how to stay current

Another method that I use to attempt to stay current is to attend professional meetings. These can be pretty informal; for example, a few developers may organize a meetup without any agenda. I've also attended Java User Groups on and off for a long time. The ones I've attended have been pretty crowded (perhaps 100 people), and there's always a speaker with slides. I like those because I can get an introduction to new technologies that I don't have the opportunity to use on the job.

With these kinds of meetings, normally you don't have to pay cash money - but you are paying with time. Overall, I think it has been worth it to attend most of the meetings I've been to. I try to attend something at least once a month. It keeps me on my toes, keeps me motivated.

I've even gone so far as to pay my own way at a professional conference! This can get pretty expensive, but again, I think it's worth it. For one, I got pretty psyched about Java development after my last conference - it was highly motivational. Of course, the feeling didn't last indefinitely, but I think it had an overall positive effect on me. Part of that effect came from hanging out with a number of enthusiastic developers, people who really seem to care about doing their work well. For another, the speakers were really good! While the free meetings I've attended have had reasonably good speakers, in comparison these people really blew me away.

I'm going to try to go to one of these meetings at least once a year. Hm, I'm just reviewing the schedule for this year's OSCON... it looks so cool! I wish my company would pitch in something for events like this.