The Devil’s Field Guide to MIX10
So you probably have been reading on the conference site all the great stuff we have in store for you. You are busy building out your session agenda and have been checking out the community site at MIX Online. But that is just part of the story. You probably want an unfiltered look at things and what your friends would tell you about coming to the conference. That is what this guide is about.
BEWARE! If you are easily offended, then please leave now. This article isn’t for you. This isn’t a fluffy “bring plenty of water” posts about conference tips. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Stop complaining that you can’t see all the sessions you want. Yes, the session list this year is absolutely awesome, jam-packed with good stuff. You won’t be able to see it all (believe me, I have tried and failed every year). We will be making the sessions available on the conference site around 24 hours from when they were filmed. So if you go into a room that is full and don’t want to sit in a cesspool of Axe body spray and laptop heat, then head to another session where you can get some more space and have a better chance at getting your question answered. Don’t complain on Twitter because no one really cares.
Embrace the low-fi. We were kicking around all kinds of crazy things on the MIX Core team on how we can help folks network with each other since our highly scientific surveys show that one of the main reasons you come to the event is to network. Of course, being geeks we immediately began thinking how we could “build an app for that”. Then we looked in our pockets and looked at the calendar and realized we weren’t going to be able to do that so we did something I thought was epic…
We went lo-fi.
That’s right, we will have a monstrous corkboard, index cards, markers and pins and you will be able to put up whatever you like. It is so simple and genius! No worries about what device you have, does it work in IE6 (which by the way if it is up to me we would wipe it off the face of the planet), or what technology it should use. So I want to see everyone using that board to reach out. Also, I beg of you to show me how amazingly creative and interesting you are. I want to see amazing posts. I want to see disturbing posts and hopefully some wine-meetups. In fact, if you do a wine-meetup and I make it there, I may even pick up the tab. Just sayin.
Yeah, we are in Vegas, but you don’t have to incessantly remind me. When everyone starts getting into Vegas, for some reason they will be compelled to remind me of it again and again. Don’t. For example, you do not have to tweet like every other person before you has that “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” or (looking at YOU, speakers) come up with some lame demo that relates to something Vegas (gambling, Elvis, etc.) unless you are showing a brutally awesome algorithm that will score me cash or free drinks. If you start off with with:
- “You know what they say…what happens in Vegas…”
- “Since we are in Vegas, I thought a good demo would be…”
- “So how much money did everyone lose last night…”
- Just landed in Vega$, You know what they say… #MIX10 (tweet)
Then you are lame.com.
I say this every year, don’t be a d-bag. You know who you are. You are the person that yells at the registration desk about how a session was too full or someone who gets mad because security won’t let someone special like you into a particular area you think you should be able to go into. Let me explain, the guards at the Mandalay Bay are not your typical hired hands. These folks tend to be ex-military, ex-cops, ex-bouncers and are told one thing: “If someone does not have x on their badge, don’t let them through here.” They are always nice to everyone but if you decide to get all belligerent, they will send you on your way. Everyone is trying their best to give you an amazing experience, so just don’t be a d-bag.
Ask the Experts. We are doing something new this year for MIX that you are going to love. We will be holding an “Ask The Experts” event which will allow you to meet up with speakers, evangelists and folks from various product teams and it is your chance to ask any question you like. I recommend that you don’t just find the celebrities like Scott Guthrie (who will have a ton of red polo nerds hanging on every word) but grab that person who is working on the technology you are interested in and you will get your questions answered and they will follow up with you if they can’t answer your question. Make sure you tell your boss about this, they love that you went and got your questions answered directly from the horse’s mouth. Oh, and append to your conversation with your boss: “I really think we got a lot of ROI on this!”
Drink vodka. So some of you will not have adult supervision (like your wife or partner) and you will want to have The Hangover experience. I highly recommend you stick with vodka so that you do not miss most of the morning sessions in your bathroom. A nice soda in the morning will get you back in the swing of things. Please drink responsibly.
Read my other Devil’s Field Guides. Been doing this for a while and those seem to still be valuable:
- The Devil’s Field Guide to MIX09
- About the MIX10 Conference Site
- 7 Things You May Not Know About MIX08
- The Devil’s Field Guide to the PDC (2009 Edition)
Embrace change. You have been dutifully working out your schedule. You know exactly what sessions you are going to. Well, just to let you know. We sometimes have sessions we announce during the keynotes because we wanted to give you a little surprise. So be flexible. I also recommend that you always have two sessions in your pocket to attend at all times in case one just doesn’t do it for you. Also, if you just get tired of your brain getting violently slammed with knowledge bombs, come out to the MIX Online lounge in The Commons and just hang out.
Finally, don’t wear a kilt. Don’t be that guy.
