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Dave Anderson @electrobarn
, 28 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
WWDC Tip:

Don't bring a coat if you're willing to wear the one Apple gives you or the weather indicates you don’t need one.

(San Jose isn't nearly as cold as San Francisco.)
There are lots of restaurant options along N San Pedro St between W Santa Clara St and W Saint John St.

Its a short walk from the convention centre and nothing like accidentally walking through the Tenderloin in SF.
WWDC Tip:

In the San Jose Convention Center it's a lot more difficult to look over or through the crowd to see and recognize people (compared to Moscone West).

The pillars obstruct the view *a lot*.

The stairs to the lab (assuming the same layout as last year) are better.
WWDC Tip:

Always skip a session if you can talk to someone in the lab.

The face to face is worth the price of admission if you’ll put in the effort to use it.
WWDC Tip:

Come with questions, concerns, complaints and ideas for the labs.

Get your friends, neighbours and countrymen to feed you more concerns, complaints and ideas that you can talk to someone about.

This is your chance to provide feedback.
WWDC Tip:

File Radars @ radar.apple.com before the conference. Then go to the lab for the team that should have seen your radar and ask them about it.

And file more radars during WWDC and ask about them while you’re there.
WWDC Tip:

Ask about the radars that you filed years ago that never got closed as a duplicate and are still open.

And then ask about the ones closed as a duplicate to see if they’ve been resolved (or need attention).
WWDC Tip:

Its remarkably refreshing to sit in the outdoor lounge area at the convention center when you need a break from being inside.

Particularly nice when you can meet up with friends to talk about sessions you didn’t attend and swap stories from time in the labs.
WWDC Tip:

(This one should be obvious)

In no circumstances should you install any of the betas on anything you actually need to use or depend on.
WWDC Tip:

Review last year’s announcements and sessions (the PDFs are quick to scan) to remind yourself of the things you can finally do _this year_ if you support the N and N-1 versions of iOS.

I’ve only ever been able to ignore the N-1 version of iOS for greenfield projects.
WWDC Tip:

Warning: guesstimate statistics.

40% of attendees are there for the first time
20% have been there more than once in the past 3 years.
The rest are scholarship winners (different lanyard) or haven’t been there for a few years…

… or are only there for the keynote.
WWDC Tip:

Always pick up an Odwalla when you see them. Some times of the day the coolers are locked and invariably you’ll wish you had one.

(If you see me, I love Mango Tango)

It was a sad year when there wasn’t _any_ Odwalla.
WWDC Tip:

The company store at the convention center always opens when a session or lab you don’t want to miss is on.

They have limited edition products that sell out fast, particularly kid-sized shirts.

(I abhor standing in lines & have 4 kids so I really struggle with this.)
WWDC Tip:

Everyone feels like everyone else does contract iOS dev work just like them. This is a fallacy.

Many attendees are somewhat introverted and don’t want to repeat the same words ^ at the start of every conversation.

Ask your neighbour a question anyway. Make a friend.
WWDC Tip:

Ask the scholarship winners about their projects and how many times they have applied.

It’s shocking how diverse and tenacious the scholarship winners are.
WWDC Tip:

Schedule one or more visits to the iTunes Connect and TestFlight labs. Tell them what does and doesn’t work well for you, and what would make your live easier, better, faster or stronger.

(These labs had mints last year. All labs should have mints.)

Note: bring mints
WWDC Tip:

Some lunchtime speakers are better than others. Most are incredible (and may trigger escalated security procedures to get in the building).

I won’t name the lunchtime speaker from a few years ago that was an infomercial. That one was awful. #rare
WWDC Tip:

Be patient & considerate in labs. Everyone wants to ask the same 5 Engineers either the same question or incredibly diverse questions.

Wait your turn & say thank you.

(Lab highlight last year was an Engineer sitting everyone in a circle & having a group discussion.)
WWDC Tip:

You probably don’t need your laptop on Keynote day.

The consumer Keynote is in the morning.

The Keynote that you, as a developer, are most interested in is in the afternoon.
WWDC Tip:

Tuesday is full of exciting but high level sessions that give introductions but not as much depth as you need.

Follow up sessions with depth happen other days (usually).
Showing up with sample projects (or feature branches with issues) are your best bang for your buck.

Grab the beta bits over the Ethernet network Monday afternoon and come back Tuesday with (more) code for the labs.
WWDC Tip:

Yes, the security dogs have badges like yours, but theirs can get more places.

You can ask to pet them unless everyone is trying to get in the building at the start of each day.
WWDC Tip:

Before you arrive, turn off all sharing on your Mac, and set your AirDrop (on all devices) to Contacts Only (or Off).
WWDC Tip:

As soon as you leave the security perimeter of the Convention Center, tuck your badge under your shirt or coat, or put it in your pocket.

Yes, your wrist band should prevent someone else from using your stolen badge, but the badge is irreplaceable so keep it safe.
WWDC Tip:

You’ll (likely) get a fabric wrist band when you check in (hopefully on Sunday). This is the second factor in your identification (likely to prevent badge sharing).

Don’t take it off, so don’t let them put it on too tight.
WWDC Tip:

Avoid the WWDC Plague by:
* getting enough sleep
* washing your hands regularly * avoid touching your surroundings and then eating with your hands
* ^ also applies for your travel to San Jose
WWDC Tip:

Try to avoid spreading the WWDC Plague (if you have it) by

* using a cough pocket (elbow)
* carrying & using tissues
* avoiding touching public surfaces
* washing your hands
* taking an OTC decongestant like Sinutab
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