FEATUREeven further, perhaps just to Apple employees. They’ll
certainly provide the applause that’s required.
What’s left of WWDC, however, is the connections.
With every session streamed online, the value of
coming to San Jose is in making connections with other
people. Apple offers ‘lab sessions’ that allow developers
to connect with key Apple engineers. This is a big deal,
by far the most important thing that happens at WWDC.
For the rest of the year, as a developer you can file
bug reports about that issue that is making your app
buggy, but at WWDC you can literally sit with the Apple
engineer who is in charge of that feature and explain
why your app is suffering. I can’t tell you how many
stories I’ve heard from developers about how important
it was to make contact with the people inside Apple
who affect the fate of their software.
Labs will be a tough thing to replicate, but I think
Apple needs to try. Perhaps there could be a way to
sign up for ‘office hours’ with Apple employees in
certain categories, in which you’d get an appointment
for a FaceTime call. Perhaps there could be live Q&A
sessions where key members of various Apple teams
field questions from an online audience of developers.
Creating a way for developers to spend time with
Apple people without overwhelming them is going
to be hard, but it’s vitally important.
And who knows, maybe this event could lead to
some cultural change inside Apple. If the company
builds a system that allows developers to get time
with Apple employees without making the trek to
San Jose, maybe it could be used in other ways to
facilitate the roll-out of new technologies and helpFEATURE
evenfurther,perhapsjusttoAppleemployees.They’ll
certainlyprovidetheapplausethat’srequired.
What’sleftofWWDC,however,istheconnections.
Witheverysessionstreamedonline,thevalueof
comingtoSanJoseisinmakingconnectionswithother
people.Appleoffers‘labsessions’thatallowdevelopers
toconnectwithkeyAppleengineers.Thisisabigdeal,
byfarthemostimportantthingthathappensatWWDC.
Fortherestoftheyear,asadeveloperyoucanfile
bugreportsaboutthatissuethatismakingyourapp
buggy,butatWWDCyoucanliterallysitwiththeApple
engineerwhoisinchargeofthatfeatureandexplain
whyyourappissuffering.Ican’ttellyouhowmany
storiesI’veheardfromdevelopersabouthowimportant
itwastomakecontactwiththepeopleinsideApple
whoaffectthefateoftheirsoftware.
Labswillbeatoughthingtoreplicate,butIthink
Appleneedstotry.Perhapstherecouldbeawayto
signupfor‘officehours’withAppleemployeesin
certaincategories,inwhichyou’dgetanappointment
foraFaceTimecall.PerhapstherecouldbeliveQ&A
sessionswherekeymembersofvariousAppleteams
fieldquestionsfromanonlineaudienceofdevelopers.
Creatingawayfordeveloperstospendtimewith
Applepeoplewithoutoverwhelmingthemisgoing
to behard,butit’svitallyimportant.
Andwhoknows,maybethiseventcouldleadto
someculturalchangeinsideApple.Ifthecompany
buildsasystemthatallowsdeveloperstogettime
with Appleemployeeswithoutmakingthetrekto
SanJose,maybeitcouldbeusedinotherwaysto
facilitate theroll-outofnewtechnologiesandhelp