I’m writing this post while flying back from San Francisco after a week at the 20th annual Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference. This being my first time at WWDC, I thought I would share my thoughts and observations on the event.

Just under 6,000 people attended the conference and hailed from virtually all parts of the globe with heavy concentrations from Asia, Western Europe and the America’s. As with all things Apple, the event was masterfully organized with no noticeable glitches throughout the week. I was particularly impressed with the preparation that went into check-in and the much sought after Monday keynote. Thousands of attendees woke up in the wee hours of the morning to stand in line for a good seat at the keynote presentation. Word has it that the #1 position was filled over 17 hours early.

This being my first keynote, it was certainly exciting but as most geek blogs have confirmed, Apple revealed no real surprises. The blogs had quite accurately predicted the new iPhone down to it’s new magnetic compass so the wind had been taken out of Apple’s preverbal sails. With that being said, the showmanship of Apple continues to be superb – even when technical glitches arose during the iPhone developer demonstrations.

Beyond the Monday keynote, my week was filled with a variety of technical seminars often flying far above my head but interesting, nonetheless. I tended to grasp the most essential points of each presentation and felt generally comfortable with the topic at hand. More than anything else, I found the social component of the conference to be far more useful than the seminars themselves. Apple setup dozens of informal gathering places throughout the conference making meetups remarkably easy. In addition, my business partner and I met with key representatives from Apple’s iPhone team, something nearly impossible outside of attending an event like WWDC.

Food and entertainment exceeded my expectations as well. Apple’s culture of healthier eating could be seen in their choices of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and drinks (it was nearly impossible to find a caffeinated beverage beyond Starbuck’s coffee or Tazo tea). Plenty of sponsored parties and social events abound giving WWDC attendees the opportunity to unwind at night and network with fellow geeks. The Thursday evening Apple-sponsored bash was held in an outdoor setting and featured the band Cake to entertain the masses. Of all events, this was the most uptight with nothing more than a sea of black-clothed, male dominated conference-goers milling around in awkward clusters.

Without question, WWDC is a fantastic event–especially if you can leverage it to establish new business connections or have the technical wherewithal to grasp the immense training offered by Apple.