November 15th-17th is PHP World in Washington, D.C. -- a show that had been extremely popular since it started with the movers and shakers of the PHP world.
And PyTexas has moved to Austin and is November 18th and 19th! This show has moved from the campus of Texas A&M into UT territory and will attract developers from the bubbling Texas developer community.
If there is a conference in your area it is a big bonus for you to support it. Not only can you get exposed to new ideas, network professionally, and visit vendors, you also show to those who are not from your area or lack local knowledge that there is a a community in your area. A community worth visiting, a community with a talent pool, and a community that needs paying attention to. So what if you do not know anyone there, or are not sure what exactly all the talks are about (I try to go to one session every conference on something I know NOTHING about to help broaden my perspective). You will run into others with like interests. And if you run into those with diametrically opposite interests, they can still teach you a thing or two. Two of the three events above (Scotland PHP and PyTexas(are smaller, regional events that tell vendors like Oracle/MySQL what is going on in that area by the attendees. All three are great events and, if local, worth spending a hard earned weekend day (or two) to attend and a reasonably price. PHP World may be your regional event but it has a larger, global audience that provides a lot of information for the price. The three sets of organizers of these shows do an amazing amount of work on your behalf. The presenters have fascinating things to show you. The vendors will have solutions to your problems. And you are part of a bigger community that needs you to help represent them to the world.
If you have not been to a conference this year then please try to make these shows.
And if you can not make it to show this year, you need to be planning for 2018. This is an investment in yourself that you need to make.
