Be ready to learn. Grab your thinking cap & be ready to learn from every session you go to AND from every developer you meet.  No matter who you are, there are things that someone else is better at than you.  Soak up all the knowledge you can.  If you have problems doing certain things (or questions about best practices), ask questions to any one who will listen.

Map out your sessions & labs. In addition to the WWDC web site, there’s a great app for the iPhone & iPad to help you figure out what sessions to attend.  Scan through the whole week before you get there.  Some sessions will be offered more than once.  There are sessions that will be announced after Monday’s Keynote.  Check the schedule often to make sure you don’t miss anything.  Make sure you check the labs.  There are wicked smart people there who can quickly solve that pesky UIScrollView problem you’ve been working on for weeks.  You can get the app here: https://developer.apple.com/wwdc/app/

Embrace new things, but be afraid. You’ll have access to the latest OSs and sample code once you’re there.  It’s extremely tempting to quickly download all the new stuff & install the latest OSX on your computer or iPhone OS on your phone.  Slow down.  Think about it first.  There are pros & cons.  For example, if you install the latest Xcode version or operating system on your only dev machine, you’ll be able to see first hand what they’re talking about in the sessions.  However, your old projects may take work to compile with the new tools.  After installing Snow Leopard last year, I spent an entire day trying to get my iPhone OS 2.0 app to compile under 3.0 (because 2.x was no longer supported).  Because of that, I was barely able to ask questions about my app in one of the labs.

Bring your code. There will be times when you either sleep in late or decide to skip out of a session.  There will also be times for you to go to the labs.  You’ll really want your code then.  Bring everything you’ve done & everything you have at even a prototype stage.

Bring the right tools. You should bring a computer and whatever devices you develop for.  Your computer should be set up with all your provisioning profiles, etc.  You should also bring the 3-prong extension for your MacBook’s power cable (so you don’t take up 3 plugs in the power strips in the sessions).  Last year there was free wifi in Moscone that worked remarkably well.

Keep track of your stuff. Everyone at the conference was extremely honest & trustworthy.  There were, however, people last year that got MacBooks & iPhones stolen during non-WWDC hours.  Make sure everything you bring has a password set.  If you need to get up in the middle of a session to go to the bathroom, ask your session neighbor to watch your stuff.  Make a backup of EVERYTHING before you go to WWDC.

Shake hands. Many developers by nature aren’t outgoing people (no offense, just calling it like I see it).  This is a great week to meet people.  You already have lots in common with everyone there.  In between sessions is a great time to shake somebody’s hand & introduce yourself.  Ask where people are from, if they have any apps in the App Store (or out for the Mac), what their latest project is, where they live, what their favorite session has been so far, where the best party is that night, etc.  Go out to lunch & dinner every day with other developers or other folks in town for WWDC-related things (like the press).  If you’re out at a party, offer to get drinks for people.  If you have a plan for lunch or dinner, invite other people along.  The relationships you make while at WWDC will do you more good over the next year than the actual sessions.  (Bring business cards – even if you print them out yourself.  Put a picture on your twitter account that actually looks like you.)

Be nice.  Be patient. There are lots & lots of people all trying to get to the same sessions, parties & restaurants.  You are going to have to stand in line.  You are going to have to wait for a table.  Chill.  Everything will be ok.  Everyone’s experience will be better if you throttle back a bit.  While you’re waiting in line is also a good time to shake hands with someone new.

Show off – when it’s time. Every big name Mac, iPhone & iPad-related press company will be in town.  Keep your ear out for where they’ll be.  Last year TUAW had someone who tweeted that they’d be someplace for a couple hours.  He looked at quite a few apps & wrote lots of stories.  People sold lots of apps because of those stories.  However, don’t be a pain about it.  Writers are really no different than anyone else.  They are people too.  Shake hands first.  Take your time if you can.  Be nice.

Go to the parties. There will be more parties each night than anyone could possibly hit.  It might be tempting for some to stay inside & code.  Don’t even think about it.  Go out.  You don’t have to be a drinker or partier to have a good time.  In fact, taking a couple “health nights” and not drinking is definitely a good idea even if you are a full-time party machine.  This is what’s important:  meet people, share stories, learn from each other, buy each other’s apps, follow each other on twitter (to keep in contact later…not at the party), have fun.  You can check out http://wwdcparties.com for the latest on what’s going on.

