By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Michigan's only regional conference for software developers is in its second year, and the organizers have two goals: to keep high tech jobs in Michigan, and to make the state more competitive in the global economy.
The Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference gives software developers the opportunity to learn new skills, new approaches to old problems, and to find out about new technologies they might be working on in the future.
"In the software world, if we aren't doing a good job developing it locally there's someone else in the world to do it better and cheaper," says Carl Erickson, president of Atomic Object, an organizer and sponsor of the conference.
Any company who makes a 'smart' device needs custom software for it, and others, like insurance companies, need custom software to process information effectively.
"We are convinced that West Michigan's economic vitality depends on being competitive in technology, and software in particular," Erickson says.
That statement is backed up by a recent report in American Business Daily that says tech industry wages pay 86 percent more than the average private sector wage and support numerous other jobs.
The conference will feature 45 speakers from across the country, half-day tutorials, and 30- and 60-minute sessions on new ways of building software and working smarter. Robert Martin of Object Mentor, a widely respected teacher of software processes and an award-winning author, will give the keynote address.
Erickson expects all 150 seats to be sold, up from 120 last year.
The conference will be November 7 and 8 at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College.
For more information, go to www.glsec.org.
Source: Carl Erickson, Atomic Object
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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