The Fox Show Interview

Andrew has posted an interview with the three Southwest Fox organizers in the latest podcast of The Fox Show. We discuss th 2008 edition of the conference and some new things in the planning stages.

If you have any questions or suggestions based on what you hear please feel free to send them to info AT SWFox DOT net.

VFP Boot Camp Held Immediately Following Southwest Fox

Visionpace is presenting the highly-acclaimed VFP Boot Camp immediately following Southwest Fox. This event delivers three jam-packed days of solid, hands-on learning. From the fundamentals of VFP development through the very latest VFP 9.0 features, this boot camp is designed to quickly get your VFP skills up to speed. Attendees will receive a 500 page manual in both print and electronic format.

The three-day boot camp begins on Sunday, October 19th from 2:30 - 6:00 following the closing session of Southwest Fox. On Monday and Tuesday, October 20th and 21st, the class runs from 8:30 to 4:30 and on Wednesday, October 22nd the schedule is 8:30 to 2:30.

Registration ends on October 1, 2008. For more information visit http://visionpace.com/developereducation.html or email info@visionpace.com. To register call 888-904-7900.

Interesting Early Statistics

I spent a little time this week preparing for an interview about Southwest Fox on The Fox Show, (not posted yet), and came across some interesting statistics with respect to the registrations.

• 31% of registrations are first time to Southwest Fox
• 11% of registrations are first time to a Visual FoxPro conference

The way we receive registrations has definitely changed since we tweaked the registrations process a bit:

• 51% email
• 29% fax
• 13% snail mail
• 7% in-person

Email and fax have flipped percentages and email and in-person remain almost the same. This past week I came up with a couple of ideas I might implement for next year.

81 days until the conference convenes in Mesa!

Session Videos

We're creating videos for some of the sessions to give you an idea of what you'll see at the conference. One is available now; stayed tuned for more.

Another MDSN Subscription for Drawing

Microsoft MVP Dan Freeman of P+W Software has generously donated another MSDN Premium Subscription, bringing the total number available to seven. Altogether there is over $91,000 worth of prizes for drawing, including software licenses from Red Gate Software, SourceGear, ApexSQL, xSQL Software, and the German FoxPro User Group.

Scholarship Winner Announcement

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of talking with D.J Scullin of Elkhorn Wisconsin. I let him know he is the winner of the White Light Computing $300 scholarship to attend Southwest Fox. Well, his employer is the really the winner {g}. This is D.J's first trip to Southwest Fox and his first ever VFP conference! He is very excited to have the opportunity to travel to Mesa this October to meet more VFP developers.

D.J.'s name was drawn by the lead marketing adviser here at White Light Computing out of the 67 names registered by July 1, 2007.

Congratulations D.J.!

Only 99 days until we meet in Mesa.

Registration One-Day Record Set

The pace of registrations yesterday was exhilarating and exhausting, but at the end of the day I processed 22 registrations. This sets a new one-day record for Geek Gatherings. The previous day record was 14.

Fingers are soar and I am behind on the processing of the registrations. So if you are thinking you missed the deadline to save on the early-bird, your right. But...we are a group who believe in second chances. {g}

Based on the fact I am tired and in a weak state from all the data entry, I am officially extending the deadline until Monday July 7th at Midnight, EDT. Consider this the last chance to get in on the $75 discount and the free pre-conference session.

Registrations are just a little behind last year's record setting pace, but just by a little bit.