PHP Vikinger Invitations Emailed

I just sent out the invitations for the PHP Vikinger event. My method for choosing who to invite was pretty simple - I chose people listed in the the PHP and PEAR credits who I had written personal email to in the last few years.

Nepotistic? “Nay”, say I, “Nepotastic!” I know that the people I invited are cool, which will mean a good event for people who register. Also, as we have registrations, it won’t be too elitist or exclusive.

If you are curious, read on for the entire invitation (minus the list of attendees.)

NOTE: If you didn’t get an invitation email, then hold tight - you will still be able to register in a week or so.

Subject: Invitation to the PHP Vikinger Event

Aloha $person,

This is an invitation to the PHP Vikinger - read on for details.

WHAT IS IT?

The PHP Vikinger is a community-driven PHP event that will be held in
Skien, Norway from June 24th to 25th, 2006.

Incredibly Cool

Cool things about the event are:

• Attendees choose and present the content of the event [0]
• It is super-cheap: only 20 Euros registration for two days [1]
• Did we mention the super-cheap? Simple food [2] and a place to sleep
  are provided for the two days of the event [3]
• It is during Midsummer in Norway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer)
• We've invited cool people, who will then invite other cool people [4]
  and the event is open to anyone who registers, as long as there is
  space. To avoid nominating people who are invited, see the attached
  list of attendees at the end of the document.

Not So Cool

Uncool things about the event are:

• You still have to pay to get to Norway. If you can get to an airport
  that RyanAir (http://ryanair.com) flies out of, it is pretty cheap to
  get to Skien by flying into Torp airport.
• The free sleeping area is in a local school and is on the floor. Bring
  sleeping bags and a foam mat (or a credit card for a hotel room).
• We have invited cool people, who will then invite other cool people
  and the event is open to anyone who registers, as long as there is
  space. ;)

WHAT NEXT?

Want to get involved? Here is what you do:

Confirm your attendance (or lack thereof)

Write to me and let me know...

• If you are attending, we want to make sure you are on the list of
  registered attendees.
• If you aren't attending, let us know and we will give your space to
  someone who registers.
• Even if you don't attend, please nominate other potential attendees
  and help promote the event.
• If you are undecided, don't worry—you have till May 15 to decide.

Nominate Others

• Nominate up to 10 other people as attendees—we will hold fifty spots
  for the top nominees who can make it.
• When considering who to choose, think about people who help make
  conferences and user group meetings interesting, useful, and fun.

Promote the Event

• Help other people find out about the event (there will be 50+ slots for
  open registration).
• Help support the sponsors [5].
• Help attract other sponsors.
• ...and by great and mighty Zarquon, blog the @#%#@ out of the event. I
  will post a short and simple announcement on my blog that is free for
  the stealing, mangling, and posting:
  http://zak.greant.com/steal-this-php-vikinger-announcement

Get Ready for the Event

• Book your travel.
• Think about what kind of event you want to help make—start planning
  sessions to present, work on ideas for discussion groups, think of
  projects to hack on, suggest topics that you would like to learn more
  about, etc.
• Visit http://phpvikinger.org/ for more information and a place to start
  participating.

Cheers!

--zak

[0] That's right—attendees choose the content and give the sessions, not
sponsors or organizers. See Wikipedia for more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference

[1] Plans are to donate money raised to the FFII (http://www.ffii.org/),
FSFE (http://fsfeurope.org/), and No Software Patents
(http://noepatents.eu.org) anti-software patent campaigns.

[2] I don't know that we can guarantee halal, idal, kosher, vegan, etc.
food, but we will do our best. Please let me know if you have special
requirements and we can try to work something out.

[3] A local school has been rented—bring a sleeping bag. Alternatively,
you can book a hotel room.

[4] You may be wondering who did the inviting and how invitees were
chosen? The answer is pretty simple—I combined the PHP and PEAR
credits with a list of people who I had written personal email to in
the last few years. Nepotistic? "Nay," say I, "Nepotastic!" I don't
feel too bad though—the 50+ open slots mean that anyone can still
get in. Also, those who do register are pretty much guaranteed of
having an excellent group of people attending—various great PHP
hackers have already confirmed their attendance. :)

[5] eZ systems, a company that I work for, is currently the major sponsor
of the event. We are looking for other sponsors. The goal of the
sponsorship is to break even.