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Release Notes is back for another gathering of the best and brightest in the iOS, Mac, and web development community. Together we will share our experiences, our struggles, and our victories in the face of an ever-changing software market.
Release Notes is an event meticulously designed to help you grow your online business. At its heart are practical talks on a range of business topics, but those who have attended past events know that Release Notes has more to offer. Plenty of networking time is built into the schedule, and organized activities are designed to stimulate great conversation and build new relationships. Whether you are a developer, designer, marketer, salesperson, or founder, Release Notes can help you take your next step with your business.
“Release Notes continues to be the best conference I have ever been a part of professionally. I've spoken at a lot of conferences, and the care and thoughtfulness I was treated with at your last event just blows everyone out of the water. It's something that even 6 months or so later I'm still telling people about, and using as reference as we plan our next events.”
—Sarah Hatter, Founder, CoSupport
Get Your Ticket
Act fast. Early bird pricing ends on April 30, 2019.
Speakers
Release Notes speakers are a hand-selected group of business professionals from within our community and beyond. We challenge every speaker to bring something new and unique based on their successes and talents. On our stage, they will present talks that are sure not only to inspire, but to give you practical data and strategies for improving your skills, whether you work on products or in client services, and whether you do it in a company of one or one hundred.
We are honored to have such an amazingly talented group of speakers joining us this year. Learn more about each of them below.
Jonathan Rhyne
Co-founder & COO, PSPDFKit
Jonathan is the COO and co-founder of PSPDFKit GmbH, a company focused on helping developers deliver excellent software by building discernibly high-quality products and providing great support. He's involved in everything from project management, sales, marketing, HR to the finances and legal affairs of the company. Prior to founding PSPDFKit, Jonathan practiced at a well respected law firm in the US, guiding software companies in the mobile software industry through the proverbial jungle of their business and legal needs. Outside of work, you can find him spending time with his wife and two young kids, playing soccer, or taking photos.
Jaimee Newberry
Founder, Picture This Clothing
Jaimee worked in the Web Interaction Design & Development industry from 1998-2013 with an emphasis on empathetic and behavioral psychology-applied interface design for web, mobile web, and iOS applications. Currently, Jaimee is the co-founder and CEO Picture This Clothing which started as a passion project launched by a single Tweet from her personal Twitter account. Jaimee has also served as a board of directors member, as an advisor, and as an executive coach for banking, tech, telecom, and application development & design firms.
Patrick Campbell
Co-Founder & CEO, ProfitWell
Patrick Campbell is the Co-Founder and CEO of ProfitWell, the industry standard software for helping companies like Atlassian, Autodesk, Meetup, and Lyft with their monetization (through Price Intelligently) and retention strategies. ProfitWell also provides a turnkey solution that powers the subscription financial metrics for over eight thousand subscription companies (it’s free and plugs right into your billing system). Prior to ProfitWell Patrick led Strategic Initiatives for Boston based Gemvara and was an Economist at Google and the US Intelligence community.
Sebastiaan de With
Co-founder, Chroma Noir, LLC
Sebastiaan de With is the designer half of the team behind the iPhone photography apps Halide and Spectre. He’s an ex-Apple designer who has worked on the design of various iCloud apps you might use every day. When he is not taking photos and working on Halide and Spectre, he does freelance design for various clients, from indie developers to Fortune 500 companies.
Lianna Patch
Founder, Punchline Conversion Copywriting
Lianna Patch is a conversion copywriter and comedian whose greatest dream is to make your customers pause, smile, and click (in that order).
Trained in the not-so-dark arts of buyer psychology and customer research, she specializes in punchy, engaging landing pages and email copy. Her work has been featured by Copy Hackers, HubSpot, Conversio, Autopilot, BigCommerce, ConversionXL, and more impressive publications whose names you probably don’t know.
She’s written copy for Freshbooks, Manly Bands, GhostBed, and The Contract Shop, among other delightful clients, and regularly speaks at ecommerce and software conferences around the world.
Not sick of hearing about her yet? Great! Conquer campaigns with Lianna at Punchline Conversion Copywriting, or get quick copy jobs done at SNAP Copy.
Akil King
Consultant, Entrepreneur
As a member of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Relations Group from 2009 to 2017 Akil focused on working with developers to bring world class experiences to Apple’s platforms. First as the Partnership Manager for the Kids, Books and Reference Segments, he helped developers build education and “Edutainment” apps for iOS at a time when the iPad was changing the way children, parents and educational institutions interacted with technology.
In 2013, Akil became the Partnership Manager for Games at Apple. Here he worked with some of the largest, most profitable, and most innovative iOS game developers in the world, eventually managing a portfolio grossing more than $2 Billion year. During his time at Apple, Akil played an integral part of selecting content, molding messaging, and creatively developing the direction for iPhone & iPad product launches as well as launching the 4th Generation Apple TV and Apple Watch platforms. Then, the day of the iPhone X launch, he left tech entirely — moving to South America to open up a small boutique hotel on the islands off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.
