Pre-Conference Workshops

New to 2013 is the addition of SIX optional, certifications and pre-conference workshops — half-day for a study group and Apple Certification Exams in the morning (additional charge), half-day Microsoft Office for Mac Accrediation (afternoon, no additional charge), and four full-day Pre-Conference Workshops (additional charge). The Office accreditation is limited in size, but we confirm your spot at registration time. The exams must be reserved well in advance. And, the workshops are small group, interactive and hands-on. Student to teacher ratios are approximately 25:1 or better.

Where approrpriate, instructors may require you to bring a computer with specific, and freely available tools or software installed (such as Xcode).


You can register for the pre-conference workshops when you register for MacTech Conference 2013 (it’s an option on the registration form). Or, if you are already registered for MacTech Conference, simply contact MacTech customer service to assist you.

Note: Workshops may require minimum participation levels. All times are approximate. All sessions, speakers and descriptions are subject to change at any time without notice.





Apple Certification Exams

Study Group and Exams by v.2 Consulting, MacTech Conference Testing Partner

Prior to MacTech Conference but at the same venue, Apple Certification Exams will be available during the “Pre-Conference” activities on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, our testing partner and local Apple Authorized Training Center, v.2 Consulting, Inc., will offer a study hour and exam session on-site. Testing will conclude by 1pm (if not earlier), so that you can also attend the Microsoft Office for Mac Accreditation.

All registered attendees to MacTech’s 2013 Events, are welcome to register for the study group and an exam. The price is normally $299, but you can register early at $199. Space is limited.

What attendees need to bring: A laptop (not an iPad) with a web browser.

See additional information on the Apple Certification Exams page.



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.






Microsoft Office for Mac Accreditation

Workshop taught by Brian Govatos, Microsoft Trainer

Microsoft has created a new pilot program specifically designed to train and accredit Apple techs and consultants on Microsoft Office for Mac and Office 365 suites. The “Microsoft Office for Mac Accredited Support Professional” accreditation is a half day long pilot program, and will take place the day prior to each MacTech BootCamp II, and MacTech Conference in 2013. This new Microsoft accreditation program is training and evaluation focused on the issues every consultant and tech should know when advising on or supporting Microsoft Office for Mac, and Microsoft Office 365, with a focus on Apple users.

All registered attendees to MacTech’s 2013 Events, are welcome to attend the course, and become accredited, at no charge. Space is limited. If you haven’t already registered for MacTech Conference 2013, you can do so now.

What attendees need to bring: Nothing required, but it’s helpful to bring a Mac with Office for Mac installed.

See additional information on the Microsoft Accreditation page.



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.






iOS Development 101

Workshop taught by Brian Moakley, raywenderlich.com

Are you a beginner to iOS, or are you an intermediate iOS developer looking to brush up your foundational skills? Then iOS 101 is for you!

iOS 101 is day-long workshop that consists of several lectures and live coding demos followed by hands-on labs. It covers the following material:

  • A crash course in Objective-C
  • Making your first iPhone app
  • Using common UIKit controls, such as buttons, sliders, and text fields
  • Using the Storyboard editor
  • Transitioning between view controllers with segues
  • Using Navigation Controllers
  • Using table views to display lists of data
  • (Time permitting) Saving data to disk
  • (Time permitting) Introduction to iPad development

This workshop is a high intensity crash course where you’ll learn a lot, code a lot, and (if you’re lucky) leave with some epic loot at the end! :]

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have developed several iOS apps by yourself, from scratch, that are actually useful! You’ll leave with a firm foundation of iOS skills that you can use to make the most of the rest of the conference.

What attendees need to bring: Attendees will need laptops w/ Xcode installed, but devices (iPhones, iPads, etc) are optional as the workshop can be done just with the simulator.



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.






Mastering Auto Layout

Workshop taught by Rich Warren

When an Apple developer deals with a view’s size changes, they need to adjust the layout of its content to fit within its new bounds. Traditionally, we did this using autoresizing masks. These have the advantage of being easy to understand. Unfortunately, they are also limited. In all but the most basic views, we would need to supplement our autoresizing masks with custom code to programmatically layout some or all of our subviews.

Starting with OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 6, Apple introduced Auto Layout to help us better manage changes in our user interfaces. Auto Layout promises to fill the gaps left by autoresizing masks. In theory, it should completely eliminate the need to programmatically layout our view hierarchies. Furthermore, Auto Layout lets our views adapt to internal changes — this means our views can automtaically adjust their size in response to changes in their content.

