L-P Huberdeau's blog

I’m currently on my way back home from San José after giving my talk (time of writing, published from the first internet access I could get). I wish I could have spent more time and see the city a little more, but that will be for next time. I spent a total of 25 hours in the hotel, which makes a 1:1 ratio with the total transportation time. I’ll have to remember that jet lag does affect my system.

Overall, the conference was a lot of fun. It sure was a lot more business oriented than PHP Quebec or about any other conference/expo I ever attended to, except maybe GTEC. Everything was sponsored in there: breakfest, wireless access, coffee. I was told there were 550 registered attendees, but obviously, that was counting all speakers and sponsors, because I did not see that many people in the conference rooms. Like most speakers, I just spent time talking, drinking coffee and using the wireless access. I didn’t attend to a single complete session. It was just good to be able to spend time with the other speakers. I met most of them in Montreal over the past conferences, but as an organizer, I was usually too busy to enjoy it.

Considering my talk was a little off topic to the conference and not really oriented towards all attendees, I think it was quite a success. I had quite a lot of competition. Wez was in the room next to me covering PDO, which did attract most of the crowd and it was the last opportunity to get the certification exam. Still, I would say the room had around 25 heads at all time. A few left early in the presentation, more joined. The downside was that I spoke a little too fast and skipped a few elements, but it turned out to be good since it left more time for questions and I had a lot. It allowed me to cover those elements I forgot on the first run and give more examples. With all the questions, I ended up being right on time.
One of the interesting comments I had after the session was by one of the Zend employees. He recommended I used more stories and annecdotes. I had quite a few of them over the presentation, but as a member of the audience, he noticed how people’s attention was caught during those moments. This is something I didn’t notice from the stage, mostly due to that spotlight straight in my eyes. Basically, that thing was so strong I couldn’t see anyone’s reaction unless they started laughing.

Anyway, the interesting part of that comment was that my talk was completely non-technical. I had only three slides that actually had written content about more detailed or “technical” elements. The crowed was composed of PHP developpers. I had nothing even close to code. Still, technical aspects didn’t catch their attention. This comment was straight in line with Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind”. People like to hear stories. They like to hear about situations that are familiar to them. I just wish I had read that book earlier. I was actually reading it during the second half of my preparation period, so it did affect the content, but it could have been so much better.

I’m quite disappointed I had to leave so early after my presentation. I would have loved to hear more comments after the presentation. I had so much trouble with airports on my way to San José that I didn’t want to take any chances for the way back. Now I’m sitting in the airport, past security, with over 2 hours before my flight. I don’t know if it’s the tie giving a better impression than a T-Shirt, but security check went better than I expected.

Overall, I think people enjoyed the presentation. It did change from the usual bullet point presentation, which was pretty much the standard in the rooms I gave a peek. Since this was my first presentation outside Montreal, I’m quite satisfied with the result. I will need to work a little better on topic transitions in the future, I was a little nervous and some of them were cut short. Even I could feel it.

That spotlight sure didn’t help for the stress part. They were actually filming the entire thing. I have no idea what they will be doing with it, but you might get to see them published, for best or worst. It would actually be nice if it were published, quite a few people stopped me in the halls before my presentation. Apparently, estimation is one of those skills most developper would like to improve, but the call for sessions like PDO is just too strong.

Back to the conference in general. I finally understood why speakers like Montreal’s conference so much: Food. The food was not bad, but it really was nothing to what is offered in at PHP Quebec. I had a single lunch meal at the conference, the chicken sandwich was good, but really nothing compared to a buffet including beef, chicken and fish, plus salads and desert. Even for the evening, the conference is holding a (sponsored) happy hour, with free beer and some food. It’s good because it keeps everyone in the expo zone, but I think going out of the hotel and getting people to see a bit of the city is a lot better, even if they have to pay for their beer. I would have loved to see more of San José.

Still, it was a lot of fun and I’m glad the Zend people invited me.