>Developers, like anyone else, have limited $$$ to spend on training and >travel. Most can not justify the expense where VFP is almost an >afterthought. We can, however, sell a trip (even to Disney World!) where we >have over 3 days of solid VFP technical sessions, exhibits, etc.

Been there... done that. I know what it is like to be an independent developer. When you go to these things, you are not billing. I also know what it is like to be in a company with limited $ or a philosophy that does not believe there is intrinsic value in going conferences. I have yet to go to one without learning at least 1 valuable tip.


>If MS and other promoters of all these events would put-up ("or shut-up") with >respect to the "multi-tool" mantra and mix in VFP with the same emphasis (or >at something a little more respectful) as they do all the other products, I >think you would see different attitudes and attendance mixes.

I don't think you will ever see the same level of marketing and promotion for VFP as you do for other tools like VB. That said, I really don't care because it does not impede my ability to create applications either with 100% VFP or with a mix of tools. I think John Harvey's reply to me says it best with regard to this topic.


>I have been to these types of promotional shindigs before, and, while >informative and interesting, I can not afford the time or expense much less >justify my attendance like I can at a VFP DevCon.

Thank you. This is my point exactly. The vast majority of VFP developers opt to go to Devcon....not TechEd. That said, why do many of those same developers bitch about the lack of sessions at TechEd. Heck, they would not go to them anyway. Its like a developer who complains about the fact other tools are not OO - but don't use OO in thier development of VFP applications. Isn't all a moot point? Unless of course, you judge MS's comittment to a product based on the number of TechEd sessions presented. The session content at TechEd is determined much like the Advisor Devcons....attendance. Is it heavy on the marketing side... of course it is - but then again - so are the VBITS shows by Fawcette and the Advisor shows? Bascially, both Fawcette and Advisor want you - by the time you leave the show - to have learned something in the technical sessions - and 2 - to know what thier respective companies are in the business of doing. The day I see the technical content suffer because of some marketing issue, thats when I will bail. I have yet to see this occur.