Jump to content
Larry Ullman's Book Forums

Web Dev Conferences And Conventions In America


HartleySan
 Share

Recommended Posts

I will be returning to America soon after more than 7 years of living in Japan.

One thing I really want to do after going back is attend some web development conferences/conventions.

In particular, I want to attend events that focus on PHP and/or JS.

 

With that said, I've never been to any such event before, and I have no clue how to find information about such events. I suppose a quick Google search for "PHP conferences" and the like will turn up something, but before I resort to Google, I'd like to hear from those of you with experience about which events you like and how you recommend getting more information about such events.

 

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are a number of PHP Conferences around the states, best to google for specific locations, dates etc.  I haven't been to any, some tend to be expensive but I would be interested to hear your feedback if you do get to one.

 

The other suggestion is to look up Meetups for your specific interest - there are now thousands and bound to be some local to where you will be.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meetup is also good for user groups. Here's the PHP list of conferences, which also links to user groups: http://php.net/conferences/index.php

 

Roughly speaking, I would say there are three kinds of conferences:

  • Large, national/international, corporate
  • Medium, regional/national
  • Small, local/regional

So, with the first one, in SF or Portland, you'll have conferences put on by Zend or O'Reilly or whomever. These are bigs events that will cost a lot of money but have the biggest name speakers. If you want to get be in the room listening to speak, there's those. 

 

The second category are normally regional in terms of sponsorship, like the Boston PHP user group putting on NEPHP Conference, Miami PHP putting on Sunshine PHP (I think), etc. There are pretty good conferences like these in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, etc., etc. These are reasonably priced (like $200 or less for tickets), have a range of good speakers, from good names to new names, and are a great way to meet other people. 

 

The third category are one-day things like barcamps. Very casual, with a mixed bag of speakers and audience. 

 

Mostly I found out about conferences through Twitter. People I follow may be attending or organizing conferences; people that follow me will recommend conferences. In North America alone, there's probably at least one good conference worth considering every other month.

 

Where abouts are you planning on moving to? Back to Ohio?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot for the link and the information.

Also, yes, my family and I will be moving back to my hometown of Columbus, OH for the time being.

 

I'm thinking that the small to medium-sized conferences are the way to go for now, as I don't want to spend too much money, and I also want to get lots of chances to meet and talk with people in the industry (as I don't have a job in the web development industry yet, but I'm hoping to find one, and I think that attending conferences will help).

 

Anyway, thanks again, Larry. Maybe I'll see you at a conference someday, and if I do, I'll definitely introduce myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, attending conferences is a great way to find a job. CodeMash is a great conference that's in Sandusky, OH, but it's in January and it's not PHP-specific. I want to say that both Cincinnati and Indianapolis have good conferences, but I forget what they are right now. Pittsburgh has a couple of good ones, like the Pittsburgh Tech Fest on June 1st. 

 

I wouldn't think you'd have a hard time finding a job, but it's been a while since I have, so...

 

Anyway, good luck with the move and with the job search!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot for the link and the information.

Also, yes, my family and I will be moving back to my hometown of Columbus, OH for the time being.

 

I'm thinking that the small to medium-sized conferences are the way to go for now, as I don't want to spend too much money, and I also want to get lots of chances to meet and talk with people in the industry (as I don't have a job in the web development industry yet, but I'm hoping to find one, and I think that attending conferences will help).

 

Anyway, thanks again, Larry. Maybe I'll see you at a conference someday, and if I do, I'll definitely introduce myself.

 

This place would be a good reference for you with all the questions you have answered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I'm thinking that I want to add this forum to my resume, but I'm not sure of the best way to do that.

Larry (or anyone else), do you have any advice on how to add things like web forum contributions to a resume to impress potential employers?

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you could click on 'Members' then 'Post Count' then do a screen print and add it to your CV. That would show all points that you have been awarded with and even doubling Larry's score. You could just give a brief introduction in your CV to who Larry Ullman is and books he has available, i would probably expect that they would be more than quite familar with the author already.

 

I was just about to update my project diary but since this post is probably more important now ill leave this for people to check out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what value employers, and specifically the people that do the hiring, put on that. I'm not saying there isn't a value, or they don't see a value to it, I just don't know. 

 

Just recently, someone that used these forums just a bit asked to use me as a reference. I gave a conditional "yes", the condition being that I'm not going to lie. When the company called me, the conversation was over as soon as I said I don't personally know the person and never met them. That being said, the person still got the job. But the loose association with me and these forums didn't appear to be a factor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would think you are eminently hireable (if that is even a word:)) Here's a little bit of my experience for what it is worth, though I am looking for freelance work and not a regular position.

 

There are loads of opportunities out there and also a lot of competition. You will need to be able to show prospective clients/employers what you are capable of very quickly. So you need an online portfolio/website that you can refer people to. Get yourself on LinkedIn if you're not already and get testimonials from people in the industry - maybe Larry would write one for you.

 

Consider online agencies like people per hour and elance. I'll warn you now, most of the stuff on there is not worth your time but if you are prepared to sift through the many offerings you will find a few worth pursuing. I've created a filter that only sends me jobs that meet certain criteria. I did get one which then provided 5 referrals 3 of which converted. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...