Scotch on the Rocks Blog

SOTR2011 Speakers Unleashed

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:48:00-0000

For the first time in the history of Scotch on the Rocks, we're a tad organised. OK< we're a day behind in this unleashing, but I think most will agree we seem to be on the ball.

Topics/schedule will come later (give us 6 weeks) but here's the speaker line up:

Faisal Abid (AndSpot, Inc.)
Peter Bell (Railo)
Rob Brooks-Bilson (Amkor Technology)
Ray Camden (FirstComp)
Sean Corfield (Railo)
Jason Dean (Dakota County Technical College)
Mark Drew (Railo)
Claude Englebert (Adobe)
Steven Erat
Gert Franz (Railo)
Matt Gifford (Fuzzy Orange)
Sagar H Ganatra (Adobe)
Vinu Kumar (Adobe)
Bruce Lawson (Opera)
Adam Lehman (Adobe)
Chris Mills (Opera)
Stephen Moretti (Enigma Interactive)
Ben Nadel (Epicenter Consulting)
Chris Pelsor
Steven Peeters (multimediacollege)
Robert Rawlins (WeBoffins)
Terry Ryan (Adobe)
Darren Walker
John Whish (Crisp eBusiness)

Speaker lineup is subject to change and should anyone have to withdraw form the conference, we promise to mock them profusely.

p.s. the new website is coming; clients are keeping us super busy.

SOTR2011 Tickets on sale NOW!

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:52:00-0000

Yes, tickets for the 2011 conference are on sale now at: http://sotr2011.eventbrite.com Get em while they're cheap!!!!

SOTR2011 - Call for Speakers

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:11:00-0000

So we've now had a month off from conference activities, and it's time to really get the ball rolling for 2011. We've already announced the dates, the venue, pricing and a host of other items but now it's time to open up the general call for speakers. So, we're looking for topics on CFML, Flex & AIR, HTML5, Project Management, Development Best Practices... and anything you think may wow our audience. Simply email scotch@fuzzyorange.co.uk with your proposed topics, a bio for yourself including any previous experience speaking at conferences and/or user groups and we'll do the rest. The call for speakers will close August 1st so be quick ... We ALWAYS get more interest than we have available slots so do be quick. Speakers Benefits:

Full conference pass
3 nights stay in the hotel
If flying in to Edinburgh airport, we'll arrange transport to and from the airport

Over, Finished, Done, Gone, Out!!! 2010 was a blast

Wed, 26 May 2010 21:44:00-0000

2010 is done. And we had a blast, and from all accounts, so did everyone who attended. As we announced in the closing keynote, we launched a 5 year plan in 2008 after the economy took a bit of a nose dive, in that 2009 and 2010 would be primarily about keeping the conference going in these difficult times. 2011 onwards would be the recovery, and as announced earlier, the plan has worked. Unorthodox venue or not, we all got a bit of a surprise when we discovered TigerTiger had added a dance floor and barriers to the main room, whereby affecting visibility, but we battled on and everyone, all 176 of you - our best attendance yet - didn't utter a single complaint. That's what we love about the SOTR audience. You guys really appreciate what we do, and when we hit a snag, you roll with it. So a huge thanks. And a huge thanks to all our speakers and sponsors. Without you, we can't deliver the conference to the EMEA community. We'll be posting/linking to all speaker presentations as soon as we can, but in the mean time, here's some links to reviews from 2010. Thanks again - the CF community really is the best in the world. http://misterdai.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/sotr2010-day-1-notes/comment-page-1/
http://www.mattbourke.com/blog/post.cfm/sotr-my-take
http://www.stitcherooni.co.uk/post.cfm/sotr-2010-a-review
http://www.oxalto.co.uk/blog/post.cfm/sotr2010
http://www.jonathonjoyce.co.uk/index.php/category/coldfusion/sotr2010/
http://www.mccran.co.uk/index.cfm/2010/5/25/Scotch-On-the-Rocks--day-one-review
http://rachaelandtom.info/content/scotch-rocks-2010-day-1-part-1
http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/2010/05/25/scotch-on-the-rocks-coldfusion-conference

SOTR2011 Announced!

Wed, 26 May 2010 10:36:00-0000

At the end of SOTR2010 we announced details for 2011. Taking place at the Apex International Hotel in Edinburgh, SOTR2011 will move to an earlier slot in the year, running on March 3-4. The two day event, featuring 3 tracks per day will see us move back to our home city of Edinburgh. Pricing has also been announced, and will follow a similar tiered structure like 2010.

Super Duper Cheap: £50
Super Cheap: £75
Fairly Cheap: £100
Kinda Cheap: £125
Costs a few quid: £150
Full Price: £199

Prices exclude VAT (which is currently 17.5%) We've also block booked hotel rooms for our delegates and the rates are:

Single Occupancy: £115
Double Occupancy (double bed or twin beds): £125

We'll have special codes for you to use, which will be available soon. These prices are *inclusive* of VAT and also include breakfast. Double occupancy is a great way of keeping your cost down, so share with a friend and it will only cost you £62.50 per night. Other important points to note:

Free wifi across the entire hotel
Free pick up to/from Edinburgh airport
Hotel is family friendly and offers great deals (see here for more details)

We also have a number of our speakers confirmed, but we're leaving that announcement for later. That's all for now, as we're taking a break for a month before we start the organising fun all over again.

