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Apple's annual developer conference sells out in record time

post #1 of 30
4/28/09 at 6:07pm
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Apple said Tuesday that WWDC 2009 has completely sold out, marking the second time in as many years that its annual developers conference will fill to capacity as programmers descend on San Francisco to hear the latest on Mac and iPhone software development.

This year's conference sold out in a little over four weeks, nearly twice as fast as last year's event, which was the first time in the show's history that Apple was forced to halt the registration process.

WWDC has grown dramatically in recent years, prompting Apple to move the event from the original underground Moscone Center into the modern new Moscone West building. In 2007, Apple set a record for WWDC attendance with 5,000 developers from around the world. This year's conference will see even more attendees.

On its developer web site, under the notice that WWDC 2009 has sold out, Apple says, "Session videos will be available to purchase shortly after the conference. More details will be available soon."

The Cupertino-based company is expected to use its opening keynote at this year's conference to show off a feature complete version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. It's also a likely stage for the electronics maker to take the wraps off its third-generation iPhone hardware, a move which would mirror that of years past.

WWDC 2009 runs June 8th through the 12th. For a recap of last year's announcements, see AppleInsider's WWDC topics page.
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post #2 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:05pm
Wow.
That's 1 1/2 months in advance! It's not even May yet...

Shouldn't they just get a bigger venue?!?

Seems like Apple is missing out on a lot of developers interested in the platform which now will not be able to attend.
A lost business opportunity. Which likely does not make good business sense.

Having a sold out WWDC is good marketing news.
But they should sell out the week before opening, not 1 1/2 months in advance.
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post #3 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:32pm
Agree.

A larger venue would be great. Somewhat suspicios as Apple always has a motive when they release "SPIN" like this.

Love the keynotes but it's getting kind if boring hearing the same thing over and over the first :30 minutes and how Apple has grown. Lots of self patting on the back. Good stuff isn't until halfway in.

Hoping the re-invent something ala tablet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post

Wow.
Tagr 1 1/2 months in advance! It's not even May yet...

Shouldn't they just get a bigger venue?!?

Seems like Apple is missing out on a lot of developers interested in the platform which now will not be able to attend.
A lost business opportunity. Which likely does not make good business sense.

Having a sold out WWDC is good marketing news.
But they should sell out the week before opening, not 1 1/2 months in advance.
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post #4 of 30
4/28/09 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post

Wow.
That's 1 1/2 months in advance! It's not even May yet...

Shouldn't they just get a bigger venue?!?

They really need a bigger venue than Moscone can offer, but what building around that area (plus hotels) can deal with over 5,000 geeks for a week and all the support staff and all the classes. Perhaps they should hold it in Las Vegas where it would be hard to sell out.
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post #5 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

They really need a bigger venue than Moscone can offer, but what building around that area (plus hotels) can deal with over 5,000 geeks for a week and all the support staff and all the classes. Perhaps they should hold it in Las Vegas where it would be hard to sell out.

If Moscone is the biggest that region has to offer, then they would have to pretty far afield, Vegas looks like the next closest thing that's sure to handle the business. LA is a little closer, but I wonder if that would be a serious contender in their considerations.

That might be a problem as Apple would have to increase the travel & lodging budget significantly, given the high proportion of Apple employees to attendees, which I thought was something like a 1:5 ratio. Moscone is only 45 minutes away from Cupertino, Vegas is as much as 8 hours away. If they have to fly or bus over 1000+ employees, give them a hotel room and other expenses, that could be a tough pill to swallow, when Moscone is maybe a regular commute away for most employees.
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post #6 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:11pm
Well, here's my 2 cents.

1. Bigger venue may not be "manageable"... You need more event management subcontractors, etc. Maybe more than Apple can handle.

2. SF Bay Area = most of Apple staff and Apple partner companies need not arrange for housing, etc. 'Tis convenient.

3. This is a big "F**K YOU" to Macworld and IDG. Maybe Apple's saying, hey, WTF, we could organise "iPhoneWorld San Francisco January 2010" and it would be a massive hit...
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post #7 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

If Moscone is the biggest that region has to offer, then they would have to pretty far afield, Vegas looks like the next closest thing that's sure to handle the business. LA is a little closer, but I wonder if that would be a serious contender in their considerations.

That might be a problem as Apple would have to increase the travel & lodging budget significantly, given the high proportion of Apple employees to attendees, which I thought was something like a 1:5 ratio. Moscone is only 45 minutes away from Cupertino, Vegas is as much as 8 hours away. If they have to fly or bus over 1000+ employees, give them a hotel room and other expenses, that could be a tough pill to swallow, when Moscone is maybe a regular commute away for most employees.

