As a budding mobile developer back in early 2012 working on my first app, everything about iOS was new and different from the .NET world with which I was familiar. Living in the Denver area at the time, I stumbled upon this local conference named 360|iDev. What I found there was an awesome experience with great developers from all over, fascinating talks, and community.
It helped invigorate my technical side and kept me motivated to stick with the new world (to me at the time) of mobile apps I went back in 2013 and 2014 and found an equally engaging experience that kept driving me forward. There’s was something about the friendliness and community at the smaller conference that I never saw later at larger venues like I/O or WWDC.
This week, I was finally able to attend 360|iDev again in person in Denver; but sadly it will likely be the last. John Wilkers announced yesterday that the conference’s run is finally over. To me it was emotional and sobering seeing this great event no longer able to viable in our Covid-endemic, “new normal” world. It certainly leaves a large gap in the iOS conference landscape.
As I travel back to the Boston area, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this latest experience, the knowledge learned, and especially the people and camaraderie at these special events. I’ve also gained a sincere appreciation for the effort it must have taken to continue the conference year after year, virtually through the pandemic, and finally in person again. I hold out hope that some iteration of the conference will survive; but if it doesn’t, I’ll look back on it fondly. 🥹
eMpTy Theory 