Once again, PHP Quebec was awesome. Every time I attend this conference, not only do I learn more about PHP, but I learn more about the community at large, and humanity as a whole. Thats right I said it. This was my third year in attendance. I’m really happy that the same people continue to come, as I can continue a good tradition every year. I’m also quite excited that I get to meet new people every year as well. In retrospect, I really could not have had a better time. Now, I will continue with my analysis on the social human, technology geeks, and alcoholism. If you just came here for the pictures, they can be found here.
There’s some studying to be done in regards to getting excessively drunk with people whom you share interest. It creates a strong bond between people. Being that when most people are discussing matters, they tend only to talk about the past, present, or future. When all the talk about the present is exhausted, humans usually revert o discussing things they’ve already done with the people they’ve done it with. “Remember that time we went to get bagels at 3am and it was closed? That was so crazy!” You could even say that these initial relationships could turn into something more, like a life long friendship, or a profitable business relationship, or an estranged ex-buddy that fucked you up and stole your woman. But alas, I digress..
This year I attended “Oracle PHP Performance” by Christopher Jones, “Unicoding with PHP 6″ by Andrei Zmievski, and “An Introduction to PHP 5.2″ by Ilia Alshanetsky. I should have attended more, but it was also my birthday, and I partied a little to hard the night before. All three talks were amazing and each deserves its own review, so I won’t attempt it here.
Thursday night a bunch of us went to KcKibbins irish bar and partied down. At the stroke of midnight, my birthday went into full effect. My girlfriend Tracy got everyone up on the karaoke stage and everyone sang happy birthday to me. I was feeling quite tipsy and emotional, and I could have died right there I was so happy. It was truly the best birthday/present I have ever received. Thanks all. The next night we ate at this old New France style restaurant where everyone dresses up like they did 400 years ago or something. Someone defected and told the organizers it was my birthday, so I had to stand in front of everyone an recite some old french and drink a shot of whiskey. I was a little nervous being in the hot seat, but it was also quite cool.
Friday night we went Les Deux Pierrot, as always do, and watched the fronsh get down to lots of American Pop and Canadian Folk music. Most of the people from the previous night showed up along with the rest of the PHP Quebec gang. We had a blast and I’m sure we spent $1000 on pitchers or something. Craziness.
Special thanks to Yann Larrivee and crew for organizing the event, keeping it professional, and giving us plenty to do to kill the time with friends.
Peace out.