Eat & sleep. You need to learn a lot this week. It takes energy & concentration to do that.  Eat well (good food, not huge food).  There will be snacks at Moscone in between sessions.  They’re mostly sugar though – don’t plan on the snacks getting you through the day. Eat a good lunch and a good dinner – with your new friends!  You know how much sleep you need each night to stay functional.  You can maybe skimp for a day, but you’ll seriously lose out on the conference if you try to get by all week on less sleep than you normally do.

That should get you started in the right direction.  I hope to meet everyone there.  Please follow me on twitter, figure out where I am, then walk up & shake my hand.  I’ll do the same.  It’ll be great to meet you.

-Bryan Duke

p.s.  Oh yeah…you’ll also need a copy of Doodle Hockey to play when you don’t have enough time to shake someone’s hand.  It’s awesome.  You can get it here:

Acceleroto is proud to announce Doodle Hockey™ !!

Doodle Hockey is next in a line of top selling and featured games from Acceleroto.  Taking lessons learned from our #1 best selling iPhone and iPad game Air Hockey, Doodle Hockey is a completely new game built from the ground up with all the best ideas from games past and filled with lots of new awesomeness.

We’re excited to work with the amazing artist Brett Archibald from Not How It Looks.  Brett’s art gives a cute, fun & instantly engaging feel to the game.  Kids, teens, and adults all the way up love the graphics!  Doodle Hockey’s sound design is handled by the award winning Tapio Liukkonen from Kaamos Sound.  With the high-powered combo of outstanding graphics & sound, Doodle Hockey is a completely addicting must-have game for the iPhone OS.

Doodle Hockey harnesses the power of Cocos2d for iPhone and the hyper-accurate physics engine Box2d.  Both work together to give you a game that anyone can learn in seconds that will keep you entertained with addicting replay value.  Stuck in a line?  Doodle Hockey.  Riding on a bus?  Doodle Hockey.  You need something to entertain your kids?  Doodle Hockey.  You need to play?  Doodle Hockey.

The graphics are done.  The sounds are rockin’.  The trademarks are filed.  Features & more features are being piled in.  Polish, polish, and more polish.  You’ll be able to get your hands on Doodle Hockey for your favorite device before you know it.

Doodle Hockey.  Available soon for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.  Only from Acceleroto.

We jumped on it.  That day we cooked up & tested a special version of Air Hockey made just for Apple.  It looks & feels almost exactly like our full version of Air Hockey with a few minor changes.  Since lots people would be playing it from the same device, all the options get reset to their default values every time the game launches.  Consistent user experience.  Instead of all 6 difficulty levels, it includes Kiddie, Easy & Medium games.  Medium is challenging enough to beat most people their first time playing the game.  With the 1 or 2-puck option, that will let pretty much anyone tailor a challenging experience for their first crack at Air Hockey.  Challenging, consistent, engaging…done.

There have been several sightings of Air Hockey in several Apple Stores in the US over the last week.  We have no idea exactly how many stores have installed Air Hockey, so do us a favor.  If you see Air Hockey installed in your local Apple Store (or any other iPod/iPhone retailer), send us a note.  Better yet, send us a photo.  Twitter works great (@GrouchoDuke or @acceleroto).  Leaving a comment here would also work well.

Over 500,000 people have downloaded Air Hockey & Air Hockey Free.  Now over 8 months since its launch, Air Hockey is still averaging 100 copies a day in sales.

So where’s the new game?  It’s on the way.  After going 10 rounds (and 4 months) with a game engine, we put an exciting project on the shelf until the technology matures.  Instead of releasing something we weren’t 100% happy with, we started an entirely new game a couple months ago.  It’ll be a fun, fast-paced shooter.  We’ll begin the beta testing process soon.  Stay tuned!

Get Air Hockey here: http://tinyurl.com/airhockey

Please send the cards to cards@acceleroto.com ASAP!