So, I’ve been a bit busy lately. OK. Way too busy. My last post was months ago.
I had planned on getting away for two months at the beginning of August after a really important deadline for one client at the end of June and another really important deadline for a different client at the end of July. As plans were talked about, getting away meant driving about 2000 miles in 10 days to make stops in New Jersey (to see my parents, sisters, their families, and more), Pennsylvania (to see Carol’s mom, sister, her family, and more) and an important trip for a pending business venture in Ohio.

As this trip was being talked about, I heard about CocoaConf being offered in Dublin, OH. I heard about it from Solomon Klein, the son of my friend Dave Klein. It sounded like it would be a good conference, but I wasn’t sure if I wouldn’t be better off just taking the time to work on the iPad app I’m behind where I’d like to be on. As the time to make the final decision approached, I learned more about the fact that the whole conference was being put on by Dave Klein’s family, whom I had never met.
(The Klein family described themselves as “Your average family of 15, seeking to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ“) We talked a bit, prayed a bit, and I became more convinced that I should go to this thing.

What an incredible conference! Although I’ve been to conferences run by families before, they were usually in church circles. I’ve run local workshops where my family helped out, but never at this scale. And, I’ve been to a lot of software conferences before, but never such a combination of intimacy and quality. The speakers were top notch. The program was meaty. The schedule was not too rushed, not too slow, but just right. And this was their first such conference!

The Kleins drive a big blue bus and have decided that, in addition to the consulting business Dave and three of his oldest sons are doing, they are going to make a go of putting these conferences on all around the country, perhaps 6-12 per year. I’m thrilled to be talking to them about RoleModel Software sponsoring an upcoming Raleigh conference and housing the Klein family before and after the conference. Not only will I enjoy the fellowship, but we’ve got a lot of things we can learn from each other and do together in software. And I’ve got a few projects around the house that could use another 30 hands or so to knock out!

The software industry, like any place the Lord has you, is a mission field. Your family is where discipleship begins. Put the two together.