Once again, I'll be chairing the XML track for Software Development 2005 West in Santa Clara next March. The Call for Proposals for is now live. Besides XML, tracks include Web Services, Java, Emerging Technologies, C++, Requirements & Analysis, .NET, and Mobile Development. Plus we have two new tracks this year: System Security and Scripting. Most sessions are 90 minute classes, but we also have room for half and full-day tutorials (I prefer half-day tutorials in the XML track), Birds-of-a-feather sessions, and panels. Submissions are due by August 6th.
For the XML track, we're interested in practical sessions covering all aspects of XML. This is not specifically an XML show, so we tend to find that our audience responds better to more practical, how-to, basic sessions as opposed to more theoretical, high-level sessions. For instance, a simple introduction to XQuery would go over better than a detailed comparison of XQuery optimization techniques. One thing previous attendees have told us is that they'd like to see more new sessions at each show, so we're going to be looking preferentially for talks that have not previously been given at SD West.