It is 4 days of fun-fun-fun - in a geeky kind of way. :) I enjoy attending JavaOne because of the opportunity to learn new stuff and more importantly, the chance to network with peers.

One of the best kept secret in JavaOne is the Java.net Community Corner inside the Pavilion. This is where you get more information on Java.Net -- what it is, how to be part of it, what it does, what itoffers, etc. What people do not know is that the Java.Net Community Corner is a rich source of information coming from the daily 10 or so mini-talks that are held there. This is like JavaOne's version of a lightning session -- 20-30 minutes of presentations and q&a.

In addition to the mini-talks, Java.Net Community Corner is all about the community. Java.Net members volunteer their time to man the corner to help potential members to sign-up. Another secret here is – visit the corner and get great freebies, from T-shirts, pins, stickers to iPods... nah, no iPods, was just kidding. :) If you want to see me in between sessions, this is where you will find me. :)

The best thing that the Java.Net Community Corner offers is networking. This is the "tambayan" of the Java Champions along with Sun's Technology Evangelists. Imagine the information you can get from talking to these people! If you want to meet the author of that Java book you are reading, chances are, s/he will be at Java.Net Community Corner for an hour or two.

In this year's JavaOne, I was able to network with folks who are bent on getting our Java Education & Development Initiative to the next level, i.e., more countries in addition to Brazil and Indonesia. I met with people who wants to have "JEDI Everywhere" -- impressive, huh? However, it means more work for us, too. What is even better, though, is that more and more people are noticing the work that we have done. It is really funny because JEDI is recognized overseas but not in the confines of the University of the Philippines -- not beyond the Computer Science department and UP IT Training Center but that is ok because now we think global.

One of the important networking that happened in the past 3 days was the possibility of bringing Java to the high school through a JEDI collaboration with a university in Canada. Preliminary talks went verywell and the next level of collaboration are being worked out as I type. Who knows? I might even be able to invite the professors there to visit us - now that'd be great!

So - with all of these new developments, expect more exciting things happening  within the year. I think my JEDI team have our work cutout for the next 12 months already. Who knows? This might be my ticket to another *free all expenses-paid* stint in JavaOne next year, just like in 2005!