The PHP Quebec conference has posted the official schedule for this year's conference (happening March 4-6th, 2009 in Montreal, Canada).

Speakers include Matthew Weier O'Phinney, Derick Rethans, Sara Golemon, Sebastian Bergmann and many more. Topics include software lifecycles, unit testing, extensions and PHP in the enterprise. Talks will be given in English and in French.

You can still register to save your spot for the event. Early Bird pricing comes in around $500 CAD and a regular ticket after that it's bumped up to $600.

The SaniSoft group has announced a new event happening in the first part of December 2008 (in Buenos Aires, Argentina) - CakeFest.

Conferences are the forefronts of modern communications, more so when they are related to the FOSS world. Conferences and Open Source Fests are platforms where the developers meet, discuss, share and carry their work forward. [...]

SaniSoft is a sponsor for this year's event. CakeFest is a four day conference that gathers together the CakePHP community for networking and talks from speakers like Nate Abele, Garret Woodworth, Mariano Iglesias and Felix Geisendorfer. You can find out more information (as well as reserve your spot) on the main conference site. The Early Bird pricing of 50% off ends tomorrow, so hurry!

Stuart Herbert has asked for some suggestions for the "conference virgin" to know about before heading (and/or speaking) at their first conference.

I'm speaking at the PHPNW '08 conference in November, and I've just been contacted for advice by someone understandably excited at going to her very first conference. Thing is, I've never been a conference newbie (I've always been either speaking or running a conference) so I'm not the best person to offer advice on this.

His suggestions include meeting up with friends also attending, keeping an eye out for social groups to be a part of and to bring a laptop along with you ("a lot of the conversation at the conference happens online"). The comments have some suggestions too like "don't eat alone" and "hang out in the hall if there's no talks that interested you. it's a great way to meet others."

The PHP Women group has celebrated their second birthday this past Friday (October 24th) and have seen tons of progress of women in the PHP community during that time. This includes:

• Representation at conferences
• Continued success with our Big Sis Mentorship Program
• Growth in our IRC channel
• Formalizing our non-profit status
• Encouraging women to submit CfPs and to be published

So stop by wish them a happy birthday and see what they're all about!

Thinking about trying your hand at submitting a talk to an upcoming PHP conference but aren't exactly sure where to get started? You might want to check out Lorna Mitchell's suggestions on some of the steps.

Speaking at conferences is a great way to share ideas and meet people - but actually getting the opportunity to do is a little more tricky and usually involves proposing a talk. [...] If you want to go to a conference, and there is a topic you'd like to share some thoughts on, then write them down and submit!

She talks about making the most of the submission form - submitting your abstract and including details why you and your talk should be selected for their conference. The comments include a few other suggestions like "don't submit the same one talk over and over", "try for something different" and remember that you always have something to contribute.

Lorna Mitchell has posted a countdown - only one month until this year's PHP North West Conference.

In a month's time I'll be in Manchester, ready for the PHP North West conference. The conference is a one-day event (Saturday, 22nd November), although the social side of things will kick off the night before. Tickets are 50 GBP for the early bird, 35 GBP for students and concessions - so register now.

She mentions a few things surrounding the conference like the excellent speaker list and the free subscription to php|architect magazine all attendees will receive.

Check out the conference website for more information and to reserve your spot. Hurry! Time's running out!

The PHPNW conference has announced which community members will be making up their "State of the Community" panel discussion:

• Steph Fox, editor of php|architect
• Ivo Jansch, CTO at Ibuildings
• Scott MacVicar, contributor to PECL and PHP core
• Felix De Vliegher, PHP Belgium organiser and PHP core contributor

The PHPNW conference happens on November 22nd in Manchester (UK) and is a day-long even packed with great speakers and now a great panel discussion too. You can still register for your tickets on the conference website.

In this quick post on the Ibuildings blog Ivo Jansch (CTO of Ibuildings) looks ahead to the upcoming PHPNW conference (Nov 22nd) and their participation in it.

The conference features speakers such as Derick Rethans and Rob Allen (see the schedule for more speakers), and at 50 GBP it's very good value for money for PHP developers. [...] We're also sending a bunch of our developers there, and we have a booth, so if you want to meet us or land a cool job, come talk to us at the conference.

The PHPNW conference will be held November 22nd in Manchester (UK) and has several exciting things going for it - a great list of speakers, a recently announced panel discussion on the state of the PHP community and a free one year subscription to every attendee for php|architect magazine.

The PHPNW conference crew have just announced a newly added session to finish off the conference day - a panel discussion about the current state of the PHP community.

This will be a panel discussion on the topic "State of the Community" and will bring together some of the leading lights of the community to discuss the PHP community as a whole, how people can get involved, and how the community relates to PHP as a day job. If there's a question you'd like to see the panel answer, please post it in the comments below and we'll include as many as we can!

The conference happens on November 22nd in Manchester (UK) and there's still spots open if you'd like to attend.

Lorna Mitchell notes that PHPNW tickets are on sale and can be purchased on the PHPNW conference website.

This is a conference aimed at bringing together and promoting the amazing wealth of local talent and activity in PHP within the North West and wider area. The schedule is online already and tickets are priced at a very reasonable and credit-crunch-friendly £50 (with discounts for students and OAPs).

The PHPNW conference is happening November 22nd and includes talks from speakers like Rob Allen, Derick Rethans and Adrian Hardy.