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Origin Stories: MacTech Conference
About the only time you'll see Neil Ticktin sitting down during the MacTech Conference is to eat, very briefly. I managed to get him to sit down long enough to do a quick interview about how the conference began for this week's Origin Stories.
MacTech 2012: One to remember
Last week Mike Schramm, Kelly Guimont and myself attended MacTech Conference in Los Angeles. We'll have a video interview with the organizer and editor-in-chief of MacTech magazine, Neil Ticktin, later this week, but here are some observations made during the event. Mike Schramm MacTech is always an excellently run, conference year-ending event in Los Angeles, and this year was no exception. I mostly sat in on the dev track, where we got to see some really interesting talks about AirPlay, how to implement transitions and even a great (though a little out of left field) talk about fitness and dieting. As usual, MacTech Editor-in-Chief Neil Ticktin made sure there was plenty to do outside of the conference hall too, with a very nice trip to Disney Animation and the usual march on Universal City. MacTech is always a great opportunity to do some networking and learn about the state of both development and IT in the Mac world, and this year's conference didn't disappoint. Kelly Guimont MacTech is always amazing, and what I love about it most is that you get a different crowd than at other sorts of conferences. You get a lot of enterprise/IT folks who are very, very smart and in some cases, very, very frustrated because their toolset is limited or there's some technological hurdle they can't quite get over. Getting all those people in the same place to share tips and tricks and sort out the Dark Art Of Enterprise Mac Management is a really great thing to see. Add to that the great speakers covering all sorts of content, the food/snacks/coffee and then a nice event each evening, and honestly why wouldn't you go back every year? I tell everybody to go to a MacTech event if there's one near them, and here's my tip to readers: Get a big jar, write MACTECH 2013 on it, and start putting pennies in now. Show up with an empty notebook and be prepared to overwork your brain. Apple says "funner" is a word, so I'm going with it: You are hard-pressed to find a funner conference than MacTech. As for myself, I noticed the attention to detail MacTech puts into these events. It may seem weird to have a presentation about fitness, or a bunch of sci-fi statues in the hallway, but these things are designed to foster conversations, connections and learning. MacTech is really about the people, and making those connections. Perhaps the best thing I've seen at any conference were the attendees, stripped of their smartphones for a few hours, loaded into buses to head to Disney Animation Studios, suddenly forced to interact. No screens glowing beneath their faces, just people in the dark talking to each other about their work and lives. That's pretty great.
Meet us at MacTech
Next week at MacTech Conference in Los Angeles, TUAW is going to be interviewing Apple developers as part of our Origin Stories series. MacTech Conference is a rare time that we can get close with so many key players in the Apple community, and we're going to use it to bring you some great insight into what developers are up to. If you are attending the event, and want to tell us the story behind your app, MacTech has set up a "Meet the Press" form here. This is the best way to let us know that you want to talk to us. At MacTech will be myself, Mike Schramm and Kelly Guimont (plus our video crew), so it's an awesome time to connect. If you don't know about MacTech Conference, it's not just for developers, but also IT pros, enterprise and consultants. The event is wall-to-wall with sessions that organizers have designed to help you work better and smarter. TUAW readers get a very special discount -- but you have to use this link. If you've not yet checked out the event, you can see the sessions, activities and more about the event here. TUAW is a media sponsor of this event, and has worked with MacTech on event coverage in the past.
MacTech announces Walt Disney Animation Studios tour, filling up fast
Registration is currently underway for the 2012 MacTech Conference here in Los Angeles (October 17-19), and MacTech publisher Neil Ticktin has sent along some new information about what's going on at the conference this year, and it sounds amazing. In addition to the previously announced sessions from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and keynote speaker Matt Drance, MacTech will also take attendees over to the Walt Disney Animation Studios for a special behind-the-scenes tour, and have a special exhibit of "Hollywood treasures" for attendees to check out. There have also been some post-conference events added, including some interesting technical panels as well as some official Apple Certification Exams. This conference is always a great time, and in addition to all of the fun, MacTech also offers up two solid presentation tracks, one for developers and the other for IT professionals. You can register for the conference right now -- Ticktin tells us it's filling up quick, so hurry over and sign up if you're interested. MacTech 2012 will run from Wednesday to Friday October 17-19, 2012 at the Sheraton Universal in Los Angeles. TUAW will be in attendance as well -- we hope to see you there!
