I think it is great you have different opinions, I actually encourage everyone to express them on my blog, that is not the issue at all. I have issue with someone publicly accusing me of something I didn’t do, which your post clearly does.

Ted

@adobeted what the Flash platform needs is new blood… if all you have to show is 50 dudes after how many years? http://snurl.com/pnyfb

@adobeted guaranteed that for every one on that list there are 5 unknowns that would do Adobe good in exchange for 15 mins of fame

I’ve received no response. I had hopes that he would see a formula… find a developer that’s doing something good in the community and take him/her under your wing and co-present on a topic at MAX with them… co-author an article with them on DEVNET… or send them some Adobe swag out of the blue. Small things? Yes… but imagine the great effect that that kind of effort would have on the community.

Back in July I entered the Tour de Flex Data Visualization Contest hosted by Greg Wilson (http://gregsramblings.com/) and have yet to see any kind of announcement of the winners. I did see a response (tweet) to someone else that indicated that there were only 5 entrants with a frown emoticon following. I spent a significant amount of time on my entry and was excited at the possibility that perhaps I could gain some of that recognition Ted has been talking about… a road that has been incredibly disappointing to date. It would seem that if you aren’t high enough on the food chain – common courtesy is optional.

I’ve had at least a dozen (no joke/exaggeration) unsavory experiences like this over the last two years… and have come to a similar conclusion as you; there is a huge disconnect between that is being said and what is being done in “our” community.

So… I issue an open challenge to “our” evangelists. Prove your utopian dream… “spread” your influence more liberally among the lesser-knowns in the community… “contribute” more fully with the community through active collaboration… aim to double that list of developers by the end of the year… start an investment program to provide developers with great ideas some hardware or pre-release access to software (i.e. multi-touch?)… want more ideas? I’ve got a ton.

[throws down the gauntlet]

Keith, Thanks for your input. I think we all have different views on the whole subject. Some of our views are the same and some are different. I’ve had people agree with me and I’ve had people disagree with me. Now I would like to clear something up…
I did NOT put you on any list of elitists. Ted mentioned your name in his post and I used his same list of industry leaders that he did. I also did NOT call Ted an elitist.

Why is it so hard for people to accept that there are people out there who have those attitudes? I have not called anyone out by name as being an elitist, I’ve simply said they are out there.

Also, as you say, sure, it’s not just sharing. These things you mention are all true: “passion, extra time after hours learning and coding, face time at conferences”. Of course, if you don’t have passion, why bother? If you don’t put in some time learning and coding, you won’t have much to share. As for “time away from family”, not so valid. For me, it’s more like “time away from watching TV or hanging out at clubs”. Family is very important for me. Face time at conferences is a big plus, but not vital. I had already won a Flash Forward rubber arrow and contributed to two books before I went to my first full conference (Flash Forward SF, 2004). The “who you know” one is not valid. That’s a result of the others. It’s not like Mike Chambers is my cousin or Ted Patrick lives next door to me. I met them after making a name for myself.

I can’t speak for Ted or why he didn’t approve your comment. But he’s a good guy, and I think “Elitist” is the last word I’d use to describe him. Also, there are other comments on the same post that are not in full agreement with him.

Your comment was either not posted or deleted with comment filtering. Feel free to post it again, it will get published.

Cheers,

Ted