php[tek] 2013

What do you get when you mix PHP developers, stuffed animals, and LEGOS®?  Why php[tek], of course – a three-day conference in Chicago that brings all the big names together.  And this year’s php[tek] certainly did not disappoint!

At the conference, I couldn’t help but run into Andrew Nacin (WordPress lead developer), Davey Shafik (author of PHP 5 Zend Study Guide), Rob Allen (Zend Framework 2 tutorial), Michelangelo van Dam (president of PHPBenelux), Rafael Dohms, and others. It was great to see Constant Contact join companies like Facebook, Automattic, and Twilio at the conference, and I had a great time talking on Traits and Horizontal Architecture (check out the slides here).

But what makes php[tek] isn’t just the amazing sessions and world-class experts, but also the chance to socialize at the hackathon and after-party.  I was proud to join two great minds in creating a true engineering feat: building a LEGO tower spanning over 8 feet, touching the top of the ceiling and standing fast despite several bumps and attempts by extremely jealous programmers (well, at least in my mind they were jealous).

Overall, a fantastic time, and it was great to hear all of the feedback on Constant Contact.  Even more, I’m grateful that Constant Contact has a desire to be involved on the community level and excited that php[tek] is just the start for us.

If you have the chance, whether you’re a PHP programmer, Ruby, Java, ASP.net, or ColdFusion, or even COBOL, look for conferences in your area and get involved.  Not only is it a chance to learn and grow your skillsets, but to network with other programmers and have fun in the process.  And if you’re in the Chicago area, look out for php[tek] next year as it’s definitely not a conference to miss!