Memories, connections, friendships, growth, and humbleness, are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of Into The Box 2023.
Ortus has done it again, another year of giving back to the community and another conference that never disappoints. So, for those of you that have yet to make it to this conference, all I can say, is don't let another year go by that you do not join your fellow developers and peers in this intimate and, in my opinion, one of the best conferences you can ever attend for the ColdFusion community.
This year, I was honored to present "Building Human-Friendly Scheduled Tasks" with my dear friend Luis. He put me up to the challenge, and boy, was it one, but I am happy he did, as not only did I learn more about this topic, but at the same time, I committed updates to the framework and documentation. So, being known as the "WebSocket Guy," it looks like now I have been titled the "Scheduled Task Guy."
For those interested in my slide deck, it can be found here. I am still working on the UI I demoed in my presentation and hope to have a release to share with the community soon.
But enough about my presentation, as the experience was more than just that.
Instead of going down the roster of the speakers and their wonderful presentations, I encourage all to check them out at CFCASTS once they are made available.
For me, it was about the community. Starting at the speakers' dinner, where I sat next to Brian Klass, and we discussed technology, our love of food, and stories about our children. To discussing music with Saeed Bawaney and sharing photos of our newest guitars. Running into and catching up with Pete Freitag during a nice afternoon walk. Enjoying some great mariachi at Happy Box, and a funny adventure with Edgardo Cabezas. Getting to know Denard Springle and realizing we had a lot in common. And the list goes on and on.
The highlight, though, was dinner the last night with Brian, Nolan, Scott, and Chris. This one was special, and I am so grateful that it happened. Stepping outside of the boxes most of us live in on a day-to-day basis, it is great to know you are not alone in your struggles and doubts. I now know them all just a little better as they do me.
As you can see, this is just more than a simple conference. It is a place where new friendships are made, and old ones are nourished, and although this may be possible anywhere, there is something in the air when you come to an Into The Box conference that emphasizes it more.
Luis created something special at Ortus, and it is clear to see. To the entire Ortus team, I am grateful for everything you do.
To another ten years and more!
