Instead of a long post going into each sessions I attended I figured you’re probably just best watching them when they’re on YouTube as it was an excellent conference.
So I’d like to quickly run through the things I really enjoyed about the conference and why I’ll be attending without fail next year.
The Venue - Surprisingly good tbh, I’m always weary of conference venues but this was pretty cool, especially the pendulum in the main entrance way.
The Talks - Superb as per usual, the keynote from ircmaxell was really good. The standard of talks was super high as has become expected of PHPNW.
The Food - Really good, after lunch I was convinced I wouldn’t eat again until much much later in the night but turns out I was starving by tea so the two hot meals was a nice thought.
The Free Bar - This was a very nice touch and very much appreciated. It was great to sit down with so many people in the industry and just chat about random things.
The Un-Con - I was very lucky to be able to present to a smallish (~20) crowd in a nice room. It was well organised and the guys and girls that did were so nice and welcoming.
The Jenny Wong - For those that don’t know her (you should go out of way to!) she’s an amazing person who does so much for the PHP (and other) communities. It’s always a pleasure to meet her and the inevitable drag to people I should meet. She enables so much within the community and is a lovely person.
The End Keynote - These are always weird affairs for me, they usually go on too long (this one did for me) which sucks when everyone is tired and brain dead (the sign of a good conf). Jeremy handed over to the un-con organisers who did a brief run through of the talks they had, they then started to announce that one person would be given a slot at next years conf. It came down to two people and they chose me. It was such an odd experience, I wanted to implode yet I was so happy and amazed. I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be speaking at next years conf, it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a while. I was asked what I’ll be presenting on and I think it’s only fair to talk about Mental Health again, I have the possibility to reach a much larger crowd on something that is so important. Thank you so much to the whole PHPNW team for deeming me worthy enough.
Here’s to next years conf!