MADExpo is coming to Hampton Roads, Virginia

If you've been on Twitter and follow anyone in the Mid Atlantic .NET community, you've no doubt seen tweets about a new conference coming to the area June 30 and July 1, 2011.

A group of great community-minded folks have been percolating this idea for quite some time and officially got the ball rolling earlier this year. Joel Cochran (famous for his Blend sessions, BlendSIG and great fuel economy metrics) suggested that I might be interested in participating since I've been involved with conferences as part of my work at Geeks and Gurus.

As things turned out (not quite in an everybody-stepped-back-while-I-stood-still way, but almost) I'm now the president of the non-profit that is organizing this event. We have a great team of people working on various aspects of the event and I'll highlight them and the work they are doing in future posts in this blog, which I plan to use to provide some of the inside story and enhanced details of the event as we continue to get closer.

Our goal: The Mid Atlantic Developer Expo will bring together hundreds of software professionals, hardware enthusiasts, and students for a 2-day event like no other.

Our plans currently include:

• 72 breakout sessions covering a variety of topics related to .NET, Ruby, MongoDB, NUI, Agile, Testing, SQL Server, SharePoint, Best Practices, Soft Skills and more.
• 2 Keynotes.
• HTML 5 Camp, sponsored by Microsoft.
• MADKidz - a one day track specifically dedicated to kids of various age groups.
• Hacker/Maker space with demos running all day long.
• Vendor Sessions for our Gold and Silver sponsors providing in-depth opportunities to learn about available products.
• Exhibitors showcasing relevant tools and resources.
• Networking opportunities.
• A great location to hang out and relax after the conference is over.

Over the next many days, I'll be blogging about the specifics of several aspects of the conference including:

• The Hotel Breakfast (really)
• Dining Options for dinner on Thursday and Friday
• Keynotes
• Hotel
• Amtrak
• Airports
• MADKidz
• Stuff to do in the area after the conference
• More...

We're expecting to have a great time. We know the location and content are going to be great.  Please join us.  You can register here.