I will be kicking off "RIAPalooza" in Chicago - "Drinking & Thinking"

Last week I was asked to fill in last-minute as a speaker at the RIAPalooza conference here in Chicago. This event, the first of its type, it free for participants and is sponsored by various Chicago firms as well as Microsoft and Adobe.

The kick-off reception, which is tonight, will feature free cocktails and "me" talking about the past, present and future of RIAs and the industry's never-ending quest to create technology that enables better user experiences.

I really hope to be able to get the audience excited for the session that they will be fortunate to participate in tomorrow, and to help shape the overall thinking of those in attendance. I certainly don't intend to shake the earth with any new revelations... but I do intend to drive home a point that design thinking plays a most critical role in the design and development of RIAs, and that user experience is (and should be) the primary motivating factor behind adopting new "rich" technology to build web and desktop software applications.

The focus of RIAPalooza is on three major topics:

• Designer / Developer Workflow
• Project Approach for RIAS and using Agile methodologies to get things done
• Best Practices around building next generation applications

The sessions that will take place tomorrow should really provide a good mix for everyone at the conference. There is a healthy representation of both Adobe and Microsoft platform experts speaking, including Mike Labriola and Geoff Cubitt (President of Roundarch).

The full line up with speakers and topics looks like this:

9:00 AM - RIA for Designers & Developers (Keynote)
Tim Heuer & Corrina Barber

10:00 AM - How RIA Changes In Application Design
Geoff Cubitt, President & CTO - Roundarch

11:00 AM - Best and Worst Practices Building a RIA
Michael Labriola (Digital Primates) & Josh Holmes

12:45 PM - Fast. Smart. Agile. User Experience Driven Agile Development
Matt Nolker, Pathfinder Development

1:45 PM - Better Designer/Developer Collaboration with WFP & XAML
Anthony Handley, Magenic

3:00 PM - Silverlight and RIA
Corey Miller, Magenic

4:00 PM - Agile Flex Application Development: How Mammoths Stay Slim
Ka Wai Cheung, We Are Mammoth

All in all, it should be an interesting day with a lot of smart people sharing ideas and building community around RIAs here in the Midwest.

I was told that the conference would be recording our presentations using Adobe Acrobat Connect, so once that is up and online, I will post a link to my talk (along with everyone else's).

For more information on the conference: http://www.riapalooza.com