I heard about this organization yesterday and signed up today. I have no real experience in writing software, but as of about March I began learning the 3 basic web languages Palm has incorporated here.
What I do have to bring to the table is enthusiastic desire to make WebOS a success, experience in the retail cell industry, love of software (particularly gaming), a lot of creativity (I compose music, draw/ illustrate, and write), and public speaking experience.

I must say I was a little confused when I first read the date announcement. I guess it really depends on the true purpose of the communinity… but if the purpose really is to teach developers about the platform, gain knowledgable contacts, and promote real software productivity… it seems having the SDK widely available, or at least an instructor who knows the ins and outs would be a requirement for success.

There’s plenty we can all do to make sure this is a great turn out… but above all, what needs to be focused on is content. If a later date means we would have more meaningful content, I’m of the opinion that it should be delayed. Ultimately I feel it would be most beneficial if each attendee was able to bring a laptop with the SDK loaded up and ready to follow along step by step with an instuctor. Now obviously this can’t be a guarantee, but I think we should make sure our excitement for the device, OS, and community isn’t rushing this extremely important effort.

That said, I think ultimately an ‘overview course’ is a little redundant at this point (and even more so a week after launch). My thoughts here are based on assumptions, but I feel their pretty reasonable ones…
I assume anyone ready to take up developing for WebOS has already seen much of the videos and has been following the ‘leaks’ very closely (just like me).
Also, after using the device myself for already over a week, I can tell you that a week is plenty of time for a potential developer (most likely a ‘power user’) to get to know the interface and master EVERYTHING that has been showed in videos or talked about on the various blogs. Basically my point is this:
An overview course one week after launch won’t get much turn out and if it does, the attendees won’t feel it was a good use of their time and resources. However, the ideas Greg presents here about gaming and Javascript seem really helpful and going over the 6 chapters of Rough Cuts sounds like it would be helpful too.

So there’s my two cents. My opinion is that this group won’t meet its full potential until the SDK is fully released and we have some experts to gather and present content. I guess much of this depends on Palm’s support, but it would be pretty cool if all attendees got the SDK there even if it wasn’t publicly available yet. Possibly something we could ask for from Palm as part of their new-found ’support.’

Remember that if you do need anything I’m still here to support any of the preDevCampers with whatever I can.

Looking forward to what you guys create at the camp!

ttys,
whurley

Thank you for this letter.

[fwiw, I can't make and PDC event on a Saturday anyway]

The past week has been *very* interesting. We’re in the process of regrouping, right now. There have been some missteps, but I believe preDevCamp will still be a great event.

To repeat Covey’s quote, we have the end in mind; we’re working to re-engineer a beginning that will bring us to the right end.

Dan