Don’t forget! if you have questions you’d like see our “State of the Community” panel answer, then you should add a comment here or at the original post - we’ll ask the questions and ask the panel to respond in turn … There may be some interrupting, some heckling and probably some disagreements, but its all part of the fun!

As the conference is rapidly approaching, we’ve now organised the socials - yay!

Friday
On the Friday night we’re meeting in the basement club at Revolution Deansgate, it’s at the venue where we hold our regular monthly meetings less than 1/2 a mile from the main venue. Just roll up any time from about 7.30pm onwards, come hang out, get in conference mood, grab a few drinks The speakers will then be joining a bit later on after their pre-event dinner.

Saturday
On Saturday after the conference, we are again in the basement club at Revolution Deansgate, where we’ll be having some tasty tucker and analysing the topics of the day over a drink or few. Time to kick back and enjoy the networking, good banter and relax with a head full of buzz from the talks during the day.

Food
During the Saturday event we’ll be providing a packed lunch comprising: a round of boxed sandwiches; a packet of pipers crisps; carton of juice; piece of fresh fruit; fruit yoghurt & nutri grain bar.

Afterwards at the Saturday evening social we’ll be having Festive Hot Pots. For the meat eaters, Spicy Beef Goulash and for the vegetarian option Sweet Potato, Pumpkin & Pistachio Curry. Both options are served with basmati rice, chutneys & breads.

I’m sure you’ll agree that all this will add smashingly to the whole experience of the event - we can’t wait! Grab your tickets now!

We’re definitely into the pre-conference excitement for the phpnw event - and the IRC channel is getting pretty buzzy.  Its a great place to chat, ask for local knowledge if you need it, link up with other people who are going, or ask any questions about the conference itself.  If you’re going, or thinking of going, then drop in and say hi - we’re very friendly, even to IRC-newbies.

You can find us on #phpnw on freenode - look forward to meeting you  Of course if you haven’t bought a ticket before we meet you, then we’ll be suggesting you register pretty quickly …

With less than three weeks to go to the PHPNW conference (Manchester, November 22nd 2008), time is running out to get your tickets at the introductory price. The price of £50 only applies to tickets bought on or before Saturday 8th November, after that the price will be £60 - so you’re running out of time! Go and register, quickly! If you’ve got a ticket, then tell folk you know

For those of you looking for somewhere to stay over the conference weekend we have added details of nearby hotels here. This page will be updated in the next few days with more options for those php-er’s on a tighter budget.

We’ve been asked, by one of the Sponsors (nti Leeds), if there’s any interest in a (free) bus/coach coming over from the Leeds area for conference day. The bus would be setting off for the return journey to the Leeds area at around 8pm (morning times unknown at this stage).

If this offer would interest you, please raise your hand in the Google Group mailing list thread, nti will then make a decision about the bus/coach and liaise with you directly.

The conference is getting really close now, the levels of excitement are building rapidly (Lorna can hardly contain herself!). If you want to get into the buzz, then come join us for the phpnw regular monthly meeting at the beginning of November, Tuesday the 4th.

For full details see the upcoming.org entry

So, you’re considering attending a conference, and now you want to discuss this with your employer? Whether it is financial, practical, or moral support you are after, the chances are that you will first of all need to sell the benefits of the event. While it is true that there will be some alcohol and some networking time, that’s not really why we’re there, and its not what you’ll remember after the event, so let’s look at the headline benefits.

Cracking technical content There’s a variety of sessions on the schedule, aimed at different levels and covering a wide range of topics. Whether you’re a PHP specialist with some years experience, or using it as a new or secondary skill, there are sure to be sessions you can learn from.

Industry Leading Figures You’ve read their books, their articles and their blogs, and now they’re here. The speakers are a mix of experienced PHP conference regulars, through high-level technical folks, to local tech guys that you might meet at the various other northern networking events. They only speak for a short time during the day, and the rest of the time you can rub shoulders with them, ask them questions, or buy them a drink.

A Peer Group Not everyone works in a large, like-minded team of developers. Whether you work alone, in a small team, or with people who don’t seem to want to learn and improve, its great to get together with our peers and share ideas. There will be lots of people just like you, and representatives from user groups where you can go and meet these people the rest of the year. They are a good crowd; people who understand why XKCD is funny and how serious the words kernel panic really are.

Skills and Knowledge to Keep After the event, the slides will go on the conference site, so you can look back for reference having heard the concepts explained by the speaker. Every attendee also gets a year’s subscription to php|architect magazine, so those new ideas will just keep on coming, all from a single day’s conference.

If You Are The Boss …

If your employee wants to attend a conference like this one, then send them. Just the act of asking puts them into the league of self-starters and this person will continue to be of value to you. The event is on a Saturday so the company won’t lose any of their hours - and tickets at 50 pounds means its cheaper than any other training options around. Your geek will come back, full of new ideas and contacts, feeling valued and motivated - and with freebies including the ongoing subscription to the main industry publication. A very classy piece of management on your part, may I say.

… And If You’re Not

If your boss is being pointy-haired, then let him/her get on with it. Its 50 quid and its a Saturday - two small prices to pay for your ongoing professional development and career success. Come and hang out with us, and meet the community. If you’re still stuck for how to pay for the ticket, remember we have discounts for students and we’re looking for volunteers to help on the day who will get a complimentary pass.

So now that we’ve cleared that up, there’s no excuses - see you there!

Last week we announced the final addition to the schedule for the PHPNW conference - the “State of the Community” panel discussion.  We’re now able to announce the people who will be on that panel!

• Steph Fox, editor-in-chief of php|architect and PHP contributor
• Ivo Jansch, CTO at Ibuildings
• Scott MacVicar, contributor to PECL and PHP core
• Felix De Vliegher, PHP Belgium organiser and PHP contributor

If you have any questions for the panel, please add them into the comments on the announcement post.  We’ll collate these and give them to the chairperson on the day.  There are plenty of other things going on at the conference, if you have been hiding under a rock and missed what has been happening, you may like to take a look at the schedule - and then go and register for tickets

We’re very happy to announce the final element in the schedule for the PHP North West conference in Manchester.  This will be a panel discussion on the topic “State of the Community” and will bring together some of the leading lights of the community to discuss the PHP community as a whole, how people can get involved, and how the community relates to PHP as a day job. If there’s a question you’d like to see the panel answer, please post it in the comments below and we’ll include as many as we can!