Yup in this economy Vegas and its associated costs would be way too much to swallow. Plus Moscone may be more convenient for employees to get to than Cupertino itself! If they live in Marin county, SF city itself, and East Bay...[?]
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post #8 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:16pm
Wow. Caltrain electrification only by 2015. Sorry mates, but China could do it in one year. Maybe two with less human rights and environmental abuse... I had to say it. I used Caltrain regularly from 2000 to 2002. Essential. But it looks like it's still the same after more than half a decade!
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post #9 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hiimamac View Post

...Lots of self patting on the back. Good stuff isn't until halfway in....

Some might argue for the January keynote the "good stuff" never came at all.
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post #10 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

Moscone is only 45 minutes away from Cupertino, Vegas is as much as 8 hours away. If they have to fly or bus over 1000+ employees, give them a hotel room and other expenses, that could be a tough pill to swallow, when Moscone is maybe a regular commute away for most employees.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post

Yup in this economy Vegas and its associated costs would be way too much to swallow. Plus Moscone may be more convenient for employees to get to than Cupertino itself! If they live in Marin county, SF city itself, and East Bay...[?]

If Apple is getting 5,000-10,000 people to go to Las Vegas for a week, it might be possible for Apple to get room and transportation for their employees taken care of by the hotel/casinos. I could be wrong, but that seems like a small price to pay to get that kind of additional draw.
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post #11 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

If Apple is getting 5,000-10,000 people to go to Las Vegas for a week, it might be possible for Apple to get room and transportation for their employees taken care of by the hotel/casinos. I could be wrong, but that seems like a small price to pay to get that kind of additional draw.

Isn't it amazing. We're talking possible numbers, given bigger venues, that rival the big Cisco, Oracle, SAP conferences... ...In the current economy and aversion to trade shows and physical conferences.

You do have a point, booking up large numbers of hotel rooms, employee housing is taken care of.

The main cost for staff is travel though, flying a few hundred people to and from Vegas.

In any case I *think* though Apple doesn't have enough staff to handle a 10,000 people convention by itself, with everything else going on, even with a lot of outsourced event management. Not this year anyway.
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post #12 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post

Wow.
That's 1 1/2 months in advance! It's not even May yet...

Shouldn't they just get a bigger venue?!?

Seems like Apple is missing out on a lot of developers interested in the platform which now will not be able to attend.
A lost business opportunity. Which likely does not make good business sense.

Not sure they are making that much money there. If you consider all cost plus the overtime to be made at the HQ to make up for the missing developers and the event preparation... it should not really be considered "business" (as in "profit"). Apple has far less developers than Adobe or MS. Not having 1000 skilled people working for an entire week is maybe about what they can do. Just finding a bigger location and letting more people in is not enough. It is not a trade show. People pay for the workshops and for personal contact with Apple developers. If you change the Apple staff to visitor ratio for the worse, you could easily damage the event and its excellent reputation.

I am more worried, that the entire iPhone story is getting too big, not leaving enough resources for the Mac and IT/Enterprise parts. While the iPhone business is a self-starter (they rather have too many developers, OK - that's an exaggeration), there are still quite a few areas where Mac users do not find all software required, and IT/Enterprise can certainly use a bigger push.
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post #13 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post

Isn't it amazing. We're talking possible numbers, given bigger venues, that rival the big Cisco, Oracle, SAP conferences... ...In the current economy and aversion to trade shows and physical conferences.

You do have a point, booking up large numbers of hotel rooms, employee housing is taken care of.

The main cost for staff is travel though, flying a few hundred people to and from Vegas.

In any case I *think* though Apple doesn't have enough staff to handle a 10,000 people convention by itself, with everything else going on, even with a lot of outsourced event management. Not this year anyway.

It is amazing how the interest has exploded from the already rapid (at least I thought it was) growth of Apple developers. Obviously the iPhone OS, SDK and App Store is very attractive.

Apple definitely doesn't like to exceed its ability to exceed its control. If they do move to a larger venue or way from the Bay area altogether they will surely have to rethink some things. They moved from Moscone Center to Moscone West; does anyone know how far away they are from each other? In other words, could they use both next year?
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post #14 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreyfus2 View Post

[...] Not having 1000 skilled people working for an entire week is maybe about what they can do. Just finding a bigger location and letting more people in is not enough. It is not a trade show. People pay for the workshops and for personal contact with Apple developers. If you change the Apple staff to visitor ratio for the worse, you could easily damage the event and its excellent reputation.

That is a good point, it's just Apple staff, it's Apple staff with certain skill sets. You may be onto something there.

