zerosum dirt(nap)

I really enjoy the technology conference ritual, make it a point to get to at least a few every year. I particularly enjoy the smaller regional conferences. Where else can you (a) get exposure to new technologies, (b) meet the smart hackers who created your favorite OSS tools, (c) get away from home for a long weekend, and (d) get schooled at werewolf, all at the same time?

Alas, with winter upon us, it appears that the 2007 conference circuit is winding down. That means it’s time to look forward to… Why, the 2008 conference circuit, of course!

The Third Annual Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise Conference has been announced; it will be held in Philadelphia, March 26-27th. Last year they had some great talks by high-profile Rubyists such as David Black, Geoff Grosenbach, and Amy Hoy. Rod Johnson, father of the Spring framework, also gave a talk last year.

This year, Floyd Marinescu of InfoQ will be giving one of the keynotes. Obie Fernandez and Peter Armstrong (the author of Flexible Rails, which I’m really looking forward to reading) have already been announced as Ruby community speakers.

Got something worth talking about? Tracey asked me to note that there’s an open call for presenters. The submission deadline is 1/7/08.

Dates for RailsConf (5/29-6/1), Mountain West RubyConf (3/28-3/29) and GoRuCo (4/26) have already been announced as well. Feel free to mention any other interesting events that I’ve omitted in the comments!