Edward R. Marczak, MacTech Magazine
Conference Sessions Chair and IT Track Sessions Chair

Ed is the Executive Editor of MacTech Magazine, the author of several books, and Worldwide Mac Operations Dude at Google. Ed heads up overall conference session content, as well as the IT track.

I would venture that many of us started out as a technician working for someone else. At some point we jumped ship with a few clients and set out to "do things better". Soon we realized there was so much more to running a business then just being a great tech. In this round table session we are going to talk about the things we have learned about running our businesses, Please come ready to share your ideas and dig for a few gold nuggets for your own bag of tricks. Some of the topics we'll address are Accounting, managing client impressions, Marketing, Business planning, employee's, retirement, insurance, vacations, phone systems, web pages, and all the other things we have learned as we transitioned from Technician to business person.

Solidify the knowledge you've gained during MacTech Conference by participating in the Take Control TechUp, an event that will quiz conference attendees on the topics covered in a wide variety of sessions. This interactive session will pit you against your fellow-conference goers to see who best remembers the technical content from our expert-level talks. (with Adam Engst)

Solidify the knowledge you've gained during MacTech Conference by participating in the Take Control TechUp, an event that will quiz conference attendees on the topics covered in a wide variety of sessions. This interactive session will pit you against your fellow-conference goers to see who best remembers the technical content from our expert-level talks. (with Tonya Engst)

Ars Technica Editor-at-Large, Jacqui Cheng will give the keynote at MacTech Conference 2013, which will be held November 6-8, 2013 at the Manhattan Beach Marriott in Los Angeles, California.

Andy Ihnatko's tech writing was once described by the mainstream press as "always funny and usually informative" as well as "always informative and usually funny." He's been The Chicago Sun-Times' tech columnist since the turn of the millennium, and a senior contributor to Macworld for two or three Presidential administrations before that. He's frequently convinced Techhive, BoingBoing, and PBS to publish his writings, too. He's also a host of the MacBreak Weekly podcast on the This Week In Tech Network as well as the creator of The Ihnatko Almanac show. Andy can't reveal what he'll be speaking about at MacTech. For that matter, he also can't wear short-sleeved shirts or any other garment that allows someone to see what he's wearing on his left wrist, unless they sign a complicated NDA. But he'll be free to speak about it in November. He's probably said too much already. Forget you read this. Academy Awards picks. Let's say he'll be discussing his picks for the 2014 Academy Awards.

The "fundamentals" of computing are things like binary, meaning "on" and "off"; the components of a system, such as RAM, ROM, CPU, and I/O devices; operating systems, and the differences between them; skill at typing and use of software. On these, developers build programs, using languages and algorithms that tie these supposed basics together in new and (hopefully) better ways. The most effective developers are experts in how and why their code works, but CPU architectures, assembly language, Application Binary Interfaces, and the role of a kernel in running an OS are just some of the things many developers know little or nothing about. This talk aims to introduce as many of these "internals" as possible, in the hope of helping both new and experienced developers understand better the operation of the machines they command.

What separates great user interfaces from the merely decent, and how to move your interface from one to the other.

Learn the different ways of making ebooks compatible with iBooks. We will focus on the three different ways to make an ebook bring the most out of the story you want to tell, from flowing text to rich fixed layouts, you will learn how to bring everything together down to the nitty gritty. Want to take advantage of iBooks specific features like engaging multitouch interaction? Stick around for the second part of the talk where you will be able to download assets to build an iBook from scratch with iBooks Author in an interactive workshop.

Need we say more?

The way our apps communicate with services across the wire has atremendous impact in the final user experience. This talk will coverwhat it takes to bring the best experience to end users by properlyconsuming web APIs.We will talk about creating and consuming a web service, followingbest practices in API design and we will explore differentpossibilities on how to design API clients. We'll take a look at majorconcerns like networking, parsing, caching, and error handling, whileemphasizing testing and driving the design of our clients with TDD.We'll discuss best practices, tools and tricks to get the best from anAPI and bring it to our users.

Engagement metrics aside, how are you engaging your users at an emotional level? How much thinking goes into the personality and tone of your product? What about writing the error messages, alerts, calls-to-action, descriptions or release notes? Whether you have a playful concept or big brand product yet to be built, or a product that's been out for a while, Jaimee wants to share some very important considerations in design thinking and copywriting to help your products become more fun, delightful and emotionally engaging experiences for your users.

Many programming projects require text to be tokenized and parsed. In the past this was done manually, but now there are a variety of automatic tokenizers and parsers that can greatly simplify this task. This talk focuses on Ragel, a lightweight tokenizer that can easily be integrated with Xcode and Objective-C. Ragel uses a grammar that is very similar to regular expressions to specify the grammar you want to tokenize. Ragel converts your grammar specification into a finite state machine that directly interfaces with C functions or Objective-C methods. Unlike more complex automatic parsing tools, Ragel is extremely lightweight (does not even require linking with a framework), is fully compatible with Unicode text (can be configured to tokenize input from NSString objects), and generates code that has no license restrictions (Ragel itself is licensed under GPL). Ragel has been in continuous development for over 12 years, and has a an active user community. If your Mac or iOS application needs parse text, consider using Ragel as the core of your parser.

No matter how hard developers try, we will never be able to add more hours to the day. This is why automation is key to running a successful indie business. Automation is more than just writing some ruby scripts. Its also about brining on staff to help with things that you don't need to do. Its about implementing systems that will make you become more efficient.

This optional, full-day workshop takes place the day prior to MacTech Conference 2013 and is available at a discount for conference attendees. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/2013/workshops for more information on this workshop. 

This optional, full-day workshop takes place the day prior to MacTech Conference 2013 and is available at a discount for conference attendees. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/2013/workshops or more information on this workshop. 

