Hard to believe, but the Atlanta Java Software Symposium is already just around the corner. Set for October 15th, 2004, at the W Hotel in Atlanta, with early registration at $625 per person, it’s one of the best conference values I know of. After I returned last year giving the conference rave reviews, my company has agreed to send 2 people this year, and with 5 concurrent sessions, I think it will pay off.

The slate of speakers is perhaps a shred better than last year. Most of last year’s excellent speakers, including Dave Thomas, Bruce Tate, Stuart Halloway, David Geary are returning (those are the ones I heard last hear, I heard some of the other returning presenters were also good), and some solid additions have been made – Richard Monson-Haefal and Ted Neward are additions I recognize. Additionally, many of the good speakers seem to be doing more presentations. Add it all up, and it looks like another great program. Hopefully the TBA sessions will be of similar quality, and we won’t see the addition of any marginal, vendor-driven astroturfing sessions such as one I attended last year. If you join the Atlanta Java Users Group mailing list, you’ll probably see a discount code before long. I hope to see you there – if not, I’ll probably try some live blogging, although that will depend. Last year’s wi-fi access was spotty at best.