Quote:
I am more worried, that the entire iPhone story is getting to big, not leaving enough resources for the Mac and IT/Enterprise parts. While the iPhone business is a self-starter (they rather have too many developers, OK - that's an exaggeration), there are still quite a few areas where Mac users do not find all software required, and IT/Enterprise can certainly use a bigger push.

I've been hearing that since the iPod starting getting popular. Then with the release of the iPod Mini, then the iPhone and drop of the word "Computer" from their name. Yet all these things put more focus on Macs as a viable alternative to Windows as an OS and junk PC HW from other vendors. Apple makes a significant portion of their money from Macs and I've seen the Mac grow better and better every year. I don't think you should worry.
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post #15 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

Apple said Tuesday that WWDC 2009 has completely sold out, marking the second time in as many years that its annual developers conference will fill to capacity as programmers descend on San Francisco to hear the latest on Mac and iPhone software development.

This year's conference sold out in a little over four weeks, nearly twice as fast as last year's event, which was the first time in the show's history that Apple was forced to halt the registration process.

WWDC has grown dramatically in recent years, prompting Apple to move the event from the original underground Moscone Center into the modern new Moscone West building. In 2007, Apple set a record for WWDC attendance with 5,000 developers from around the world. This year's conference will see even more attendees.

Would love to know the sell-out date (days prior) of other conferences, and their attendance numbers, as a point of reference!
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post #16 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

...They moved from Moscone Center to Moscone West; does anyone know how far away they are from each other? In other words, could they use both next year?

They're right next to each other. Like more or less within 1 or 2 blocks. They could definitely use both next year.

However if you are talking 5,000 to 10,000 attendees Moscone Center can handle that by itself, with some "overflow/extra/last minute addition" sessions at Moscone West, depending on how the event is handled.

AFAIK ...Last time I was in the events industry in SF was several years back.
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post #17 of 30
4/28/09 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by randythot View Post

Would love to know the sell-out date (days prior) of other conferences, and their attendance numbers, as a point of reference!

1996 — . . ? (unknown)
1997 — . . ? (unknown)
1998 — . . ? (unknown)
1999 — .2563
2000 — ~3600
2001 — >4000
2002 — . . ? (unknown, notice drop after OS X)
2003 — ~3000
2004 — .3500
2005 — .3800
2006 — .4200
2007 — >5000
2008 — . . ? (unknown, sold out Moscone West)
2009 — . . ? (unknown, sold out Moscone West) Good luck with the rest of them and how many attendees Apple can book for each building.

•

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwi...ers_Conference
Quote:
Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post

They're right next to each other. Like more or less within 1 or 2 blocks. They could definitely use both next year.

Sounds like a plan to more than double the capacity they had last year.
.
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post #18 of 30
4/28/09 at 9:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

I've been hearing that since the iPod starting getting popular. Then with the release of the iPod Mini, then the iPhone and drop of the word "Computer" from their name. Yet all these things put more focus on Macs as a viable alternative to Windows as an OS and junk PC HW from other vendors. Apple makes a significant portion of their money from Macs and I've seen the Mac grow better and better every year. I don't think you should worry.

Oh, I am not worried about the Mac getting better (at the speed MS is progressing, Apple could sit there and do nothing for 2-3 years, but I am sure they will not), and I consider the removal of "computers" from their name an obvious thing to do, when up to 2 out of 3 bucks they make come from something else. I am more concerned about the iPhone development hype. What happens if a significant amount of the first 5,000 registrants are indeed iPhone developers and some of the third party workshops dealing with desktop development and IT/Enterprise topics do not draw enough attendants, while iPhone workshops are overcrowded? While everything revolves around OS X, the crowds are rather different (some 80-90% game developers on the iPhone side and maybe 1% on the desktop side). Orchestrating an event that makes both groups happy is a major challenge, having separate events down the road may make more sense.
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post #19 of 30
4/28/09 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

If Moscone is the biggest that region has to offer, then they would have to pretty far afield, Vegas looks like the next closest thing that's sure to handle the business. LA is a little closer, but I wonder if that would be a serious contender in their considerations.

That might be a problem as Apple would have to increase the travel & lodging budget significantly, given the high proportion of Apple employees to attendees, which I thought was something like a 1:5 ratio. Moscone is only 45 minutes away from Cupertino, Vegas is as much as 8 hours away. If they have to fly or bus over 1000+ employees, give them a hotel room and other expenses, that could be a tough pill to swallow, when Moscone is maybe a regular commute away for most employees.

Yeah, it's too bad Apple is so small they can't afford to do that once a year. With all these major shows they have to pay for, like the two Macworlds, the NAB show, the Photo Expo, and all those smaller ones around the world they help fund, it makes it hard. Maybe if they become successful, and make a decent profit, they might be able to afford a bigger venue somewhere.
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post #20 of 30
4/28/09 at 10:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

2008 . . ? (unknown, sold out Moscone Center)
2009 . . ? (unknown, sold out Moscone West)

WWDC has never been in Moscone North/South. It's been in Moscone West for the past several years, and San Jose Convention Center before that.
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post #21 of 30
4/28/09 at 11:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by King Chung Huang View Post

WWDC has never been in Moscone North/South. It's been in Moscone West for the past several years, and San Jose Convention Center before that.

Exactly. There is plenty of room. You just have to reserve a large chunk of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone_Center

If you can't fit 15,000-20,000 in that entire complex you don't deserve to oversee the conference.
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post #22 of 30
4/29/09 at 2:05am
They should have some kind of "online attendance" option.

I know they release videos after the fact (I bought last years ones) but they come out very late.
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post #23 of 30
4/29/09 at 4:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hiimamac View Post

Agree.

A larger venue would be great. Somewhat suspicios as Apple always has a motive when they release "SPIN" like this.

Love the keynotes but it's getting kind if boring hearing the same thing over and over the first :30 minutes and how Apple has grown. Lots of self patting on the back. Good stuff isn't until halfway in.

Hoping the re-invent something ala tablet.

The ulterior motive is to outshine all the competition, Could/would/have RIM or MS sell out dev meetings that cost $1000s to attend in the worst possible economic climate since the companies were founded, and a month ahead of the big show?

This is a great one line tifbit for CNBC to give the stock a quick 10%...
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post #24 of 30
4/29/09 at 4:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

They really need a bigger venue than Moscone can offer, but what building around that area (plus hotels) can deal with over 5,000 geeks for a week and all the support staff and all the classes. Perhaps they should hold it in Las Vegas where it would be hard to sell out.

Bring it to Indianapolis, we can hold a Super-bowl and Final fours, the little WWDC crowd would be barely noticeable Our convention center main auditorium seats over 13000 and they are adding on, plus our taxes are lower, hotels and food are cheaper, and I bet the meeting space is even cheaper, so everyone wins, particularly me, as it is a 20 minute drive
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post #25 of 30
4/29/09 at 6:15am
What are the chances of the iPad being unveiled there?
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post #26 of 30
4/29/09 at 6:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ascii View Post

...I know they release videos after the fact (I bought last years ones) but they come out very late.

No need to purchase or wait for the video, you can get the keynote from iTunes for free, search Apple Keynotes.

Ron Paul

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Ron Paul

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post #27 of 30
4/29/09 at 7:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post

Wow.
That's 1 1/2 months in advance! It's not even May yet...

Shouldn't they just get a bigger venue?!?

Seems like Apple is missing out on a lot of developers interested in the platform which now will not be able to attend.
A lost business opportunity. Which likely does not make good business sense.

Having a sold out WWDC is good marketing news.
But they should sell out the week before opening, not 1 1/2 months in advance.

I'm not so sure the increase in interest is based entirely on increased developer interest in the platform.

It seems to me that part of the problem might be building in new product announcements (and the accompanying fooforaw), to an event that's ostensibly a teaching event for developers. If the event is sold out too soon, the likely downside in this scenario is developers that perhaps don't get to come for the sessions because their slots are filled up by people who are there for the announcements. If this is all true then making the product announcements at a separate event might quiet the conference down a bit.

If on the other hand, the extra interest is solely from the increase in developers then of course they need to go bigger, or do two a year, or expand in other ways.
In Windows, a window can be a document, it can be an application, or it can be a window that contains other documents or applications. Theres just no consistency. Its just a big grab bag of monkey...
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post #28 of 30
4/29/09 at 8:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by teckstud View Post

What are the chances of the iPad being unveiled there?

What is that? A computer synchronizable feminine product?


I cannot help but wonder just how many people Apple could get to attend with a bigger venue. It's cool to say "we're sold out" but in these cases you have a couple of choice.


1. Increase the venue size
2. Increase the cost of WWDC

They really shouldn't be selling out so quickly.
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post #29 of 30
4/29/09 at 11:37am
Does anyone know if Steve Jobs will be back presenting this? I hope so.

And if not, who will?
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post #30 of 30
4/29/09 at 9:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mobius View Post

Does anyone know if Steve Jobs will be back presenting this? I hope so.

And if not, who will?

He's supposed to be back at the end of June. Who knows? He might make an appearance. But he may not be up to a long speech.
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