As always the keynote was grand, and didn’t disappoint in spite of the high expectations.. but it was just the beginning of Apple’s 5-day mega tech event, the Worldwide Developers Conference.
With around 6000 participants – including the “randomly selected attendees” like myself, scholarship winners and Apple employees, it was a masterpiece of organisation.
A word about the registration process: due to high demand, the chance to register is given by a lottery system. A period of nearly a month is given to apply and then from those who have applied, some are randomly selected and informed. (Note: This is not a free scholarship) I tried my chance for three years, and got in this time 🙂
And it has been a wonderful experience.
The rest of the conference was a mix of tech sessions, interactive labs, special guest speakers and entertainment events.
This year’s guest speakers included: Michelle Obama, Christine Darden (first African-American woman in senior management at NASA), Todd Stabelfeldt (who has lived with quadriplegia since 8, a noted expert in technologies for persons with disabilities), and Miral Kotb (inventor of iLUMINATE – groundbreaking light suits used for mesmerizing dance performances).
The sessions were great, and of very high quality – the design sessions were especially delightful to attend – but what made it special to be here in person was the chance given go one on one with Apple engineers, designers and other experts on App related matters, which was remarkable, considering the scale of the event.
Some more glimpses from the conference:
