NIWeek Tips and Tricks

[jgcode]

Howdy! - Anyone got any tips for getting the most out of NI Week?

For example a few questions spring to mind:

• Do the sessions rooms fill up quick?
• How early should I rock up to get a spot?
• Are there good seats to get?
• Should I book a session for every time slot?
• Or realistically will I not be able to make back-to-back sessions?
• What time should I rock up at the venue?
• What places are good to site-see around Austin?
• Any great places to eat?
• NI says there is a tour of their campus on Thursday morning - is that well worth a look (but it clashes with AQ's presentation tho )
• Any sessions that you recommend? (Eyes on VIs has a list here)

Etc...

Cheers

-JG

[Daklu]

Anyone got any tips for getting the most out of NI Week?

Tip #1 - Attend. (This is where I experience what my 13 yo daughter terms an "epic failure.")

Once again I am forced to live vicariously through the rest of you.

As always, there's a ton of sessions I would have attended had I been able to go...

- Thursday's Keynote with Dr. Michio Kaku. (I love his book Physics of the Impossible.)

- LabVIEW Classes: The State of the Art (Stephen)

- State Machine versus State Machine (Norm, Nancy, & Justin)

- Beyond the Basics: LabVIEW Debugging Techniques

- Hardware Abstraction Layers Using LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming

- Achieve Hardware Independence with an Object-Oriented HAL

- LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming Design Patterns for Large Systems (Jim & Tomi)

- Reduce Test System Obsolescence and Long-Term Maintenance with the ATML Standard

- LabVIEW Design Patterns and SMoReS (Norm)

- Development and Deployment of Large LabVIEW Applications

[Francois Normandin]

You can definitely schedule back-to-back sessions. There's always plenty of time to get where you want between sessions.

Last year's Scripting session was full. I don't think they refused anybody, but I saw a lot of people standing in the back. You should register for your sessions as that would theoretically be the way to attend a session that cannot fit everybody in the room, but I have no knowledge as if it is strictly enforced or not. I've been able to get in every session I planned to attend last year. NI scans your badge at the entrance of most sessions, but that has probably more to do with making sure you've paid the conference fees or for marketing/statistics, than keeping you out of the room.

I had a hard time waking up last year, so I could not get a seat for the first keynote! Get up early if you're not a VIP.

As for sessions recommendations, I agree completely with Daklu's list.

I would also add John Lokanis' "Practical Applications of Web Services in LabVIEW " presentation on Wednesday afternoon.

[mje]

You can register for individual sessions? How?

I have my schedule planned, but wasn't aware there was any actual per-session registration.

[Francois Normandin]

You can register for individual sessions? How?

I have my schedule planned, but wasn't aware there was any actual per-session registration.

On NI Week main page, click on "Session Scheduler for Registrants Only" in the Participate column. Then use "My Schedule" or "Session Catalog"to browse sessions and add them up to your personal schedule.

Howdy! - Anyone got any tips for getting the most out of NI Week?

Oh, and reserve some time to attend the Finals of the coding challenge during Thursday's lunch.

Abstract: Watch the highest scorer in the week-long LabVIEW Coding Challenge compete against a member of LabVIEW R&D in a live coding competition.

[Darren]

<-- member of LabVIEW R&D

Watch the highest scorer in the week-long LabVIEW Coding Challenge compete against a member of LabVIEW R&D in a live coding competition.

[jgcode]

Cool. Thanks for the advice.

How much time to guys you make outside of sessions to see everything else (floor expos etc...)?

[Aristos Queue]

<-- member of LabVIEW R&D

Man, I hope Todd (the judge) picks my questions to use for the Challenge this year. I submitted a couple really cool (IMHO) ideas.

For those who weren't there last year, the challenge I submitted was to write a VI that failed at least 10 of the VI Analyzer style tests. It was quite amusing watching programmers have to fight their own tendencies to write good code -- one person kept reflexively fixing the style problem and had to keep putting it back as he worked. :-)

How much time to guys you make outside of sessions to see everything else (floor expos etc...)?

I don't sleep that week. Hanging out with Norm and attempting to leech some of his infinite energy is sometimes useful strategy. I've also attempted simultaneous physical manifestations in multiple locations... that works, but the reintegration is a real pain. Reading blogs later for the sessions you miss works better.

[jgcode]

I've also attempted simultaneous physical manifestations in multiple locations...

Is this feature available in LabVIEW 2010?

[Darren]

For those who weren't there last year, the challenge I submitted was to write a VI that failed at least 10 of the VI Analyzer style tests...

That was pretty funny. Good thing they didn't reserve that one for me...

-D

[Daklu]

For those who weren't there last year, the challenge I submitted was to write a VI that failed at least 10 of the VI Analyzer style tests.

Were they allowed to look up the tests to see what is checked? I don't think I could name more than 5 of them from memory.

