The WWDC18 Scholars at the Steve Jobs Theater (June 3, 2018 — Image credit: Apple)

The immigration officers at San Jose Airport had probably grown tired ofhearing the words Apple, WWDC, and conference because as it turned out, every other person on my flight was here to attend Apple’s annual extravaganza.

It all began in April ‘18 when I was selected to attend the conference as a WWDC Scholar. One of seven Indian students to get this once-in-a-lifetime (not really, more on that later) opportunity.

Attendees queuing up to receive their conference badges (June 3, 2018)

The 29th annual Worldwide Developers Conference was held from June 4 to June 8, 2018, at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. It was a week of presentations, labs, sessions, get-togethers and more for the 5000 attendees and the many more who had descended around the venue to be a part of the buzz. As a scholarship winner, I received a free conference ticket, lodging for the week and a one-year membership in the Apple Developer Program. The WWDC Scholars and conference attendees hailed from all over the world, and it was great to be among such a diverse set of individuals.

The Big Surprise

A day before the Keynote that kicks-off WWDC, everyone headed to the Convention Center to collect their badges, jackets and a set of custom WWDC18 pins. Apple’s volunteers created an electric atmosphere, dancing and cheering as we stood in line. Some attendees were here for the second, third, fourth or even tenth time. Even a few Scholarship winners had attended before since you can apply as many times as you wish. The Scholars received a different badge, and boy did I know, it came with a host of perks. We had access to a separate lounge to relax and munch on snacks, different queues and get-togethers with our home region’s Apple teams.

The stairs coming down to the Steve Jobs Theater (June 3, 2018 — Image credit: Axel Boberg, a fellow Scholar)

However, the big surprise was to come later in the day, one that would make the developers, who had paid for their tickets, rather envious. We were asked to board buses that were shuttling us to a “secret location” which would turn out to be the newly built Apple Park campus in Cupertino!

Tim Isted, Software Engineering Manager, Developer Tools on stage at the Steve Jobs Theater during the orientation for WWDC Scholars (June 3, 2018)

We were first taken to Caffè Macs — an employee cafeteria in one of Apple’s R&D buildings, for a lunch of salads, mac & cheese, potato wedges and brownies, among other things. Then we walked down to the entrance of the Steve Jobs Theater, a stunning structure in itself. From here you could see the main “spaceship” building. Everyone was busy clicking pictures, and we were gradually allowed to move to the underground auditorium. After we seated ourselves in the luxurious leather seats, the orientation began with Esther Hare, Senior Director, Worldwide Developer Marketing taking the stage, followed by Tim Cook and a lineup of Apple’s senior leadership. They spoke about how to make the most of this opportunity as well as the company’s core values.

After the orientation, we arranged ourselves for a group picture, and the photographer had us all distracted with jokes and tricks. Meanwhile, Tim Cook quietly snuck to the centre of the group, and before we knew it, we had the perfect picture! He later obliged by taking selfies with many of his excited fans. As we walked out, we were all gifted a pair of AirPods.

Since there was some time before the buses took us back, I made my way across the street to the Apple Park Visitor Centre. It was a special store that had exclusive merchandise, the usual selection of Apple products, a small cafe and a unique augmented reality experience that gave you a birds-eye view the campus using iPad screens and a huge aluminium model. You could lift the roof to look inside the building as well as see the lighting at different times during the day.

The AR experience at Apple Park Visitor Center (June 3, 2018)

We headed back to our dorms at San Jose State University (SJSU) and had a short lodging orientation, which basically told us about the rules we had to follow. There was also a daily shuttle service for those not wanting to walk the half-mile to the McEnery Convention Center. In the evening, I took a walk around campus with some new friends that I had made, and we grabbed a quick dinner at Subway. With this Day 0 of WWDC18 came to an end, and I could only imagine what lay ahead.

The SJSU campus (June 4, 2018)

The WWDC18 Keynote (June 4,2018)

The Keynote Day

All of us woke up early and walked to McEnery for the main event. After some breakfast burritos and coffee, we went inside to the waiting areas. Again, there was a separate queue for the Scholars and also special seating close to the stage. In the media line, I spotted Marques Brownlee (MKBHD), Justine Ezarik (iJustine) and other popular YouTube creators. The conference had officially kicked off, now there were multiple sessions, labs and events running in parallel throughout the day and you could attend whatever interested you. I chose to attend the State of the Union, where Apple delves deeper into the details of the newly announced software and features. Apple Design Awards was another event to look out for, and this was the year when an Indian developer won! What made it all the more impressive was the fact that he was a Mechanical engineer who had taught himself to code.

Developers downloading the beta versions of the newly announced software

The Conference

Since I wasn’t working on any project or developing an app, I attended sessions that sounded fun. Apple had set up an AR demo of their experimental game SwiftShot on the ground floor, and they would hand out pins to the winners of each round. On the second day, they opened a small store at the venue that sold WWDC t-shirts and other merchandise. On the morning of the third day, the WWDC Run was hosted by Nike Run Club, and all participants were given Powerbeats headphones. I could not participate it as I wasn’t feeling quite well that day.

Link: https://twitter.com/cnbctv18news/status/1004601807195103232

During lunchtime, there would be sessions hosted by guests. My favourite was the one by Danielle Feinberg, Director of Photography for Lighting at Pixar. The session was titled The Art of Science: Bringing Pixar’s Imagined Worlds to Life. She spoke about the process of creating an animated film and had some brilliant artworks to display. It brought out the inner child in each person in the audience, and she received a standing ovation at the end. For dinner, I would either pick some snacks while leaving McEnery or go to a place called Sammy G’s Pizzeria near the SJSU campus.

The boxed lunches at the conference were healthy options but were a little bland. There was ample supply of Odwalla juice to keep the developer community hydrated. On the fourth day, I made a short trip to Apple’s old headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop to check out their Company Store. In the evening, Panic! at the Disco performed for the WWDC Bash at the Discovery Meadow. There were delicious sliders and hot cookies and churros! After the concert, there were a few glow-in-the-dark games, and this was the unofficial end of the conference. On the last day there were a few more sessions, but I chose to explore the city instead.

To Conclude

The summer of 2018 was unusually busy for me. I interned for a month at a mutual fund in Mumbai before flying to San Jose, and I would be spending a week in Princeton before heading back to India. My family had also planned a vacation in Singapore for later in the summer. The WWDC Scholarship experience is unmatched, and from the moment you get there, you wouldn’t want the week to ever end. The energy of the Apple staff feels so genuine, and the atmosphere is charged. Hospitality is excellent, and they really pamper the Scholars, especially since some are very young.

Getting a WWDC Scholarship is part luck and part creativity. Over the years, it seems to be getting harder given the increasing awareness about the program, but you should still give it a shot as it is definitely worth the effort.

After the WWDC Bash, Discovery Meadow (June 7, 2018 — Image credit: Axel Boberg)