Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin Collins on January 26, 2010 at 9:51pm

Hi Walt,
Thanks for sharing this information. Have you ever been to one of their conferences? I am new at iPhone development and just released my first app, Party Twacker, December 11, 2009. I live in Jacksonville, FL and was thinking this conference might be worth the trip.

Permalink Reply by Walt Sellers on January 27, 2010 at 8:13am

I have not been to any conferences by these guys. I heard about the conference on the "Core Intuition" podcast (episode 25, near the end I think.) They had positive things to say about it. If nothing else, it should be a great way to meet a lot of other iPhone developers in a short time. Unlike WWDC, they are much more likely to be local to the southeast US.

I have heard about the Big Nerd Ranch for quite some time. I was introduced to Aaron Hillegass at a WWDC by a friend who was working on a Mac Developers website. He's always easy to spot in the over-sized hat. He's been teaching Cocoa to developers since the NeXT days. They have powerful courses and the fees cover everything except airfare. You stay in their facility full-time for the duration of the course. And it is based in Atlanta. (No, I'm not paid to advertise them.)

I have been to many WWDC's (but not the last 3 due to circumstance). They are awesome and I recommend them. I understand they have morphed quite a bit recently as much of the audience turns to iPhone development. But just the sheer number and quality of the other attendees makes it a great experience.

However, the WWDC is expensive. $1,500 for the fee the last time I looked and the hotel bill can easily get close to that if you aren't careful. Then ad airfare and 1 or 2 meals per day (lunch is usually included, sometimes dinner, and some snacking in between.)