Natalie Nagele
Co-founder and CEO, Wildbit
As co-founder and CEO, Natalie leads the direction, culture, and team happiness for Wildbit, makers of Beanstalk, Postmark and Conveyor. With 30 team members across 5 countries (15 cities) working on multi-million dollar products for developers, she’s proving that you can grow an extremely profitable business while focusing on shorter work days, an enjoyable work-from-anywhere environment, and staying small.
“Attending Release Notes was a joy. The venue is unique and beautiful—I was raving about it all weekend to my family. The presentations were thoughtful, the atmosphere fun and respectful, and the ‘dine around’ dinner allowed me to meet a whole lot of people I might not have gotten to know otherwise.”
—Jason Snell, Six Colors
The Dine-Around
The dine-around has been so popular with our attendees that this year we've decided to do it twice. At two different meal times during the conference, we'll split the audience into small random groups. Each group will dine in a different resort restaurant of their choosing, in a much smaller, cozier setting. It’s a chance for the more introverted amongst us to get to know a few fellow attendees and speakers. And the best part: Since Finest is an all-inclusive resort, you won't have to worry about splitting the check!
There will also be other opportunities to arrange meals with attendees (or your family members). Our schedule is flexible enough to give attendees time to socialize and network as much as they like.
The Optional Wind-Down Day
Release Notes is designed to expose you to new perspectives and get the creative juices flowing. In the past we've found our guests collect several ideas for their business during the conference, and then return home and have to develop those raw ideas into fully-formed plans in isolation. This year we are encouraging our guests to spend an extra "wind-down" day at the resort after the conference ends. This wind-down day will allow our guests to enjoy the amenities of the resort as they continue conversations that developed during the conference; to refine ideas with others who experienced the same speakers on stage and have a shared context for developing plans. We hope this day will allow our guests to return home with actionable plans and hit the ground running.
This wind-down day is purely optional; there will be no official conference activities planned for that day. If you would like to take part in the wind-down day, simply plan your travel so that you remain at the resort on Sunday, October 6th (checking out on October 7th), and join the organizers and other conference guests who will be doing likewise.
Schedule
| Guests arrive at Finest Resort and check in | Oct. 3, 12:00pm-8pm EST |
| Registration, followed by Welcome and Keynote | Oct. 3, 9:00pm EST |
| Closing Reception, after Final Session and Remarks | Oct. 5, 7:30pm - 11:30pm EST |
| Optional Wind-down day (No planned events) | Oct. 6 |
The official Release Notes conference begins with an opening registration period, followed by an evening keynote address. After the keynote, we will have an evening reception.
The remainder of the conference will consist of practical talks from speakers, conversation, food, and lots of fun.
Your ticket and resort reservation is all-inclusive. Meals and drinks will be provided by the resort for no additional cost for the duration of your stay. (Certain optional premium drink and food can be purchased for an additional cost.) 24-hour room service will also be available at no additional cost.
Note: Because all guests will need room accommodations booked for all three days of the conference, you should plan to travel home on Sunday, October 6th or later. Those who take advantage of our optional wind-down day on the 6th should book their travel home for October 7th or later.
“Meeting so many successful people that have shared many of the struggles I’ve experienced trying to launch my business renewed my faith that not only is there a place for indie businesses in the App Store, but its a place where many of us will thrive.”
—Tom Piarulli, freelance developer
Venue
This will be the first edition of Release Notes to take place outside the United States. We are very excited to bring our gathering to Mexico this year.
Finest Playa Mujeres is an all-inclusive luxury family friendly resort in Playa Mujeres, about 45 minutes north of Cancún. With spacious family suites featuring an additional room for children plus amenities and activities designed for both adults and kids, everyone can enjoy their stay at Release Notes equally.
Given all the amazing activities available to you at this all-inclusive resort, we will be building into our schedule plenty of time for you to explore and enjoy Finest to the fullest.
Finest Playa Mujeres is an all-inclusive resort, so during your stay, your food, drinks (excluding some high-end alcohol), and room service will come at no additional charge.
Finest is a smaller facility than we've used in previous editions of Release Notes, which we hope will create a more intimate atmosphere. It will limit our seating capacity, however. So get your ticket fast if you want to be sure you don’t miss out. And book your accommodation immediately after.
Dress Code
Finest Playa Mujeres enforces a dress code in order to ensure the comfort of its guests. It is very simple and non-restrictive, but it will be enforced strictly. We will be adhering to this code at our conference events as well. Get more details here.
