Before I begin my cheerful rave about the newest conference on the Flash Platform circuit, let me sum it up in 3 words:

Boston. Beer. Flash.

Unlike any conference you have ever been to, Flash on Tap was equally about all three. The host city was no less a star than the 'refreshments' or content served.

Boston's location puts it at the midpoint between San Francisco, the epicenter of the Flash Platform universe, and Europe, where it seems most have figured out many mind-blowing-ly creative examples of what to do with the platform. Hosted collaboratively by Boston's own Infrared 5 and FMS hosting empire Influxis, in from LA, this conference drew the most inspiring and professional speakers from all over the world.

The layout of the conference was quite unique. Flash on Tap was set in the historic Castle where the vast, yet intimate, space was filled with a mainstage, a variety of quality brewers and beer vendors, and the key space for sponsor booths and exhibitors. The selection of beers ranged from New England favorites to very fine and highly rated brews. Consumption was carefully limited to tastings, although you could purchase larger amounts during the nightly events. The format worked very well, kept everyone loose during the conference and encouraged folks to focus on the main stage presentations and support the conference sponsors. I think the big hall concept took a bit of getting used to. The first night, folks were so excited to be tasting beer, it took them a second to notice Grant Skinner on stage presenting some very cool stuff.

The event served up some amazing Flash content and presentations. After a first day of comprehensive workshops, day’s 2 and 3 of the conference offered up to 5 tracks of sessions during the morning hours. Hosted in the hotel where most attendees stayed, across the street from the Castle, these morning sessions were convenient for folks as they could roll out of bed and into the session of their post. Taking a look at the schedule (http://www.flashontap.com/docs/FonTSchedule.pdf) you’ll notice the incredible variety of speakers and topics available. The first 3 hours of sessions packed the likes of pond jumpers Tink and Koen De Weggheleire, locals Joe Berkovitz and Michelle Yaiser, Papervsion guru John Grden, interaction expert Brendan Lee, and other excellent topics by Jer Thorp, Joa Ebert, Michael Plank, Jamie Kosoy and Aldo Bucchi.

While Mark Anders was there to give the morning keynote, Christophe Conraets, also local to Boston working out of Adobe’s regional office, had the distinction of being one of the few Adobe employees to give a session at Flash on Tap. The lack of Adobe folks at a Flash conference was highly unprecedented, mostly due to the fact that Adobe, while big sponsors at the event, decided to host a Flash Camp in San Francisco at the same time. I had never been to a Flash conference with so few folks from the company whose product was the center of attention. There seemed to be a bit more relaxed and communal vibe at this conference.

The evening of day 2 brought everyone back to the castle for a catered lunch, more beer, and presentations by Andre Michelle and GMUNK. Phillip Kerman entertained folks with his sampling of ingenious videos. Personally, a huge highlight of the conference was a presentation by Yoni Goodman, Animation Director of the Oscar nominated film “Waltz with Bashir”. Having Yoni demonstrate how Flash was used to tell the story in a feature length film was an incredible treat and further evidence of how Flash on Tap featured such diverse talent and captivating speakers. (I had a chance to talk with Yoni at the speaker brunch Sunday morning, the day after the conference ended. It was Yoni’s first visit to Boston and I was grateful to Flash on Tap for giving him reason to share his experience and accomplishments with us.)

Day 3 replicated the format with another 15 sessions in the morning. Tough choices had attendees picking between topics by Flash conference veterans Dr. Woohoo and Ralph Hauwert, Niqui Merret, Paul Burnett, Moses Gunesch, Doug Marttila, Andy Zupko, a trademark unshaven Rob Reinhardt, Trevor Burton and Sean McCracken. Conference host Chris Allen demoed Red5 to a comfortably full room of attendees. I also popped into Scott Janousek’s session on mobile development which featured a special ‘ELMO’ projector which Scott was proud to tell me was from a company out of Boston.

After lunch, all were back in the castle tasting beer and watching Sir Keith Peters play with chaos. Keith, also a Boston native, was as relaxed and intimate with the audience as I’d ever seen him. He was at the top of his game. After some more beer tasting, I got to follow my pal and perennial colleague Keith with a main stage session on my first 10 years working with Flash. To further emphasize the looseness and fun vibe of the conference, my presentation hit a high note when Todd Anderson, prompted by a slide of mine featuring The Goonies, came on stage and did the “truffle shuffle”. Sure to be a classic Flash on Tap moment, I think this sums up the how the intoxication of so many good Flash presentations, combined with the flavorful beer, elevated this conference into a new level of good times.

After a little break, Craig Swann and Mario Klingemann gave presentations presented while followed by an amazingly catered BBQ dinner kicked off. The inaugural Flash on Tap conference ended with live music in the Castle while attendees tried their hardest to consume the last drops of fresh and tasty brew.

I am looking forward to an announcement of next year's date for the conference. Whatever minor flaws there were with the first conference should be easily corrected. This should become an excellent tradition and a must-attend Flash community event.

Read more from Chuck Freedman.