This is especially important with the introduction of iOS 7 and likely Mavericks. Dynamic Type allows users to change the size of the fonts in all supporting applications. If we want to support Dynamic Type, we must re-layout our user interface whenever the font size changes. In addition, many user interface elements have changed size between iOS 6 and iOS 7. If we want to support both operating systems, we need to adjust our user interface appropriately. Auto Layout helps solve both of these problems.

Auto Layout is a declarative, constraints-based layout engine. Instead of specifying a view’s size or location, Auto Layout lets us define complex relationships between views, giving us an incredible amount of power–but this power comes at a cost. Auto layout has a steeper learning curve than Autoresizing.

This workshop will help you get over the steepest part of that curve. Specifically, Mastering Auto Layout will cover:

  • The theory behind Auto Layout.
  • Programmatically setting Auto Layout constraints using NSLayoutConstraint.
  • Setting and modifying Auto Layout constraints in Interface Builder.
  • Debugging Auto Layout issues.
  • Best practices for using Auto Layout with iOS 7.
  • Using Auto Layout to support Dynamic Type.
  • Using Auto Layout to support both iOS 6 and iOS 7.

This is a hands-on workshop. Students will get experience adding, modifying and debugging Auto Layout constraints through a series of lab exercises. The class will be taught using iOS 7; however, most of the material will apply to OS X development as well.

What attendees need to bring: Each attendee will need a computer with the most recent version of Xcode 5 installed. If you have an iOS developer’s license, you can bring a test device as well — however, all the samples in class can be run on the simulator.



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.






The Automation Mindset: Scripting, Command Line, and More

Workshop taught by Scott M. Neal, Mindset Garden/AcmeFoo

You see all the cool stuff in MacTech magazine (and elsewhere) about scripting, automation, etc., but you haven’t been able to apply those articles to your own uses as well as you would like…

You certainly do NOT have time to get a 4-year Computer Science degree to learn to become a programmer…

Why not let a programmer who works closely with non-programmers on a regular basis give you a crash course in Automation–the basics that you need to be able to walk away with your own Automation at the end of a single day?

In this one-day compressed course, learn the basics of Automation using Automator, AppleScript, and Xcode. It won’t make you a full-blown programmer, but you’ll have the basics you need to not only work with other scripts and modify them in useful ways, but also write your very own scripts from scratch!

Scott M. Neal will happily plant the Automation Mindset into your brain, allowing you to see the big picture about Automation, from scripting to basic programming (and much in between).

What attendees need to bring: (Being determined. More info to come.)



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.






iOS Mobility Solutions

Workshop taught by Workshop taught by Russell Poucher, Creative Resources Technology Group

Mobility solutions are in high demand and this hands-on workshop delivers services on Apple’s mobile platforms. Apple Configurator/iPCU/Profile Manager for OS X Mavericks makes it easy for anyone to deploy iPad, iPhone and iPod touch into educational and enterprise institutions. These technologies quickly allow IT Administrators to configure large numbers of iOS devices efficiently.

Installation and set up of iOS devices:

  • Creating Payloads
  • Using Configurator/iPCU
  • Upgrading Wirelessly
  • Backing up with iCloud
  • Resetting and restoring an iOS device
  • Restoring a Jailbroken iOS device
  • Suspending an App
  • Mass Deployment

Integration of iOS devices:

  • Manually configuring with Apple Configurator
  • Mobile Device Profiles
  • MDM options & benefits
  • Wireless infrastructure
  • Securing network zones
  • Deploying policies with ActiveSync
  • Setting up Mavericks Server
  • SSL Certificates
  • Mavericks Server Profile Manager
  • Remote Lock and wipe devices

Device and Data Protection-Device policies, restrictions and strong encryption methods in iOS, provide a layered approach to keeping your information secure. iOS 7 delivers powerful new ways to keep your device and data safe.

  • Security and setting of Passcode Restrictions
  • OS devices within intermingled network environments
  • VPN & Secure Tunneling
  • Private Browsing , history and cookies
  • Find my iPad
  • Encrypting Data
  • Forensics of iOS data
  • Securing organization vs. personal data
  • Locations and privacy

What attendees need to bring: Attendees need to bring an iOS device and an Apple laptop with the latest version of OS on each device.



Ready to register for MacTech Conference?
Do so now as space is limited for ALL pre-conference activities.