I hope this helps you navigate the amazing conference we have in store for you. Feel free to follow me on Twitter and I will keep you up-to-date on the craziness of MIX. I like wine and heavy metal music (if you think Nickelback is metal, don’t approach me) so if you want to hang I will be glad to buy the drinks at MIX.
Your turn, what recommendations do you have for folks attending MIX10? Leave a comment below.
The Scott’s, Ha’s, etc… have plenty of groupies. Clustering around them just because everyone else does is the same as telling everyone around you that you’re a groupie b–ch. Did it ever occur to you that they would like to talk to someone with something worth saying? Unless you are that person, leave them be. Otherwise you’re just adding to the traffic jam.
Oh… and read this post about closing the laptops and engaging with the content… http://bit.ly/aPKnGr
Here are a few things I’ve learned via MIX and other conferences:
1. Rembemer that you’re with fellow geeks. We care about what you’ve built as much as who it was built. I’ve had lots of people drone about some boring “micro-site” they built for some fortune 500. Talk about the wierd side-projects you stay up until 3am coding.
2. Introduce yourself. Don’t stalk the hallways expecting somebody to spontaneously network with you. At lunch, don’t sit at an empty table in the corner, sit and the loud almost full tables in the middle.
3. Talk to speakers AFTER their session. It may seem like a good chance to say hi in the 10 minute downtime between sessions, but before the session, they’re probably trying remember what they were supposed to say about Slide 4.
4. MIX doesn’t stop at 5:00pm. If you go back to your hotel after the last session to play WoW, even your guild members will make fun of you. There isn’t an official event every night, but there are hundreds of geeks with nothing to do. Get a group together and do something dammit.
5. Wear a kilt. Preferably one with a touristy Vegas patch on it. If you don’t have a kilt, at least dress comfortably. Then you can laugh at the guy in the suit sweating his ass off when sitting in a session room with 200 other people.
The first couple of MIX’s I brought a pad of paper. This is the first year I’m bringing my laptop, but I’m bringing paper too. You can’t sketch with a pencil on your laptop without scratching the screen.
Joe Davis: Amen to closing the damned laptop! Stop playing minesweeper and engage yourself!
And after reading this, just out of spite, I’m wearing my kilt. No telling what’s underneath! That’s just not gentlemanly.
+1 for Ian’s point – talk about the wierd side projects you’ve done/want to do. No one cares about the shopping cart app you built for the shop-n-go.
I second the “CLOSE YOUR LAPTOP AND ENGAGE IN THE CONTENT” comment. Why are you in the room if not to hear something.
The commons really is the hidden gem of MIX, the unsessions that individuals put on there can be really great. Seeing future products, talking to product team members and the author appearances at the bookstore was really fantastic.
Wow! Lots of great tips. First year at MIX for me. I’m thinking about only bringing pen & paper to skip the inconvinience of dragging a three kilo laptop around with me with powercords and god knows what else.
Great article! This will be my second year attending and I’m hoping to branch out a little more on the networking side of things. See you all there.
My first year at Mix, too. Leaving laptop in the room and bringing my trusty Moleskine.
Love the drinking vodka tip. It’s very money er or was that one of those Vegas sayings that’s off limits?
It’s always best to stick with one type of drink in a night. Just to add to it, drink your vodka with tonic, that way you can pace yourself with a plain club soda and lime without drawing attention to it, keep a nice buzz and make it to the morning sessions. Oh and saunas are a great way to prevent/cure hangovers (combined with plenty of water)
Welcome first-timers! Leaving the laptop in the room is solid advice. Especially if you already have a smart phone for checking emails, etc… Bring a pen (and a backup) and pad. (registration may even give you a bag of goodies that includes a pad and pen–I still have my MIX07 pad around here somewhere)
And you will also get a pamphlet with the schedule of events and sessions–keep it handy. Take the advice on picking one or two backup sessions seriously. Before the opening keynote they’ll usually make some announcements about new sessions and maybe even a few that had to be cancelled for various reasons. Then you’ll arrive at a session that sounded cool just to discover it wasn’t as cool as you thought.
And, I know it’s Vegas, but if you can enjoy yourself without it… skip the booze. Take it from the mouth of experience… it can get ugly. But if you can’t help yourself, at least eat heartily before-hand.
And take advantage of the networking opportunities. I did more of that at MIX09 than I had in previous years and it was well worth it. And like I said, don’t hang on the presenters all the time. They’re great… but you never know what product team members and start-up CEOs are already sitting right next to you who’d love to talk shop!!
And if you can’t find anyone else to talk to, give me a ring. I’ll have keys to one of the attendee lottery suites. Twitter: @stygz
Go Mix!