A Family-Friendly Resort
Families joining us at Release Notes 2019 will be pleased to know that Finest Playa Mujeres offers free on-site child care. During the day the resort offers its “Imagine Kids Club” for children age 3 to 15. This program is divided by age into three separate clubs: Baby, Mini, and Maxi clubs. The Imagine Kids Club is staffed by licensed educators and offers age-appropriate activities for each individual Club. The Imagine Kids Club is available every day from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Short-term babysitting is also available each day in the mornings from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and in the evenings from 5:00 PM to 10:30 PM. If you would like to take advantage of short-term babysitting, please contact the resort concierge.
Travel
The nearest airport to Finest Playa Mujeres is Cancún International Airport (airport code: CUN), which is about a 45-minute drive from the resort. We recommend arriving early on October 3, 2019 so you can settle in, enjoy some time on the beach, and be ready to join us that evening for the 9pm registration. There are activities scheduled through the evening of October 5, so please do not plan to depart before the morning of October 6, 2019. (If you are planning to stay for the optional wind-down day on October 6, plan to fly out early on Monday, the 7th.)
We strongly recommend that you arrange your ground transportation between the airport and the resort before arriving in Cancún. Being a resort destination, there are several tour companies that offer ground transportation between Cancún International Airport and the many resorts in the area. You can book private luxury transportation from Seasons Tours directly through Finest Playa Mujeres. If you would like a less expensive option, you might consider either USA Transfers or Canada Transfers.
Our Conference Venue:
Quintana Roo 77400, México
Lodging
Since Finest Playa Mujeres is an all-inclusive resort, you must book your accommodations at Finest in order to attend Release Notes. Staying at other nearby hotels is not an option.
We strongly encourage attendees to book their accommodations for Release Notes immediately after purchasing their ticket. We have arranged a special rate for Release Notes guests, but that rate is only available while supplies last. The resort is also very likely to sell out of rooms altogether soon, as it is a very popular venue for fall weddings.
If you purchase your ticket but find that you cannot book your stay at Playa Mujeres because it has sold out, we will offer a refund if you contact us within 48 hours of your ticket purchase.
Quintana Roo 77400, México
Rates are available for Release Notes attendees starting as low as $143 per day per person, all-inclusive, in a double-occupancy room, while supplies last. Book immediately after ticket purchase. You will receive instructions on how to get the discounted Release Notes rate in your confirmation email after ticket purchase.
“Release Notes is a perfect combination of inspiration and implementation, tightly-focused on the business of indie software development. You learn from great speakers who share with real-world experience, both successes and failures. The conference format encourages meaningful conversation with the speakers and the other attendees. I’ve had a terrific experience, both as a speaker and as an attendee, and I’m looking forward to coming back.”
—Jean MacDonald, Micro.blog Community Mgr. & Founder, App Camp For Girls
Community
Release Notes, as a conference concept, was conceived in the mores of other great Apple enthusiast conferences that came before it. We are aware of the legacy of great shows that have occurred in Chicago (C4, SecondConf) and many others built in the same spirit (Çingleton, Úll, CocoaLove) and we take the responsibility of carrying on the traditions of this conference format very seriously.
As hosts, we take great pride in offering our guests the utmost in hospitality. We want everyone attending our event to feel welcome, safe, and included. All conference events will offer a variety of beverages, including non-alcoholic options. All conference events will be open to attendees under 21 years of age. All conference events will be accessible to those with special needs. We’ve taken care to make sure that our venues welcome all.
We want all our guests to feel welcome and at home, no matter their age, gender, ability, or who they love. In order to encourage that feeling, everyone participating in the conference will be bound by the Release Notes Code of Conduct. Providing a safe, comfortable, and hospitable environment for everyone is our top priority.
If you have any questions or concerns about our commitment to hosting an inclusive conference, please contact us, and we will be happy to discuss them with you.
Our not-for-profit community partner for 2019
Every year, we partner with a charitable organization in order to raise some money and help improve our community. We are in the process of securing a partner for this year’s show, and we will announce that partner here on our site in the future. Stay tuned.
Gallery
See all the great photos from past Release Notes events on our Gallery Page. Also view videos of the talks presented on our stage.
View the full gallery here.
“Release Notes is the standard to which I hold all other conferences. It’s extremely well run and a lot of fun. I look forward to it each year. ”
—Yono MittleFehldt, indie app and game developer
Pricing
| Early Bird Ticket: purchased by May 1st, 2019 | $799 |
| Regular Price: purchased on or after May 1st, 2019 | $999 |
| Companion Ticket: | $99 |
Seating is limited. Get your ticket today.
A limited number of companion tickets are available for spouses, friends, and significant others who would like to attend the keynote and participate in social events surrounding the conference. Your companion will need to be staying at the resort with you in order to have access to these events.
Sponsors
Our conference would not be possible without generous help from our sponsors. They are true supporters of the Release Notes community.
If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities for Release Notes 2019, get in touch.
“There was plenty to hear at Release Notes. I got something out of every talk and from many conversations with developers who I had never met before.”
—Manton Reece, Riverfold Software
