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When a discussion thread on the PHP user group leader’s list started up about the cost and potential for outside speakers, most people generally agreed that user groups have a hard time wrangling outsiders to come and speak. The cost of travel is prohibitive, and small user groups often have trouble getting the funds necessary to bring in someone from far away. The internet surely brings us closer together, but there’s still no substitute for the in-person speaker who can share knowledge and experiences, plus a beer or two.
This challenge of bringing in outside speakers prompted an idea. What if, instead of organizing one speaker for one user group, we could organize a tour of speakers to travel to multiple user groups? What if, instead of expecting the user group to pay the expenses, we sought the help of those who care the most for the community? What if, instead of one speaker bearing the burden of travel, we distribute it to many speakers, each having a small role to play in the overall event?
Talking this over with Cal Evans, the concept of The Crafting Code Tour was born.
The Crafting Code Tour is a 16-city, 14-state, 2-country speaking tour aimed at the PHP user group community. Kicking off in June, this tour will hit sixteen cities in North America and bring along world-class speakers of different types to speak at individual user groups. To the user groups, this event will be free, paid for by sponsors of the tour.
The Crafting Code Tour will focus on how developers can do their best work, how software development is a craft, and how we can grow. While the list of speakers along the tour route is still being compiled (and will likely change for various cities), the goal is clear: to prove that it’s not impossible to bring outside speakers to individual user groups.
Want to learn more about the tour? Enter your email address and closest city below! We promise not to spam you (this isn’t a marketing list)! You can also check out The Crafting Code Tour website and follow us on Twitter. We hope to see you at The Crafting Code Tour this summer!
Brandon Savage is the author of Mastering Object Oriented PHP and Practical Design Patterns in PHP
Posted on 1/30/2014 at 1:55 pm
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