Turning Up Where Least Expected
A conference devoted to devices that run iOS might be the last place you’d think you’d see a Microsoft developer evangelist, but here I am!
I’m at iP3 Forum , “a one-day event that will explore the changing mobile landscape and the business opportunities associated with Apple's Touch Platform (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch), as business models adapt to a market where people are always connected.” It’s organized by Interactive Ontario, a group whose mandate is to promote the development of interactive media in Ontario.
iP3 Forum has two tracks: business and technical, with some sessions common to both; if you’re curious about its sessions, take a look at the schedule.
So what am I doing here? Learning. There’s a lot to learn from the mobile app cultures of the Esteemed Competition, and I want to take those lessons (I refuse to use the Microsoft term “learnings”) back to Windows Phone developers. At the same time, I’m also reaching out to iPhone developers to convince them to add Windows Phone 7 to their mobile OS roll, and I need to know about their world. I’m even doing a little noodling with iPhone and iPad development in order to learn more. As they say, travel broadens the mind, and that holds true even for “travel” to different operating systems.
My time at iP3 Forum has been peppered with interruptions – it’s the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year, which means meetings, meetings, meetings – but I’m taking notes for those sessions I’m able to catch and I’ll post them soon.