I wanted to query you all about how this tough economy is affecting you
personally, regarding your Flex/AIR work, or web development in general.

Please share your situation. Here are some example topics:

1) Have you seen any decrease in Flex/AIR work in the last few months?
2) Have you seen any cutbacks in Flex/AIR development and training
infrastructure spending?
3) Have you seen any decrease in web development work in general?

I just wanted to access the situation out there with those of you who are
actively "changing the world" with Flex/AIR.

Please take the time to share your thoughts, even if it just a quick comment
(but the more the better).

"Greg Lafrance" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:gg6q88$8bs$1@forums.macromedia.com...
>I wanted to query you all about how this tough economy is affecting you
> personally, regarding your Flex/AIR work, or web development in general.
>
> Please share your situation. Here are some example topics:
>
> 1) Have you seen any decrease in Flex/AIR work in the last few months?

No idea. I only started picking up Flex only projects in the last few
months.

> 2) Have you seen any cutbacks in Flex/AIR development and training
> infrastructure spending?

No idea. My spending is time ;-).

> 3) Have you seen any decrease in web development work in general?

Well, I've seen a decrease in my original base work, but I think that's
related to the EOD of Authorware. People who are primarily known for
developing in Authorware are hurting really badly. I'm starting to recover
because I'm picking up Flex only projects, but my end goal is to be "the"
person people go to for eLearning projects that use Flex, and the eLearning
sector hasn't quite realized yet what Flex can do for them, so I'm doing
random Flex work in the meantime to build my skills. I like doing cool
little projects with short deadlines that force me to abandon my methodical
learning style for do it now, figure it out later.

That being said, late October-early February is always kind of a "dead time"
in terms of starting new projects and keeping momentum in existing projects,
as clients seem to coast from holiday to holiday, not paying a whole lot of
attention to keeping projects moving in the right direction. I'm lucky
right now that I have a client who doesn't seem to be overly affected by
this syndrome. But that project is winding down, so if anyone has anything
coming up they want a crazy mad coder working on ;-)...

If I don't get more work over the holidays, my plan is to write a curriculum
of how to build components that work both in Flash and Flex and start
offering training.

Are you just referring to the USA or are you also interested in what is happening in other regions?

Recently I have finished a contract in which I am seeking a Flex/AIR position
in Orlando, FL (US) and it?s been scarce. This would be my first time looking
for Flex positions, so I am unaware if they were ever prevalent in Orlando or
anywhere else for that matter. I suspect that the (unstable) economy is a
major factor for the smaller demand of programming/developing positions and it
may also be retarding the migration from AS2.0 to AS3.0 (and Flex) more than it
normally would. But it may be a little too early to tell, due to the fact that
Flex 2.0 has been released just 2.5 years ago. At any rate, these symptoms are
typically more profound during the perennial phenomenon that we are currently
in, as Amy mentioned. Adobe seems to making wise decisions for us Flash
developers, however the economy dictates us (at least me) to a greater degree.
My point above is that, I can only suspect at this time simply because I was
ignorant in the past to notice.

Along with learning Flex and other technologies that go with it, I am planning
to develop application(s) for Android and/or for iPhone. And will hopefully
reap enough cash to hold me over until more Flex positions bubble up.

Sure, it would be great to hear how Flex is doing in other areas of the world as well, particularly when much of the rest of the world is experiencing economic difficulties as well.