WWDC Tips.md

WWDC Tips

In addition to these, Quora also has huge list.

Registration

• Since WWDC started selling out every year, Apple instituted a lottery system for tickets. You enter when it's announced, and, if you're lucky enough to get one, you'll be immediately billed for the ticket. If you'll be needing your boss's permission (approval for the expense and/or the week off work), get it early.
• If you're a student, Apple usually offers a limited number of free passes through the Student Scholarship.

Travel

• If you can get a cancellable flight and hotel reservations at reasonable prices as soon as the WWDC dates are announced, book them. Otherwise, wait until you win the ticket lottery.
• If your passport is expiring within three months of departure, renew it now. You may have border trouble otherwise.
• Join a frequent flyer program like Aeroplan or Air Miles, and use a credit card that rewards with miles.
• Before you leave, get a BSF407 card, listing all the valuable items you're planning to bring with you on your trip and don't want to get taxed for upon return. Avoid delays at the airport by visiting your local CBSA office(e.g., in the government building at Front & Yonge). Compile a list of the items and serial numbers, then bring the list and the items to the CBSA. The agent can transfer all the information to the green card. Keep it with your passport.
• Flying out of Buffalo can be much cheaper than YYZ, but you'll probably have to take a connecting flight to get to the Bay Area, you'll also have to get to Buffalo somehow. If you drive, you'll have leave your car somewhere, but long-term parking is cheap, and many hotels have sleep-and-fly promotions. Another option is the bus from Toronto to BUF.
• Pearson Airport has an up-to-date page with info for US-bound travellers.
• There are a number of ways to get from SFO to downtown San Francisco. The better way is BART, from the station at SFO. You can either walk from your arrival terminal (about 10-15 minutes), or take the free SFO AirTrain. The trip from the airport station to downtown is only around 45 minutes, and costs less than $9.
• To get to San Jose, flying to SFO has the most options for non-stop flights. However, it's about a 40 minute drive to downtown San Jose. A shared-ride van service like SuperShuttle is a good option if you're travelling with a few friends or colleagues—it works out to about USD$25/person each way.
• San Jose International is much closer to downtown San Jose. However, direct flights to SJC are more limited than to SFO, so you'll probably have to connect via a hub airport.
• Check the usual travel web sites for deals. BetterBidding is useful for decoding the anonymous hotel listings on Hotwire or Priceline.
• Apple often makes arrangements for convention pricing at a number of hotels. Your WWDC ticket confirmation email will include instructions on how to book. Obviously, the hotels closest tot he convetion centre sell out soonest.
• If you end up staying at a hotel near San Jose International Airport, VTA operates a streetcar LRV that operates along 1st Street and passes right by McEnery Convention Centre. The fare is $2/ride.

The Conference

• The weekend before the keynote, you can pick up your conference badge and paraphernalia. Keep your badge safe! You'll have to wear it visibly at all times during events, and replacing a lost badge is pretty much impossible.
• If you have a development problem, make an appointment at the appropriate lab and bring your laptop, along with the project in question. You'll get help from the engineers who built the frameworks and tools. The labs are the most valuable part of WWDC, especially now that the sessions are all live-streamed.
• Apple provides a wi-fi network during the conference, and there are lounges with ethernet (Thunderbolt and USB-C adapters are provided) and power strips. Most presentation rooms have power strips in the seating areas. If there are developer previews available after the keynote, you'll have to download them by ethernet. If you have a recent MacBook/Air/Pro, there are usually ethernet stations around the convention centre.
• Bring all relevant data and charging cables: USB, Thunderbolt, etc. Also, bring the long power cord that came with your MacBook's power adapter. While power bars are available throughout the conference rooms, you may not be close enough.
• If you don't plan on getting help at a lab, leave your MacBook at the hotel and use an iPad for notes and internet access. It's much easier to carry around.
• Bring an external drive or re-partition your internal drive before leaving home. There will probably developer previews galore—macOS, iOS, Xcode, etc.
• Apple posts up-to-date schedules at the attendee site, but before the keynote, there are a lot of TBA blanks. Log in to customize your schedule as the holes are filled. There's also an Apple Developer iOS app, with up-to-date personalized schedules, maps and news.
• If you’re leaving town after the last session on Friday, and you've already checked out of your hotel room, leave your bags with the hotel's luggage check service. (There's no luggage check service at the convention centre.)

Updated with a few San Jose-related tips.