There is absolutely NO concern in the selection process for reducing competition with SunEd. I won't go into the politics, but for a long time, the Java software group barely acknowledged that SunEd existed, and they promoted (and worked with) other third-party training groups far more than with SunEd.
The selection committee *tries* to pick what they think people are interested in, but personally, it doesn't look like they always do a very good job at that either. They base it partly on how the previous year's sessions were evaluated and attended, as well as what they *anticipate* people will want the next year, along with what they *strategically* think is a good direction to move in. But really, trust me, SunEd isn't even on the radar. If I had to guess about why teaching things aren't a big topic, it's because their hasn't been enough interest or as Kenneth said, critical mass. Although the BlueJ session *did* have a pretty good attendance this year, which I found encouraging. On the other hand, Mark's talk was *really* interesting, but at the worst possible time so it was poorly attended... which means there is no way to judge how many people might have wanted to see it if it had been at a half-way decent time.
I would say it doesn't hurt to keep trying to submit a proposal. You never know what they'll want, and I would say that an education one has a chance of getting in. There is *one* trick that one guy used once, which was to submit for a BOF a topic that was so bizarre and obscure (and in fact, he *made* up an architecture that doesn't even exist) that it was accepted. So his theory (otherwise unproven, and one data point doesn't make a technique, but still...) is that if they really don't understand it, maybe it's important enough and cutting edge enough to have in there
Boy did we have a laugh over that one.
I'm definitely open to going in on any education or certification talks. There's never much interest in certification at JavaOne, but then... the beta tests that Prometric runs there are always packed to capacity. I am on the development team of virtually all of the next exams coming up, including two new ones (still can't say what they are yet) that will be out before the next JavaOne. So maybe there's something there... if you're waiting for cert info from someone there, Mark, let me know. Bert and I are usually working on some little project for them at any given moment, so we're in correspondence with them one way or the other pretty much every day.
cheers,
Kathy
