Flash on the Beach 09

25th September 2009

Another Flash on the Beach is over, and as I settle back down into work I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on this year’s conference.

This was, for me, the best Flash on the Beach ever. And since Flash on the Beach is the best conference, that makes this the best conference ever. Highlights include

• Joa Ebert blew everyone’s mind with his decompiler/compiler/optimiser/uml generator/image compressor toolkit, followed by "just another thing" – compiling C# source to a swf, followed by "and another thing" – compiling Java source to a swf. I like to think I’m pretty clever. Joa is a genius. He received a well deserved standing ovation.
• Mario Klingemann, Hugh Elliot and Joshua Davis made the last day an extravaganza of knowledge and delight. They each hosted very informative, though provoking sessions that presented information and ideas expertly interwoven with stories of their own lives. It was a riveting experience. It would be too cruel to pick a single favourite out of the three.
• I enjoyed my own session and it went very well. With a full house and heaps of positive feedback it seems to have been useful to a lot of people. To all those who told me how great it was, thank you. The slides are online here.

• Meeting up with old friends, and acquiring new ones. The Flash world is full of lovely people and FOTB is the place to catch up with the best of them. I made some great new friends this year. It’s sad to wait so long before we meet again.
• John Davey, the real star of the show, exhausted and happy at the end of the event. For most of us, it’s a brilliant few days. For John it’s the culmination of months of planning. Every year he puts his heart into FOTB and every year we love him for it. Thank you John.

This year was my second Flash on the Beach as a speaker, and my fourth overall – yes, I’ve been to every one. And whether or not John asks me to speak again next year, I’ll be there. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.

Tags: Flash on the Beach, Frameworks