Scotch on the Rocks 2011

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:03:00-0000

Heavens above. 2010 hasn't even been and gone and already we've started on 2011. We're looking for feedback right now on the 2011 conference, with the big question being; "Where?". If you can take 10 minutes to fill out the survey that would be awesome: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8629T8T

SOTR2010 Award Nominations

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:55:00-0000

A reminder to all about the SOTR 2010 Reachie Awards. The awards are open to all to nominate their favourite entries for all EMEA ColdFusion developers (Europe, Middle East and Africa). We have a huge amount of talent in the EMEA region, and we wanted to recognise that fact with the first official Reachie Awards. The categories are as follows:

Best ColdFusion blog
Best ColdFusion developer to follow on social media
Best ColdFusion site
Best open-source ColdFusion application
Best all-round ColdFusion community member

Make sure you don't miss out and vote today! The results will be announced live at SOTR2010 during the event. Vote in the Reachie Awards now

Mass Speaker Unveiling

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:01:00-0000

We're delighted to announce as speakers for SotR2010:

Chris Mills
Mike Jones
Mike Brunt
Chris Mills
Luis Majano
Luca Mezzalira
Claude Englebert
Tom Woolway/James Whittaker
John Whish
Simon Slooten
Jochem van Dieten

James Bond and Indiana Jones unveiled

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:44:00-0000

We've decided to unveil another couple of speakers; this time it's James Bond and Indiana Jones. Head over to the Speakers Page to find out who they are.

Reachie Awards & Promo Videos

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:33:00-0000

A few new items to highlight regarding the uber-event that is Scotch on the Rocks 2010 - The Movie.

Award Nominations

This year at SOTR we want to honour, showcase and acknowledge the talent within the European ColdFusion community. Welcome to 'The Reachies' 'The Reachie' awards consists of five categories, the winners of which will be revealed on Tuesday 25th May, the final day of SOTR2010. As it's a community-focussed event, who better to nominate the entrants than the community themselves. The five categories and the accompanying prizes are:

Best ColdFusion blog: 16GB iPod Nano
Best ColdFusion developer to follow on social media: Nintendo DSi
Best ColdFusion site: Flip Ultra II Camera
Best open-source ColdFusion application: ColdFusion Builder
Best all-round ColdFusion community member: Flash Builder 4 Professional

The awards are now open, so please make sure you head over to the awards page and submit your nominations for the categories. Entries will close on Monday 24th May 2010.

Promo video

We have released the first of our SOTR 2010 promotional videos, which you can enjoy in the form of moving pictures here: Feel free to post it, blog it, love it and pass it around like a cheap bottle of cider.

ALL Cheap Ass tickets SOLD OUT

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:43:00-0000

For those who have been hanging on for the full speaker and/or session announcements before buying tickets, I'm afraid to say that all of the Cheap Ass tickets are now SOLD OUT. We've now moved onto the Full Ass Ticket Price of £165+vat. Make sure you buy before the event sells out. And if you have been waiting on us to unveil the speakers and announce the sessions, we've already announce Ray Camden, Ben Nadel and Matt Gifford. And we have plenty more big names to reveal soon. Buy before you can't!

Lord Vader, Marty McFly and The Terminator unveiled

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:51:00-0000

After being somewhat secretive about who our speakers are, we've started the unveiling process. Head over to the Speakers page to find out just who Lord Vader, Marty McFly and The Terminator are.

Coldbox training

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:03:00-0000

We're working with the Coldbox team on offering a 3 day post-conference training event, covering the 2 day CBOX-101 training course, in addition to a one day hands on boot camp.

The course would be delivered by Luis Majano, and would take place in London, May 26-28.

Pricing would be £1,000.00

Please let us know if you'd be interested.

SOTR2010 tickets are on sale now

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:24:00-0000

Just go buy already

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:36:00-0000

In true SOTR fashion, we're a tad late on getting this information out to you.

First. The new website. Rather swanky if we do say so ourselves.

Second. We're holding 2010 at TigerTiger in London. It's not an excuse just to get drunk! Honestly. We've got a fantastic speaker lineup, including:

Darth Vader
Chewbacca
Indiana Jones
The Terminator
Marty McFly
and more

Also, with the recession still being a thorn in everyone's side, we hope we've managed to price things in such a way that it's affordable to everyone.

Super Early Mega Cheap Ass Ticket: £50
Super Early Very Cheap Ass Ticket: £75
Not So Early Fairly Cheap Ass Ticket: £100
Not So Early Cheap Ass Ticket: £125
Full Ass Price Ticket: £165

Prices exclude VAT at 17.5%

We've got a lot more to announce so grab some popcorn, a bucket of juice, and stay tuned.