All I can say is “Wow!” I had a great time at CodeMash v2.0.1.2 and I can’t wait for next year! It was filled with great conversation, wonderful fellowship and learning. I would like to thank the organizers for giving me the opportunity to volunteer. It is also thanks to Todd Kaufman and Greg Malcolm for helping to transport me to and from the conference.

##Conversations

I had many opportunities to listen to people at CodeMash. These are some of my favorite memories. I enjoyed speaking with Jen Myers about her work at Relevance, GirlDevelopIt Columbus, and movies we both enjoy. I was enthralled by the interesting recollections by Corey Haines and Leon Gersing. Meeting and chatting with Justin Kohnen and Chris Woodruff on Tuesday night was another fun time. On my last day of CodeMash, I had a great conversation with one of my mentors, Michael “Doc” Norton of LeanDog. I am feeling even more excited about starting there next week now. I can’t wait for an opportunity to chat with more of the people in our community at length.

##Fellowship

Besides the many conversations, I was able to spend some quality time with people in our community. I had a great time playing Chrononauts with the Quarantos and others, then playing some Texas Hold’em with Mike Lutton and Jim Towne, all during Wednesday evening. On Thursday, I enjoyed playing an expanded game of Settlers of Catan with Jennifer, Tim, Wes, Duane, Bruce, Glenn, Kevin and Dean. I can’t wait to play with all of them again next year.

##Learning

I enjoyed various talks by Jim Weirich on writing better (ruby) code, learning about Clojure through fairytale with Carin Meier, understanding parts of going independent with Michael Eaton, all of the lightning talks, hosted by Corey Haines, a most suitable talk by the capable Gary Bernhardt and a wonderful time in the open spaces.

##Code Retreat and Moving

Tomorrow I will venture north to the land of Cleve to spend some more time in fellowship at the LeanDog hangar, then I will be spending the next week preparing for my move to Cleveland to start working at the same building. I can’t wait to meet all of the intelligent members of the Cleveland dev community and the I hope to learn all I can.