TUAW and MacTech interview: Fiberlink
Fiberlink makes a range of business management tools for devices (company iPhones and Macs and the like) and documents. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Jatin Malik of Fiberlink at WWDC 2012. Jatin was kind enough to share his thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect Fiberlink's plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech Interview: blueHula Studios
The iOS development house blueHula Studios has a couple of beverage timer apps on the App Store, with more on the way. Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Craig VanderZwaag of blueHula Studios at WWDC 2012. Craig was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
MacTech conference returning to LA in October
I've been to the MacTech Mac and IT consultants conference a few years in a row now, and I have to say: If you do any Apple consulting or development, it's a great show to see. The Sheraton Universal here in Los Angeles is a great setting, and MacTech publisher Neil Ticktin always puts an excellent event together, filling the three day schedule with great speakers, lots of opportunities to network and talk with other pros (over excellent food and drink), and even some nice offsite trips, like parties at Universal Studios and special events at places like the famous Griffith Observatory. MacTech has just announced details for this year's flagship conference in Los Angeles, and as you can see, there will be some very big names and faces showing up at the Sheraton from October 17-19 this year. The joint sessions will be run by two department heads from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Mac luminaries like Andy Ihnatko, Andy Lee, and Kyle Kinkade will host sessions along with lots of other good folks from the community around the world. Registration is open now -- early bird pricing is $999 ($300 off of regular pricing) and ends on August 31. MacTech is always a great time every year, and this year promises to be no different. If you have an interest in this show, be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible. TUAW is a media sponsor of this event, and has worked with MacTech on event coverage in the past.
TUAW and MacTech interview at WWDC 2012: Marketcircle
In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews AJ of Marketcircle Inc. (makers of the Daylite contact manager suite + Billings tools for Mac and iOS) at WWDC 2012. AJ was kind enough to tell us about his thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect Marketcircle's plans moving forward.
MacTech and Southern Stars launching a satellite into space
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } The folks at MacTech Magazine have teamed up with the Southern Stars Group to launch a satellite, and you can have a hand in the fun. The project, called SkyCube, is now on Kickstarter and looking for funding. The nano-satellite, designed to the CubeSat standard, is scheduled to take a ride into earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle next year as a "secondary payload". Once in space, SkyCube will take photos of the Earth and broadcast text messages. That's where you come in. Depending on your contribution level, you can determine some of what it has to say. The options break down like this: For $1, you can send a "text" from space. For $6, you can take a picture of the Earth from orbit. Another option is the SkyCube sponsor package, available to those who register for the MacTech Conference at the pre-registration rate of US$999. It includes: Sponsorship of 10 minutes of the mission (including bragging rights) Ability to broadcast 60 "text messages" from space Ability to request up to six images from the satellite (looking at Earth from space) SkyCube mission T-shirt Finally, an iOS app will let you track its progress. Sound like fun? Then make a contribution and help make SkyCube a reality.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Centrify
Centrify makes central management software tools for heterogeneous enterprise systems. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews David McNeely of Centrify Corporation at WWDC 2012. David was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
TUAW and MacTech interview: Southern Stars
Southern Stars makes a host of awesome astronomy tools, like SkySafari and assorted controllers. If you're serious about astronomy give them a look. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Tim DeBenedictis of Southern Stars at WWDC 2012. Tim was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
TUAW and MacTech interview: Appigo
Appigo makes powerful but easy-to-use productivity software. Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Calvin Gaisford of Appigo at WWDC 2012. Calvin was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Matrox Electronic Systems
Matrox creates a wide range of video solutions, from those "wall of screens" you see at airports and conventions to imaging tools to consumer-grade video capture tools. They've also announced the DS1, a Thunderbolt docking station. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Charles Aimyot of Matrox Electronic Systems at WWDC 2012. Charles was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: iSpeech
iSpeech makes text to speech tech available for free to iOS developers (with support for other platforms as well), and it's the tech used in DriveSafe.ly. TechCrunch has a nice writeup of iSpeech here. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Yaron Oren of iSpeech at WWDC 2012. Yaron was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Aerohive
Aerohive makes enterprise networking gear and cloud solutions that are simple to deploy but quite reliable in the field. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Joel Vincent of Aerohive at WWDC 2012. Joel was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Karelia Software
Karelia Software makes an excellent iWeb alternative called Sandvox (we reviewed version 2.0 here). In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Dan Wood of Karelia Software at WWDC 2012. Dan was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Creaceed
Creaceed makes several Mac and iOS apps, like Prizmo and Kuboku. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Raphael Sebbe of Creaceed at WWDC 2012. Raphael was kind enough to tell us about his thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect Creaceed's plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Tumult
Tumult is a timeline-based tool for creating HTML 5 animation on your Mac. Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Jonathan Deutsch of Tumult at WWDC 2012. Jonathan was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: VMware
VMware Fusion is a powerful tool for anyone needing a powerful, easy-to-use virtualization tool. Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Nicolas Rochard, Product Marketing and Simon Bennett, Product Manager of VMware Fusion at WWDC 2012. Nicolas Rochard, Product Marketing was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
TUAW and MacTech interview: Boinx Software
Boinx makes some of our favorite tools, including BoinxTV and iStopMotion. In this video, Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine) interviews Oliver Breidenbach of Boinx Software at WWDC 2012. Oliver was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward.
