On Skipping WWDC This Year

I won’t be at WWDC this year due to a once-a-decade massive family visitation. I live on the cool coast, and my family (mostly) lives on the other coast, so it’s a Big Deal Not To Be Missed.

(I may tweet faux locations during WWDC, just to send people on wild goose chases. “Shields.” “No, Tempest.” Etc. Let me have my fun, okay?)

I still love WWDC, and I’ll be there next year.

But I may not buy a ticket next year. Here’s my thinking:

• I get a ton of value out of the sessions — and they come out on video very quickly these days, and they’re easy to get. I play some of them over and over. There’s no need for a ticket to get the sessions.

• I haven’t used the labs much over the years. I had one great experience in the labs in 2005, but they’re just not generally useful to me. I don’t tend to have the kinds of problems that only a lab can solve, and I have lots of ways of getting help and finding answers. (So do you.)

• I’ve been a Cocoa developer since 2002. There are developers newer to the platform who can benefit much more than I can from actually being at WWDC. If I don’t buy a ticket, somebody else who needs it more than I do can attend.

• Most of the value of WWDC — for me, at least — is after hours. I can skip the actual conference and still appear in the evenings.

So, again, yes, I’ll be there next year — but I bet I won’t have an actual ticket. I’ll let that ticket go to someone else, someone who’s more excited and able than I am to get up early each morning.