Sold out in 8 eight days this year, WWDC will be held at its usual spot in San Francisco from June 7 – 11. This year seems to put focus on the iPhone SDK more so than previous years.

If it’s anything like last year, it’s going to be pretty miserable. 5,000 knowledge-hungry developers from all around the world trying to get to the same sessions as you. There will be lines for everything; bathrooms, presentation rooms, lunch, labs, store, escalators. Pretty much anywhere you want go, there will hundreds of others who want the same thing.

At the end, it’s worth it though. The information presented is very solid. They don’t cover everything but enough to get you started. After you walk out of there, you should be able to build a semi-complex iPhone/iPad app. Not bad for ~4 days of sessions.

For all you first-comers, here are a few words of advice:

1. If you want to see the keynote, count on seeing some hardcore fans camped out in front of Moscone as early as 1-2am. Getting there at 6am will put you somewhere at the end of the North-West side of Moscone West. You will still be able to get inside the keynote room at that point. Once people condense, the line isn’t really as long as it seems at first. I’d pack light, bring snacks and something small to sit on. You will get cold after a while no matter what the predictions say so have a jacket ready.
2. There will be a bunch of companies going around the long line giving away SWAG. Don’t take anything you don’t want because you’ll have to hold it until you get to a trash can. The cute girls giving it away and trying to sign you up for their newsletter aren’t really interested in you, no matter how convincing they are. So don’t be gullible and be strong!
3. Once the line starts moving, don’t get your hopes up just yet. You’ll make several stops inside the building before reaching the presentation room. The good thing is, once you’re deep enough, Apple will provide breakfast pastries, coffee and water. Don’t run to it, there will be plenty of it.
4. The session rooms will fill up rather quickly. Always know what session you want to attend next and where it is. If you screw around for too long, you may not get in.
5. It’s easy to forget about the lunchtime speakers. Don’t waste your time pretending you’re coding in one of the rest areas and go see the lunchtime speakers. They’re really worth seeing. Their success stories are very inspiring and educational.
6. When it’s time for lunch, you don’t have to rush. There is plenty of food and lines are fairly manageable. It’s much better than lines to bathrooms or sessions. The food is made for masses so don’t expect Hubert Keller’s cuisine. A vegetarian dish will always be available so meat-haters need not worry.
7. For all of our sake, please do not type during sessions. Both slides and session videos will become available a couple months after the conference so don’t try to copy all the source code you see on the screen. There is a lot of loud typers out there and there really isn’t anything more annoying then listing someone hammering on their keyboard during a presentation. If a session bores you or you just prefer to IM your buddies instead, please leave the room so that someone who is actually interested can attend.
8. Evening events are fun. I’m not going to go as far as saying they’re unforgettable but they’re fun. Again, it used to be a lot more intimate a few years back but now that everything is being catered to five thousand people, it’s not the same. Stump the experts is one of those events that is highly hyped. It’s full of inside jokes that date all the way back to when WWDC was still in diapers. You may not laugh at them but it’s very intriguing to learn some of the “behind the scenes” tidbits you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. The prizes have been quite substantial too so if you happen to answer a difficult question, you may walk out of there with a Macbook Pro.
9. In general, don’t bring too much with you. You’ll have to carry it around all day long and that’s not fun. The bags and laptop sleeves Apple gives out when you pick up your badge are usually pretty uncomfortable to carry so don’t feel obligated to use them throughout the conference. My bag from last year is still in its plastic cover, untouched. It wanted to be a backpack but it was really a glorified laptop sleeve. Don’t expect to get two free phones like at Google IO.

Among other conferences, like JavaOne, WWDC rates as one of the most exciting ones. The whole thing is designed as any other Apple product – very pretty to look at but it has its share of problems. There was a controversy going on about the cost of admission this year. There was no pre-registration period since Apple knew they would sell out quickly anyway. The price tag of $1,595 is up there but still cheap compared to other conferences. Only, the “other” conferences are usually paid for employers. WWDC attendees are mostly individual contributors who pay for the ticket out of their pockets. Therefore, $1,600 in addition to transportation, room and board for 5 days can be quite an expense.

For those attending, you’re going to have lots of fun and I hope to meet some of you there!