Passbook is one of the most underrated features of iOS 6. In this session, we will explore how to create and maintain interactive, auto-updating, user-specific passes from basic design to server-side endpoints. From event tickets to geo-localized coupons, learn how you can create engaging passes as successfully as the NSNorth conference. There might even be a live demo with audience participation (network and Demo Gods permitting).

Xsan to the desktop - thanks to: Xsan being part of OS X, Promise SAN Links, Thunderbolt, Promise X30 and FibreChannel to the desktop. I'll show pictures, screenshots, video's of the work and performance. I'll talk about the architecture and design that went into the solution. I'll also encourage the idea of using Xsan for everyday shared storage and not just for video.

Right now storage is on the verge of being transformed from how we traditionally view our server environments into something completely different. Traditionally we have connected storage to servers directly, but with the advent of technologies such as virtualization, faster network infrastructure, and faster storage that is changing quickly. SSD's, 10Gbe, large drive capacities are all driving this change. I would talk about how services are being migrated from servers with directly attached storage to a shared storage environment with multiple servers talking to it and sharing it out and how this changes costs and planning for your business or school.

With an easy-to-learn language and integrated GUI support, LiveCode has become the go-to solution for a wide range of tools from decision support, training, data management, dashboards, and more.Now that LiveCode is open source, many organizations are discovering the benefits of being able to rapidly deploy applications across the enterprise, serving users running Mac, Windows, and even mobile devices running iOS and Android.This session will provide an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of LiveCode, focusing on areas where it can be particularly useful for devops, with an introduction to its scripting language and object model so you can hit the ground running using it within your own organization.

A discussion / talk / seminar / workshop about strategies for managing and deploying iOS. I'll cover the different models (institutional, personal, layered) for deploying to users, and the tools to do it - Apple Configurator or Profile Manager. In addition, for management strategies, I'll talk about the value and features offered by MDM products (without going into specific vendors) and the various approaches and benefits you can enjoy as a result of using them. Finally, from a soft point of view, I can show the example of my own school which is now deploying 500 iPads 1:1 for students across all school ages, and the ways in which we are accomplishing that goal

How will IPv6 impact our network? How will IPv6 impact our servers? How will it impact our desktops? What about NAT? What about firewalls? How does IPv6 impact my desktops and their interaction with my servers...and vice-versa? And what about DNS? There will be math.

Security: Making Mavericks Work for You!

A hands-on lab, bringing system administrators from the basics of Python through building a useful utility to take away.(with Greg Neagle)

When new software appears, Mac admins need test Macs that match their standard configuration in order to verify that the new software doesn't adversely affect anything in their environment. VMware's addition of NetBoot support to VMware Fusion means that NetBoot can be leveraged to get virtual Macs set up quickly for testing use. This session will cover how to leverage VMware Fusion, NetBoot and other tools to rapidly build OS X virtual machines to desired specifications, as well as how to migrate VMware Fusion-built OS X and OS X Server VMs to VMware's ESXi hypervisor.

A hands-on lab, where you can learn about WiFi analysis and troubleshooting, including tools and methodologies.

When dealing with wireless LAN, planning and design are vital to success. Planning, best practices, deployment, tools of the trade and techniques are the key. But, it’s also about how to analyze, track down problems, and how to deal with problems as you find them. Jeanette’s deep knowledge as a WiFi engineer will allow you gain insight, and understanding about wireless that most people never get a chance to hear. 

Determining why one machine or application installation acts differently than another can be maddening. You've verified the hardware is working correctly - why won't the software behave? This session will cover fundamental diagnostic procedures for OS X using Apple's built-in tools in addition to third-party utilities. With our growing enterprise community, knowledge of these simple methods can help us save time and work together more efficiently to better serve our customer base.

Most of us, we hack systems. We make impossibly complex computer networks, work with massive storage arrays, insanely complex directory structures, but what about the people we work for? IT isn't just about the technical side, it's about the human side, and if you're working against the human factors, no amount of technical know-how, arm-twisting and generalized control regime will get you what you want

A hands-on lab, bringing system administrators from the basics of Python through building a useful utility to take away.(with Matt Schnittker)

This optional, full-day workshop takes place the day prior to MacTech Conference 2013 and is available at a discount for conference attendees. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/2013/workshops for more information on this workshop.

This optional, full-day workshop takes place the day prior to MacTech Conference 2013 and is available at a discount for conference attendees. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/2013/workshops for more information on this workshop.

This optional, half-day workshop takes place the day prior to MacTech Conference 2013 is included with your MacTech Conference registration. See http://www.mactech.com/conference/2013/microsoft-office-accreditation for more information.

What's new this year?
New Venue. Expanded Schedule. Pre-Conference Workshops.
More Sessions. More Labs. More Certifications. New Vendor Forums.

This year's event has an expanded schedule with more time for even more sessions, new and expanded labs, more peer networking opportunities, additional accreditations, and optional pre-conference workshops. Our new Pre-Conference Workshops and the acclaimed Microsoft Office for Mac Accreditation Courses take place on Tue, November 5, 2013.

And the core of the event: the sessions? It's better than ever! Great speakers. Awesome, timely topics for both IT and Devs. There's a whole lot more industry leaders, sessions, and even surprise speakers coming. MacTech Conference 2013 will be three full days — this year, we're adding a half day of content on the last day, and we'll end by 5pm on Friday. Not to mention our widely talked about evening events.

And, we're really excited about our new venue: The Manhattan Beach Marriott. It's a beautiful venue, much closer to LAX, overlooks a golf course, and is an even better deal on guest rooms. As it did last year, the discounted guest room block is expected to sell out, so don't wait (you must be registered for MacTech Conference to reserve).
Register by August 15th, and save $500 on Super Early Bird Pricing!