I’ve been going to Macromedia conferences now for over 11 years, since the first one I attended in the fall of 1994. I spoke at the 1997 conference. I was a member of the press for several others: as a book author on Flash and Director, and as a technical editor for Macromedia User Journal and Director Online. I missed one: the 2002 conference in Orlando which took place just a couple of weeks after I broke the heck out of my ankle. I was gonna go, but the doctor said no. Considering that I ended up with blood clots in my lungs from that break, maybe it was best that happened close to a hospital rather than at 30,000 feet or at Disney World.
In 2001, the New York conference where Shockwave 3D was released gave me a last chance to see the city before terrorism and war were the watchwords for the day. Last year, the conference in New Orleans got me to that city for the first time, before life there changed irrevocably, as well.
If the merger between Macromedia and Adobe goes through this winter, I have to assume that next week’s MAX is going to be the last get-together of its type under the Macromedia label. I’m not particularly attached to the name, but it is something I’ve been intimately associated with as a customer, commentator (and even contractor) for more than a quarter of my life — which includes a rather long prelude to my entry into multimedia. If it’s subsumed into Adobe it won’t necessarily make a big change in what I do, but there’ll be a putting-the-wrong-date-on-the-checks feeling writ large about it until I subconsciously think “Adobe Flash” and “Adobe Director” (at least, I hope I’ll be thinking that!)
So I’m looking forward to seeing anyone who’s going to be there: the Macromedia folks I’ve corresponded with over the years; the people who’ve left Macromedia; the developers I only see at these conferences (hey, it’s the real reason I go at all); and anyone I might not have met before. I’m off to LA for a couple of days before the conference, see everyone in Anaheim!
If you haven’t already seen it, DOUG, INM, and Macromedia are putting together a Director Get-Together for anyone (not just MAX attendees) on Monday, October 17.