. It's scheduled for May 20th and 21st at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans, LA. Keynotes will come from Jeff Gamet, managing editor of The Mac Observer, and Jason Womack of GetMomentum. [17]Other speakers include well-known names from the Apple IT and enterprise communities, like Sean Costello of BackgroundBackup and Allen Hancock of Watchman Monitoring, and founders of respected Apple consultancies, such as Brian Best of BestMacs, Will O'Neal of Mid-Atlantic Computer Solutions, Nathan Toups of Key The City Concierge, and Michael Volchok of Mike's Tech Shop. On the business development side, talks will come from IP lawyer David Postolski, brand strategist Pia Silva of Worstofall Design, and product development expert Tony Ubertaccio of Semper Avanti. Early bird pricing of $399 ends 31 January 2015, after which the pre-registration price is $499. On-site registration costs $699. All meals and activities are included, and rooms at the Hilton Riverside are available for $189 per night with the conference discount. WWDC: June 2015 -- Apple hasn't announced dates for the San Francisco-based [18]Worldwide Developers Conference this year, but the preeminent conference for Mac and iOS developers usually takes place in early June. With 5,000 developers and 1,000 Apple engineers in attendance, WWDC features a full week of sessions about current and future Apple technologies. Last year, Apple announced dates in early April and offered $1,599 tickets by lottery to work around registration snafus and give everyone an equal chance to attend (the previous WWDC sold out within 90 seconds). iOSCon: June 15'17, 2015 -- Returning from its inaugural 2014 year, [19]iOSCon takes place in London, England for three days. The first two days offer a pair of tracks on iOS and Swift topics, and the third day features a hackathon. No list of speakers or sessions is available, but the organizers say: Each track will feature talks by some of the world's top experts, developers and makers who are helping evolve iOS and Swift technologies and practices. In addition, each track will feature a Park Bench Panel discussion and 5 lightning talks by some of the great engineering teams in our community who use iOS technologies and practices daily and will demo their apps and projects. Early-bird tickets cost £250 (US$375) through 6 March 2015, and every month after that the prices rise by £100 to the 'late-bird' maximum cost of £750 ($1,125). Prices don't include VAT. MacAdmins: July 7'10, 2015 -- Hosted at Penn State in University Park, PA, the [20]MacAdmins conference offers over 50 technical sessions on Mac and iOS deployment plus networking opportunities for over 400 Apple-focused admins. Pre-conference workshops take place on July 7th, with the conference scheduled for July 8th through 10th. Details about sessions, speakers, and conference fees are not yet set, but rates at [21]recommended hotels can be found for under $100 per night. iOSDevCamp: July 10'12, 2015 -- A not-for-profit event for iOS developers, [22]iOSDevCamp is a [23]BarCamp-style conference featuring workshop content by participants. It will take place from July 10th through 12th at eBay in San Jose, CA. Although full details aren't yet available, the focus will be on wearables and the Apple Watch. [24]Early registration is only $75, with regular registration priced at $100 and late registration at $125. MacIT: July 14'16, 2015 -- Aimed at those deploying iOS and OS X in the enterprise, [25]MacIT is a production of IDG World Expo, the company behind Macworld Expo in recent years. MacIT used to be held in conjunction with Macworld Expo, but it has now struck out on its own, with conference dates from July 14th through 16th and a new venue in Santa Clara, CA. Details about speakers, sessions, and registration will be available in April, according to [26]the conference FAQs. 360|iDev: August 16'19, 2015 -- Although it's targeted at iOS developers, [27]360|iDev organizers John and Nicole Walker focus more on providing a place for the iOS community to come together. Details are still light for the 2015 event, though it's scheduled for August 16th through 19th in Denver, CO. Conference registration will be $799 and will include hands-on pre-conference training on Sunday, lunch every day, and receptions on Monday and Tuesday. 360|iDev will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown, where conference discounted rooms cost $169 per night. iOSDevUK: September 7'10, 2015 -- Focused on iOS development topics, the fifth installment of [28]iOSDevUK will take place from September 7th through 10th in Aberystwyth, Wales. No other details are forthcoming, although the organizers say that tickets will go on sale in early April. MacSysAdmin: September 2015 -- The premier event for Mac and iOS system administrators in Europe, [29]MacSysAdmin generally takes place September in Göteborg, Sweden. Talks are aimed at system administrators in enterprises, school, and institutions, along with technical consultants, consulting firms, and distributors. Details for the 2015 event aren't yet available, but past speakers include 'Take Control of OS X Server' author Charles Edge, Arek Dreyer, Andrina Kelly, Ed Marczak, Greg Neagle, and other well-known names in the Apple sysadmin world. CocoaLove: October 2015 -- Although details aren't yet forthcoming, the [30]CocoaLove conference for iOS and Mac developers is aiming for dates in October 2015 in Philadelphia, PA. If you're looking for a conference later in 2015 (alas, [31]Ãingleton is no more!), sign up to be notified when CocoaLove's organizers fix the dates and location for their 2015 event. MacTech Conference: November 4'6, 2015 -- Whereas the MacTech Pro events fit into a single day and travel around the country, the Los Angeles-based [32]MacTech Conference offers attendees three days of sessions, seminars, and vendor interaction, plus a pair of superlative evening activities. We've been several times (see '[33]MacTech Conference 2012 Opens Mental Doors,' 22 October 2012, and '[34]MacTech Conference 2013 Abounds with Networking and Fun,' 11 November 2013) and recommend it to Apple developers and IT professionals. It's too early for there to be a list of speakers or sessions, but now's a good time to pencil MacTech Conference onto your calendar for November 4th through 6th. Others? -- If I've missed any notable Apple-focused conferences that are open to the public and attract attendees from a broad geographic area, please let me know in the comments and I'll look into adding them. References 1. http://pro.mactech.com/ 2. http://cocoaconf.com/ 3. http://cocoaconf.com/speakers 4. http://nsconference.com/ 5. https://ti.to/nsconf/nsconference7 6. http://2015.ull.ie/ 7. http://2015.ull.ie/site/speakers/ 8. http://2015.ull.ie/site/tickets 9. http://nsnorth.ca/ 10. http://nsnorth.ca/speakers.html 11. http://nsnorth.ca/#ticketDiscussion 12. http://cocoaconf.com/yosemite 13. http://cocoaconf.com/yosemite#speakers 14. http://www.uikonf.com/ 15. http://www.uikonf.com/speakers/ 16. https://acesconf.com/ 17. https://acesconf.com/speakers/ 18. https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/ 19. https://skillsmatter.com/conferences/6687-ioscon-2015-the-conference-for-ios-and-swift-developers 20. http://macadmins.psu.edu/ 21. http://macadmins.psu.edu/conference/accommodations/ 22. http://www.iosdevcamp.org/ 23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp 24. http://iosdevcamp2015.eventbrite.com/ 25. http://www.macitconf.com/ 26. http://www.macitconf.com/conference-faqs 27. http://360idev.com/ 28. http://www.iosdevuk.com/ 29. http://macsysadmin.se/ 30. http://cocoalove.org/ 31. http://cingleton.com/ 32. http://www.mactech.com/conference/about 33. http://tidbits.com/article/13346 34. http://tidbits.com/article/14286 .