techblog 

I recently attended the JAOO conference in Aarhus, Denmark (don’t ask me how you pronounce it, I heard “Yow”, “Jow” and “J.A.O.O.” amongst others). The list of speakers was pretty impressive, including:

• One of the Gang of Four
• One of the Three Amigos
• One of the Two Agile Dave Thomases
• The one and only Martin Fowler

What was surprising to me was the split of the attendees by nationality. I’d guess it was 90% Danish, 5% Swedish, 3% German and 2% Others. Now considering the calibre of those giving the presentations, I would have expected more Brits and Germans. In fact it was only on the very last day that I met another Brit who wasn’t a speaker or with a company at the exhibition. I can only begin to guess as to the reasons. Maybe it is too expensive, or perhaps people just don’t know about it? The bottom line is that if you want to see Martin Fowler speak and you don’t want to leave Europe, this is almost your only chance.