It's the time of year when I try and pimp the ACCU Conference. If you're working in C++ for any amount of time, it's probably worth your while going. If you work in Java or C# or Python, you should certainly have a think about it. It's less that half the price of something like DevWeek, with that added bonus of actually being useful for the stuff you're doing now.

Obvious highlights include Herb Sutter on Concurrency, Scott Meyers making a rare UK conference appearance to talk about threading and about design, and chum Kevlin on STL patterns, TR1 and design.

My own meagre effort has been scheduled for the first session of the first day, so at least I'll get it over and done with. I'm scheduled against sessions that, to be honest, I'd quite like to attend so might end up talking to myself. Either that or a handful of XSLT2 gurus who've come to pick holes. Best make sure I do my homework.