Although this is being posted about a year before WWDC 2009 kicks off, what I discuss here is something for potential attendees to read. WWDC 2008 was the first time I attended WWDC and overall it went well for me, but I do have some “tips,” that I wish I knew before I attended. My tips are listed below, if you have any tips or questions of your own email me or post a comment below.

WWDC Registration - Register early for WWDC, get there a day early (Sunday), and grab your badge so you’re not having to wait in line on Keynote day (Monday).

The Keynote - Make sure you get in line early, at registration on Sunday, the Apple guy who was assisting me recommended I get there around 5:00am, I arrived at 6:10am, almost a full 4hours before the Keynote began at 10:00am. At the Keynote, get greedy: my friend Jason and I managed to grab seats in the tenth row (which were reserved for VIPs) because we went up to the front and the ushers pointed us to our tenth row seats. 

Lunch - I didn’t know that Apple supplied lunch until after the Keynote on Monday, everyday except for Friday Apple had lunch. The food was mostly sandwiches and salads, each day had a choice of three unique meals, which rotated daily. Tuesday through Friday Apple also supplied a breakfast with free juice and bagels.

Sessions - Most of the session rooms have power plugs, the only sessions I attended that did not have power plugs were in the Keynote room, if you’re attending more than two sessions in that room, make sure to conserve your laptop’s battery. It also helps to read the session description to see if the topic for the session is over your head or too novice.

Beer Bash - If you’re under twenty-one don’t plan on having any alcohol, Apple checked everyone’s ID, even people who were clearly over twenty-one. Wear something warm, a strong breeze in the park can chill the area quickly. Food at the beer bash is all free and at WWDC 2008 it was done to themes, like Italian and Asian; all mostly finger food.

Hotel - If you’re flying into San Francisco book at a Hotel close to Moscone West, I didn’t find out until after I arrived that WWDC was at Moscone West, I assumed Apple had all of Moscone Center (this matters because I stayed at the W Hotel, which was right across the street from the Beer Bash, but a block away from Moscone West). Each day WWDC starts early and ends late, other than sleeping there isn’t much time to spend at the Hotel.