PHP Benelux – visit Tideways at the unconference

Are you ready for some PHP fun? In two weeks, the PHP Benelux opens it doors. For us, it is a highlight in our conference calendar. The PHP Benelux is always very well organized and its special charme is that it’s a community conference organized by engaged members of the PHP community.

Since it is one of our favorite conferences, we decided to support the PHP Benelux and sponsor the unconference and give back to the community. In addition Benjamin and Katharina will also host the unconference and be your contact persons if you want to speak about a topic.

So why did we decide to especially support the unconference? Well, there are actually several reasons.

First of all, unconferences are a great opportunity for first time speakers to enter the stage. A not so big and possibly frightening stage that is. Benjamin for example started giving talks at conferences at an unconference himself (in his case ist was the unconf at DutchPHP 2010). So he speaks from experience, when he says that the initial barriers at the unconf should be significantly lower than giving your fist talk on the main stage of the conference.

If you want to be a future conference speaker, we would recommend to seize this chance to get some experience and to use your unconf talk as a reference. We will dedicate another blog post specifically to first-time-speakers so that you know what to expect and what to ideally prepare. Stay tuned 🙂

Then, your efforts will be rewarded. The best talk of the unconf wins a ticket and slot for next year’s PHP Benelux. Just to be clear: That means a full speaker package with hotel, travel, speakers dinner and a 1 hour talk-slot. Awesome, right?

And finally, the unconference is by definition very flexible. You might think about the more or less spontaneously filled agenda, but there is more this format offers. You also can experiment with the length of your talks (it doesn’t necessarily have to fit in a perfect 45min slot) or use the unconference to not just talk to the audience, but rather with it, i.e. with discussions.

Let’s say: With the unconf, the sky is the limit. Well, that is far fetched, but you get our point. The only limitation: your talk (presentation/discussion/performance…) should be interesting and useful for the auditorium.

Sounds fun, right?

So let us know, if you want to talk at the unconf (Tweet or DM @beberlei or send an e-mail). Of course you can do that spontaneously at the conference as well, but why not be the early bird?

If you have any questions – we are happy to help!