Things you should do before JavaOne and While you are in San Francisco

JavaOne is coming up in less than a month! In this post I like to give you some hints that should guide you through your preparations for JavaOne. Every year about 50% of the attendees is a first-time attendee to JavaOne.

Register

The first thing you do (and probably have done already) is register for JavaOne. You can still use a discount code.

Travel and accomodation

How to get to JavaOne (San Francisco) and where to stay? You can book your flight through a variety of online website including Orbitz (good price comparison), Expedia or Ebookers. If you are Dutch, I would stay away from CheapTickets. They first show you a good deal, but be aware of extra surcharges at the end like security tax. If you got a quote, please look at all the surcharges !
The sites mentioned above can offer you also good pointers to various hotels. Add Hotels.com and Booking.com to that formula and you have a range of website to check out. maybe Priceline.com can get you a better deal. Want to check some comments about a specific hotel? Check TripAdvisor.

Session preparation

JavaOne will be crowded this year. So be sure to garantee your seat on your favorite sessions. Make yourself familiar with the session offerings. You can either read the Advance Conference Guide or check the online session catalog. Once you’ve made your decision, make sure to reserve your seat through ScheduleBuilder. This application lets you put together your schedule and save it in XML, iCal or HTML format.
Final preparation; At last year’s conference the PDF files of the slide deck were released before the sessions. This gives you an optimal preparation for the sessoin. Like in college, you can prepare for a lecture instead of getting surprised by the content. I hope they will release the PDF files again.

Mingle with your friends

JavaOne is the place to meet people. John Gage will probably point it out this year again in the opening keynote: “Meet people! Do not be shy. Eat lunch with people you do not know. If you eat with people you already know, take off some points of your Java attendance”. During the conference, you can build your network and talk face-to-face with people you’ve probably known for a long time already while working on projects or communicating on mailinglists.
The BOF are ideal for this purpose. My favorites: The Java Posse BOF, JUG leaders BOF and Java Champions BOF.
Along the official schedule there are a lot of other events in the same week. On monday for example you can visit “CommunityOne“, free of charge. Finally, JavaOne also means PARTY! just check the blogs what the latest and greatest parties are for this year. Eclipse already announced theirs and also the rumours are, that Tangosol has booked the same venue as last year. Oracle lets you preview “Spider-Man 3? at the Metreon on Wednesday.

pack your bags

The weather in San Francisco can vary at this time of year. “Mild and sunny in the morning, rain in the late morning, more sun in the early afternoon, overcast by later afternoon, then a big gust of chilly wind for a clear, cold evening, and finally a big fat fog attack for a cold and misty night.” (source) The advise given in the article is the same advise I would like to give you: Wear layers of clothing so you can peel off and put them on again depending on the weather. Also in Moscone it can be chilly; the Airconditioning seems to be always running.
One of the most important things to pack is a good pair of shoes. You’ll probably walk from your hotel to the conference center and back. This could be an average of 5 blocks (about 1 kilometer) or even more. And naturally you’ll walk around Moscone the whole day; from session to session and stroll at the JavaOne pavilion.

Just before JavaOne

One of the best tips: Get some good nights of sleep. JavaOne is also an Insomnia competition. Sessions start early (8:30am) and the BOFs end very late ( 10:45pm). After the BOFs you’ll probably crash in one of the bars to chat with some recently met peers. Also make sure you don’t have very important meetings right after JavaOne; you have to get rid of the jetlag and get some rest, although JavaOne is an energizing conference.

Getting familar with the streets of San Francisco

While you are in San Francisco, why not take an extra break and visit some of the popular sights. Don’t miss:

• Alcatraz (the evening/night tours are the best); book in advance because these tours may be sold out when you arrive at the ticket booth.
• Visit the Golden Gate Bridge. The landmark of San Francisco. Rent a car or rent a bike and drive across the bridge. Weather can spoil your experience, so check up front!
• Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 Tourist central of San Francisco. Nice restaurants and the smell of the Seal colony at Pier 39.
• Visit Sausalito; a nice vilage just across the bay. Go to Pier 41 and take the Blue and Gold Fleet to Sausalito. Horizons is a very nice place right on the bay side with splendid views of San Francisco, Alcatraz and the bay.
• nice views of the city (especially by night) can be obtained from “The View” in the Marriot Hotel. Take the elevator to the 39th floor and enjoy the view; You might even take a drink while you are enjoying it. You could also go to “Top of The Mark” in Hotel intercontinental at Nob Hill
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Saving on your deals

The way to get around in the states is by using Coupons. In the local brochures, you can find coupons for everything; from $1 off for an icecream to 25% discount on breakfast lunch or diner. On overview of coupons; print them for your own usage:

   
• San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
• BayCityGuide.com
• deals for hertz car rentals
• Free Juice at Lefty O’Douls
• More coupons, coupons
• Or use this or this Google search for more coupons

My favorite is the coupon for breakfast at Lori’s to get the all American experience.

Overview on Google Maps

I’ve composed the following map on Google Maps. The map contains small restaurants, bars the Moscone center and the places to go.

Enjoy your time!