Exploring new communities: PHP Benelux 2016

"A mind needs conferences as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."
-Tyrion Lannister (Royal Scrum Master)

In November of 2015, I had the pleasure of meeting Jenny Wong and Petya Raykovska in the hallways of DrupalCamp Vienna. We spent the better part of the morning discussing the often similar problems that WordPress and Drupal face, and the sometimes different solutions each community has found to address them. The most important thing I took home from this conversation is that getting up from your comfortable position and sharing insights with people from different communities gives you new opportunities for solving your own problems, by enabling you to approach them from different angles.

The conversation got stuck in my head for some weeks. Ultimately, I decided to attend more than just Drupal events in 2016.

For the last weekend of January, I took a train to PHP Benelux in Antwerp. With an attendee base of about 450 people, most of whom developers, the conference felt like a framework-agnostic Drupal Dev Days.

Ranging from Rafael Dohms' tips on better coding, and Jordi Boggiano's no-nonsense advice on building valuable software in great teams, to Beau Simensen's history and future of PSR-7, and Enrico Zimuel's fascinating talk about encryption and how to implement it in PHP, the variety and quality of the different sessions was excellent. Additionally, the hallway track covered topics such as home automation, speaker preparation, organizing camps and meetups, and project planning and architecture.

Some of these presentations and conversations gave me a different perspective on issues I was already familiar with at work or in the Drupal community, while others inspired me to dive into techniques and technologies that are new to me, such as encryption, and Python on my Raspberry Pi. Either way, these experiences will benefit both my professional and personal projects.

I'll be back in Antwerp next year. Which new communities will you explore in 2016?

Banner image: Jordi Boggiano