So this is a much-delayed entry to wrap up the Cancun experience. Short version: very nice, must go again; by far, the best part was meeting and talking to the other attendees. Long version follows.
This was my first trip outside the US as a regular citizen. Previously, my international travels had been as part of the US Air Force, and that gets you a little different treatment when passing through Customs. Essentially, you wave your US Military ID and walk on by, at least for European airline flights. (This was back in 1990-1996, things may be different now.)
For years, I’d been meaning to get a passport. First my ex-girlfriend wanted me to visit her in England, then an old high school buddy wanted me to visit in Germany. My father and sisters even went on a self-guided tour around Germany, Austria, and (I think) Belgium, and I still had no passport. I guess none of those were as tempting a deal as Cancun.
In fact, I almost didn’t go. I heard about the PHP Architect conference in one of their ads back in February, but I figured “Cancun? I’m not really willing to pay for it myself, and there’s no way work will pay for it.” But after a few weeks of consideration, I realized it would be a great opportunity: not to attend the lectures, exactly, but to meet the folks who were speaking and the other attendees. I mean, I’ve been emailing some of these guys for years; what a great venue to finally meet in person!
At that point I was ready to pay my own way, but there was no harm in asking if work would cover the bill. I asked my boss to fund the trip, and I must have caught her on a good day; she said “yes” right away. (Actually, I think it was good karma coming back to help me out; it’s been a hellish semester, so this was a way of saying “thanks.” And technically, it’s professional development, so that makes everything OK.) I started the passport paperwork and paid the “expedite” fee, got the work papers filed, and took off on 11 May.
The flight itself was uneventful, although I will confess to thinking the Cancun airport looked like it was made of adobe (it was colored like baked clay). Getting from the airport to the Moon Palace hotel was a little trouble, but the very nice taxi men (of whom there were hundreds) managed to find me a limo shuttle for only thirty-five dollars! (*cough*) Seriously, at that point I was tired of trying to find an honest dealer and just succumbed to the flow.
Got to the hotel (wow! it was everything they said it would be, luxurious and beautiful!) and checked in. Shortly thereafter, a bellman navigated me and my bags across the palatial estate and maze of buildings to my room, wherein I found, in addition to the standard bed/bath/etc: a jacuzzi; a mini-refrigerator of soft drinks; and a wall-mounted case with four spigot-tap bottles, one each of vodka, rum, gin, and tequila.
Did I mention this was an all-inclusive resort? That means food and drinks are free.
On describing this to my youngest sister, she immediately called it for what it was: “drunk-cation.” Oh yeah. :-)
***
The conference itself was quite nice, but I won’t go over the lectures here; that’s been done better by others.
Instead, I would like to point out that the best part by far was meeting with the other PHP developers, both the speakers and the attendees. In fact, if I had a complaint at all, it would be that there were not enough non-conference gatherings of attendees. I didn’t meet half the folks there, and of them I only spent quality time with about half. I know there were more good people there that I just didn’t get a chance to talk to for lack of a social “reason.” It’s hard to meet people for the first time, after all.
So Marco, if you’re reading: developers are like cats, as we all know, individualistic and cliquish and generally introverted. In future, I think it would be a great addition to have semi-organized dinners and/or drink & snack parties *every evening* where everyone can mingle and get to know each other, and overhear conversations and jump in, instead of having to strike out and expend social energy trying to seek out, and then find common ground with, the other attendees and the speakers. The opening and closing gatherings were nice, but not enough somehow. Maybe that’s just not possible, but still.
***
The trip back was also uneventful, with one exception. It turns out Jason Sweat, one of the speakers and a test-driven development advocate who wrote an example test class for Solar, was flying back through Memphis (my home). He had a layover in Memphis, so instead of going directly home on landing, we went to dinner at Corky’s barbecue in the airport and talked shop. Great guy.
Hell, lots of great guys were there; smart and funny. Shout-outs to Matthew Weier O’Phinney and his boss Rob; Shane Brennan; Enygma (sorry we didn’t talk more, man); Robert Bastell; the guys from SXSW; and everyone else whose cards I didn’t get. Looking forward to the next one. :-)
UPDATE: If we met at php|tropics and I didn’t link you above, please leave a comment (with a link to your site) so I can make sure I mentioned everyone. Thanks. :-)
Nice Cancun story. By the way $35 is pretty much standard for one way transfer from the airport, a little pricey but I dont think you got ripped off :)
I actually live in Cancun and would have love to have attended the conference. I’m really interested in learning php but here in Cancun its proving difficult to find a good teacher.
Glad you liked the hotel – it is pretty special!