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

Were they allowed to look up the tests to see what is checked? I don't think I could name more than 5 of them from memory.

"Ctrl-a followed by an allign left and then allign top" would generate a lot of violations. Same for the FP.

Ben

[mje]

Anyone know how much time to allow for travel from the convention center to the airport? How's pre-rush hour traffic? I'm worried I might have to bust out of the last 2:15 thursday session so I can grab my bags and make a 5:15 flight...

For the record, my list:

• State Machine versus State Machine - Tue 10:30 AM
• From Prototypes to Products - Building Commercial Instruments with LabVIEW Tue 1:00 PM
• LabVIEW Graphical Scripting - Tue 2:15 PM
• LabVIEW Compiler Under the Hood - Understanding the Optimizations in 2010 Tue 3:30 PM
• LabVIEW UI Tips and Tricks - Tue 4:45 PM
• LabVIEW Design Patterns and SMoReS - Wed 10:30 AM
• What's New in NI LabVIEW - Wed 1:00 PM
• Development and Deployment of Large LabVIEW Applications - Wed 2:15 PM
• Best Practices for Memory Management and LabVIEW Code Optimization - Wed 3:30 PM
• LabVIEW GUI Design 2.0 - Wed 4:45 PM
• LabVIEW Classes: The State of the Art - Thu 10:30 AM
• LabVIEW Coding Challenge Finals - Thu 12:00 PM
• LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming Design Patterns for Large Systems - Thu 1:00 PM
• Beyond the Basics: LabVIEW Debugging Techniques - Thu 2:15 PM

Also, events which I really want to attend but can't due to conflicts.

• Hardware Abstraction Layers Using LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming - Thu 10:30 AM
• New Features and Best Practices for Network Data Transfer - Thu 1:00 PM (Very curious about this one, might switch out for the "What's new" session).
• Achieve Hardware Independence with an Object-Oriented HAL - Thu 2:15 PM
• Practical Applications of Web Services in LabVIEW - Thu 2:15 PM (Also very curious...man the 2:15 slot on Thursday is tight)

There are a few others which I'm curious about but have absolutely no bearing on my job (re cellphones!), so I'll not end up attending them. But man, for Wednesday afternoon I could really use a pair of clones.

[Aristos Queue]

• LabVIEW Object-Oriented Programming Design Patterns for Large Systems - Thu 1:00 PM

I'm afraid a lot of us will have to miss Jim's presentation in order to catch flights at the airport.

[crelf]

Rather than re-hash all the sessions others have already mentioned, here's a couple of sessions I'll be at:

Session: TS4420-CE

Session Title: Long-term Investment in Test: Building Common Core Test Platforms (I'm presenting this one)

Session Schedule: Wednesday 8/4/10 at 16:45 in room 11A

Session Description: As we build our way back from challenging economic times, many companies are shying away from short term thinking one-off test systems and are instead investing in long term test platforms. Learn about National Instruments Software and Hardware used by industry leaders to stay ahead of the curve. Session will cover introduction to platform-based architectures, and how to implement them using NI Software development environments including TestStand & LabVIEW, as well as hardware technologies including distributed/shared resouces.

Session Comments: I'm presenting this one

Session: TS3033-MA

Session Title: NI Requirements Gateway – A Power User’s Session

Session Schedule: Wednesday 8/4/10 at 15:30 in room 17B

Session Description: A lot of people are using NI Requirements Gateway, especially in the Medical and Defense/Aerospace areas. Learn how to use Requirements Gateway more efficiently to manage your projects. Topics include customizing NIRG to use your own SRS documents, creating reports, and coverage statements in your documentation / code

Comments: Presented by Mike Rakolta - a must if you want to see how to get traceability into your projects to shorten project cycles and lower engineering risk. Even if you don't think that NIRG fits into your corporate processes, come see how you can use it personally to keep track of your work (as well as cover your butt )

• What places are good to site-see around Austin?

How long are you going to be in town? The Texas State Museum (just north of the captial building) is well worth a visit.

• Any great places to eat?

Yes - heaps of 'em! That said, you'll probably just want to hook up with a few LAVA members - we all know the good places. You'll know us as we always sit front-and-center at the keynotes (yes, we're geeks).

• NI says there is a tour of their campus on Thursday morning - is that well worth a look (but it clashes with AQ's presentation tho )

I'd go to Stephen's presentation. NI Corporate is neat, but unless you really really want to see where Jeff K sits, then I'd skip it.

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

...

hook up with a few LAVA members - we all know the good places. You'll know us as we always sit front-and-center at the keynotes (yes, we're geeks).

...

My wife and I were sitting in the window seat of one of those eateries when my Wife nodded toward a group walking down the street and asked "What about them?" I looked up and saw Jim, Michael, and the JKI crew. But using the term to "geeks" to distinguish yourselves during NI week is like saying "Look for me at the prom, I'll be wearing a tuxedo."

