Reasons to Send Your iOS Developers to WWDC

WWDC stands for Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple's annual developer event. There they announce new versions of iOS, MacOS, SDKs, and developer tools, followed by four days of talks, events, and labs. The talks and labs cover every aspect of app development, focused mostly on writing and debugging code. The talks aren't just what's new; they also present deeper explorations of technology that has existed for years.

Outside of the presentation halls, there are numerous places where developers can mingle and collaborate with each other. There are rows of tables with power and ethernet where developers write code and discuss what they've learned. There are outdoor terraces where developers can sit and chat. There are also industry-specific meetups, like health and games, where developers and Apple employees can share there knowledge.

WWDC has an extensive set of labs staffed by Apple engineers (and a few experts from areas like design and marketing). In my experience, these labs are the most valuable part of the conference. The labs area is divided into twelve different segments. Apple engineers with different technical expertise populate each area for an hour or two before another topic takes over that area. There are Apple experts in topics like AirPlay, Privacy, Swift, Marketing, Internationalization, Bluetooth, Metal, Accessories, and so on.

The Cost of WWDC

WWDC costs USD $1599 to attend. If you need a hotel, expect to pay $300-$500 per night. San Jose isn't a cheap town, and the more affordable hotels are typically far away or falling apart. The hours of WWDC are long, typically from 9am to 8pm. I recommend booking a hotel within walking distance so your developers aren't trying to battle sleep deprivation.

I typically budget $3000 - $5000 for WWDC per developer.

To put this in perspective, the total cost of WWDC is about the price of the nicely configured MacBook Pro your developers use. It's less than two weeks of a US-based iOS developer's paycheck. It's a lot less than the recruiting fee for an iOS developer, which might total more than $30,000.

Buying a WWDC Ticket

When I first started developing iOS apps, buying WWDC tickets was easy! You just bought a ticket.

These days, the demand for WWDC tickets far exceeds the supply. Apple distributes tickets on a lottery basis. Your developers need to register for the lottery and put in their credit card information. If they win a ticket, their credit card is immediately charged the full cost of WWDC.

Apple does not offer refunds, and will only allow you to exchange tickets within your own organization (and I believe you must ask Apple for permission).

For this reason it's critical that you inform your developers about your WWDC policy as soon as possible. Your developers are putting their credit card on the line for $1599. You'll really upset your developers if you tell them your company won't pay for WWDC after they paid for a ticket!

The topics covered at WWDC include:

• New APIs
• Changes to existing APIs
• Getting the most from existing APIs
• Improvements to Swift and Objective-C
• Advanced debugging techniques
• Deep dives into topics like security, accessibility, layout, animation, etc.
• iOS App marketing
• iOS App design
• Improving performance and energy consumption
• App Store rules
• User Experience (UX)
• And more

Why You Should Send Your iOS Developers to WWDC

1. Your competition will be there; about 5,000 other developers attend from around the world
2. Apple staffs the WWDC labs with hundreds of Apple engineers who can help your developers solve your problems
3. It's (nearly) the only opportunity to discuss a feature request or bug report with Apple
4. Your developers can get feedback from Apple designers
5. Your developers can trade best practices with employees from places like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft
6. Your developers will expand their technical network, and thus your company's network
7. It’s the biggest iOS developer conference
8. Everyone says they'll watch the WWDC videos instead of attending, but they most watch only one or two
9. Even if they do watch the WWDC videos, there are five days spanning 9am to 7:30pm in four separate venues; its a lot of video
10. Even if you did watch 40 hours of video instead of WWDC, you're missing out on the interactions with other iOS developers and Apple engineers
11. Apple releases hundreds of new technologies every year at WWDC; your developers will have a huge head start if they're learning with 5000 other developers
12. WWDC presentations go beyond the documentation; they sometimes feature critical information you need to get a feature to work
13. Your developers will love you
14. Your developers will return inspired
15. Your developers will know that you support their career growth

Comments? Questions? You can reach me at @HireAnAppDev