Glue-ing Together the Cloud, API’s, and More

I spent the past couple of days in some pretty lofty atmosphere. Not just because I found myself in the Mile High City, but because Eric Norlin put together another fantastic conference. Glue 2011 brought some really smart geeks to Denver to talk about the latest tools, tricks, and tactics that can be used to build interconnected web applications.

At CustomScoop, we interact with other services all the time, often through formal API’s, but also through more “hacked together” methods. It was great to spend time with other technology-minded folks who face some of the same challenges we do. I got to learn how they have built impressive, scalable architectures that help them be more effective. I was exposed to new services and technologies that we will likely deploy ourselves.

Glue – like most of Eric’s events – does a great job of knowing just how long each session should be. It is rare to find oneself itching to move on to the next speaker, in large part because he errs on the side of brevity. It’s much better to be left wanting more than to become bored or annoyed.

Like most conferences, there were a handful of speakers who spent a bit too much time talking about their own products. If I wanted to see a demo, I’d talk to a salesperson; at a conference, I want to focus on ideas and big picture approaches. When I speak to audiences like this, I make a point to talk about what a service like CustomScoop can do – and even note the names of competitors who do a good job at particular things.

Nevertheless, the time and travel were well spent. I fly back East today with a wealth of new ideas, a bunch of useful knowledge, and some new personal connections. And I’m already looking forward to Eric’s next conference here in Denver: Defrag 2011 coming this November.