Ben

[John Lokanis]

Practical Applications of Web Services in LabVIEW - Thu 2:15 PM (Also very curious...man the 2:15 slot on Thursday is tight)

Actually, this session is on Wednesday. I will be talking about deploying web services to a target machine that only has the RTE, how to implement a web based API for your applications and demoing some nice tools I have created for managing your LabVIEW apps remotely. Hope you can attend! Gotta go practice my presentation now. It is due to be turned in for final approval tomorrow!

[jgcode]

Session: TS3033-MA

Session Title: NI Requirements Gateway – A Power User’s Session

This is one I want to attend but have a conflict.

I'd go to Stephen's presentation. NI Corporate is neat, but unless you really really want to see where Jeff K sits, then I'd skip it.

This is another I want to attend by have conflicts with the tour (which you have diss'd) and I want to check out the new licensing in LabVIEW pres too.

(AQ mentioned this too) I am also thinking I need to weigh up which presentations will be available online (preferably online video).

From previous years, I am guessing all NI presentations will be available online as videos, and most non-NI presentations have the slides available only

Decisions , decisions.... (I really need a clone too!)

How long are you going to be in town? The Texas State Museum (just north of the captial building) is well worth a visit.

I am coming in a few days early, so I have some time to site see Austin as I have never been to central US.

Yes - heaps of 'em! That said, you'll probably just want to hook up with a few LAVA members - we all know the good places. You'll know us as we always sit front-and-center at the keynotes (yes, we're geeks).

Cool, if no-one minds if I tag along as I think this will be the best way.

What time you do rock up to get down the front?

Actually, this session is on Wednesday. I will be talking about deploying web services to a target machine that only has the RTE, how to implement a web based API for your applications and demoing some nice tools I have created for managing your LabVIEW apps remotely. Hope you can attend! Gotta go practice my presentation now. It is due to be turned in for final approval tomorrow!

Hi John. I have booked this one in, and am looking forward to it.

I am also interested in how to use a LabVIEW Web Service for a larger scale app i.e. experiences/issues with hosting on a standard ISP server (if that is possible) etc... - Is this within the scope of the presentation?

[John Lokanis]

I am also interested in how to use a LabVIEW Web Service for a larger scale app i.e. experiences/issues with hosting on a standard ISP server (if that is possible) etc... - Is this within the scope of the presentation?

The web services are hosted on the target machine where your app is running. We do host pages on a standard Apache web server that access the web services to get their data. I am not an expert on the html side of that but it is fairly simple to do, from what my web guy tells me.

I am in the process of getting my web services to run on Win7 and Win2008server. The biggest headaches are due to the added security and changed file paths. I think this will be much easier under LabVIEW 2010, however. Looking forward to the new changes. I will try to address them in my presentation.

Back to the main point of this thread, if this is your first time to NI Week, be sure to pack a fleece and long pants. While it will be +100degF outside, it will be ridiculously cold in the convention center. If you are wearing shorts and a t-shirt, you will freeze your arse off...

[Yair]

From previous years, I am guessing all NI presentations will be available online as videos, and most non-NI presentations have the slides available only

Not exactly. What I remember from previous years is that the morning keynotes and demos are all available, but none of the other sessions are. There have been specific cases where people (such as JKI) filmed and released their own sessions independently.

[Daklu]

There have been specific cases where people (such as JKI) filmed and released their own sessions independently.

Maybe they will tape the 'State Machine vs State Machine' session. (nudge nudge)

[jgcode]

Not exactly. What I remember from previous years is that the morning keynotes and demos are all available, but none of the other sessions are. There have been specific cases where people (such as JKI) filmed and released their own sessions independently.

Really? Damn that sucks, ...making choices much harder...

[Yair]

...making choices much harder...

Sure does.

Maybe they will tape the 'State Machine vs State Machine' session. (nudge nudge)

Let's hope your nudges help. If they do, it'll make it much easier for me to attend Rob's session.

[altenbach]

Anyone know how much time to allow for travel from the convention center to the airport? How's pre-rush hour traffic? I'm worried I might have to bust out of the last 2:15 thursday session so I can grab my bags and make a 5:15 flight...

Due to my European upbringing, I tend to use public transportation.

The cap metro airport flyer 100 has a bus leaving near the convention center (Neches & 5th, but double-check ahead for the exact location) at around 3pm (previous stop is at 2:57 near Congress & 7th) for a 3:18 arrival at the airport. The '100 is a limited stop service, so even a taxi cab won't be much faster if traffic is the time-limiting factor. It seems they doubled in cost to $1. A few years ago, I only paid 50 cents.

This should give you almost two hours at the airport. Plenty of time, even if there are traffic delays There is another bus 40 minutes later. Remember, Austin is not such a big city!

In summary, any taxi cab should make it from the conference center to the airport in less than 20 minutes.

[Michael Aivaliotis]