December 15 2009 8:07 PM by Adam
filed under ColdFusion | ColdFusion Builder

Must be goal oriented and passionate about solving problems. Being told how to code is a major turn off and creative power is a must. Your expertise of ColdFusion is outmatched only by your love for web development. Must play nice with others and be willing to work with some of the smartest people in the industry. Qualified candidates must provide multiple instances of community involvement in the form of publications, blog posts, podcasts and discussion lists – flame wars accepted. All applications must be received by 2010. Bonus offered for referrals.

If you've read this far, then I've made it past that pesky RSS reader or social network. You must be the type of person who likes to read into things. Excellent.

I'm sure you heard by now all of the great reasons to apply to the Adobe Community Experts program. But let me explain that it's not about the status or the perks. We don't make you sell us your first born child or require you become a corporate shill contrary to popular belief. You just have to believe that ColdFusion is the best platform for web development and want to make it better. You are not excluded if you've installed an alternative CFML engine, but you are excluded if you are actively contributing to one. I'm asking you to directly contribute to ColdFusion and I'm not looking for part-timers.

Earlier this year, I went rogue and created a private email list for ColdFusion Experts specifically. Beyond feedback on the given prereleases, & lt;InvalidTag src="/admin/assets/editors/tinymce_3/jscripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js" type="text/javascript"> I wanted to involve the community leaders in the planning and strategy behind ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder. There are a ton of things that ended up in (and out) of ColdFusion 9 based on their feedback. Their input has been invaluable so far and I plan to amp it up moving forward as we design Link/Storm (and other projects) and start thinking about the future of web development.

ColdFusion is proprietary software. Proprietary is not a bad word. While it may have many faults, it also has its advantages. I plan to use the Adobe machine to apply those advantages to ColdFusion in a major way. We can adopt the philosophies of open source (which have its own set of benefits and disadvantages) and apply it to the current model for maximum effect. The Community Experts are going to be the proxy between the web development community at large and ensure that future versions of ColdFusion accurately trials and tribulations of the ColdFusion community.

We've got an incredible amount of work to do in 2010 to raise our ranks. We need to reach outside of the CF community and start to invade other worlds. The Experts are the first wave in developer acquisitions. Adobe has connections with publishers, media outlets and conference organizers and we are going to be calling on the Experts to put in some serious work.

So while it might be honor to be in a group of highly esteemed peers, the ACE program in 2010 isn't going to be a cakewalk. If you still think you got the chops (or want to nominate someone who does), you can apply here. Nominations are preferred, but not a requirement.

Please consider joining us to build a better ColdFusion.

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