YAPC::NA

The Blog for YAPC 2012. YAPC::NA 2012 will take place in Madison, WI June 13-15.

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It's Time to Choose the Train

Call for training proposals for YAPC::NA 2014

John Anderson (genehack)

Speaker Coordinator YAPC::NA 2014

The YAPC::NA organizers are happy to announce the call for training sessions to be conducted around the YAPC::NA meeting in Orlando, FL this June.

The approach to selecting training sessions this year will be different than in previous years to bring a fresh element to the process. We are inviting the attendees to have a closer attachment to the decision making process.

The organizers have decided to crowdsource the decision to identify which training sessions members of the community want to attend. We think that this approach will allow us a better opportunity at delivering the classes that people actually want to take as well as further involving the community with 'their' event.

To do this we will be leveraging the CrowdTilt platform. Training proposals should be sent in to the YAPC organizers at [email protected] before the 10th of May.

YAPC organizers will place the proposals on CrowdTilt. They will add an explanatory paragraph explaining how the overall process will work. All the CrowdTilts will become active at the same time, at which point they will be publicized via a blog post at blog.yapcna.org (as well as announcements in various social media forums.)

The fastest 8 training proposals to tilt will be the ones that are delivered at YAPC::NA 2014!

Closing date for the proposals will be 10th of May. So get your proposals in quickly so the voting can commence. For any further details please contact the organisers either by email, mailing list, Twitter or on IRC.

[yapcna]

¡Viva Perl!: Official Announcement of the Call for Speakers

by Mark ‘mdk’ Keating & John ‘genehack’ Anderson

The fourteenth, annual, Yet Another Perl Conference North America (YAPC::NA) has officially opened its call for speakers on the conference website.

The event, to be held in the wonderful city of Orlando between 23–25th June 2014, is inviting speakers of all levels of ability and experience to submit to this event.

Our theme this year is “¡Viva Perl!”. As such, we will favor talks that embrace the theme when deciding which submissions will be presented. However, with a number of tracks over several days, there is a great deal of room on the schedule.

We are always particularly excited to promote talks that embrace diversity or are from neophyte community members. If you have never spoken at a Perl conference before, we would love it if this could be your first.

The Perl community, YAPC organisers, and The Perl Foundation embrace the principle of no-barrier to entry and as such are open to the submission of papers from people of any background. If you wish to discuss this further with the organisers please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], or to submit your abstract and use the organizer comment box to open a dialogue with the event organisers.

The deadline for submissions is midnight EST on 15 February 2014. Please note that early submissions will have more time to discuss their requirements and acceptability with the conference staff and the presentation selection committee.

We look forward to receiving your submission, and to seeing you in Orlando in June. ¡Viva Perl!

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Yet Another Perl Conference: The Shutterstock Tech Team Goes to Austin

Shutter Stock's Re-Cap of their experience at YAPC 2013 in Austin

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Job Fair

The Job Fair is underway in Room 2.120 of the Thompson Center.

This is a great opportunity to visit the Sponsors and learn about career opportunities available from the many companies. It is also a chance to pick up some of the special swag that the companies have brought along just for you.

If you are looking to further your career or to get an understanding of who is hiring, or simply want to come along and thank the sponsors please visit.

You can also make a donation to The Perl Foundation while you are there to help them continue to support you, Perl and our community.

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The YAPC::NA Hackathon is still going on!

This YAPC we've provided a hack-a-thon space for the entire week. Come meet, hack, contribute! Below is a picture of some hard working perl hackers who may need company. You can find the hack-a-thon at Thompson (TCC) floor 2 room 2.122

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Tim Bunce - Profiling Memory Usage - on Livestream.com

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YAPC 2013 Lightning Talks Day 1 - on Livestream.com

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Larry Wall - Stranger Than Fact - on Livestream.com

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Bring Your Games To YAPC::NA Tuesday Morning!

The YAPC::NA banquet and game night will be happening at The Stage on 6th Street at 6:30pm on Tuesday night. If you bring your games (board games, card games, whatever kind of games) to the conference in the morning, they will be shuttled to the Game night just after the Lightning Talks.

Immediately after the lightning talks, catch the shuttle in the LBJ parking lot and it will take you directly to game night. Drinks will be served when you arrive and dinner will be served shortly afterwards.

Dinner will be catered from Salt Lick BBQ. Not to worry, there will be a vegan option.

Have the appropriate amount of fun!

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Mark of Christmas Past - on Livestream.com

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How and Where to Park at YAPC::NA

Howdy YAPC::NA attendees!

This is Jonathan "Duke" Leto here. The main YAPC::NA conference begins tomorrow. If you are driving to the conference location (The Thompson Conference Center) make sure you park in LOT 40. Again, make sure you park in LOT 40.

If you park in LOT 39, which is close, you will be entering a world of pain. You don't want that. For your visual pleasure, here are some pictures of the parking lot entrance.

In the picture above you can see an example of a rare "Wild Ingy". Make sure not to feed them, as they can be violent during mating season.

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YAPC day -2

Tomorrow is training and the first day of the Hackathon. If you're not in training and you've never been to a hackathon, all you need to do is show up and volunteer. There will be plenty of projects in need of help and people to show you how you can.

How to get there: You can find all of the points of interest for YAPC in this handy dandy google map: http://www.yapcna.org/yn2013/map.html. You want to go to the Thompson Conference Center tomorrow. A close up can be seen here: http://goo.gl/maps/tPSF6. Note that parking is in lot 40 not lot 39. Parking is free. 

How to get your WiFi fix: The SSID is ‘attwifi’. You’ll use the coupon code that’s on your badge. This will be provided tomorrow if you attend an official event.

The Arrival Dinner: Hula Hut is out of seating. If you didn’t manage to get a spot, we encourage you to join the Anti-Arrival Dinner or form your own social gathering.

See you soon,

YAPC NA Admin

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Request for Event Volunteers

Hi, all. We're looking for some volunteers to help out with the conference. YAPC is a community conference, more than just about every other tech conference today. It is through community involvement that we have a conference at all. It is in this spirit of community and camaraderie that we come to you today to ask for volunteers. If you've ever wanted to help run a YAPC but didn't want to have to take care of everything, or didn't want all the responsibility involved (and there is a lot of it), now's your chance. If you've wanted to help out in some small way but weren't sure where to start, this is your chance!

What follows is a list of things that just about anyone can do. Please feel free to respond with any interest you have in helping out. We thank you for helping to make this YAPC amazing.

We need people to be in each room for each talk to make sure that speakers get off to a smooth start. This includes making sure their laptops work properly (and seeking help if not), setting up the microphone, and signalling them as they approach the time limit for their talk. I've found a tablet with a big "5 MIN" written in a word processor works well. The idea is to give 10, 5, 2, and 1 minute notices for longer talks, and 5, 2, and 1 minute notices for shorter talks.

We need people to monitor the sound in each room during each talk. This will preferably need to be someone who's familiar with audio kit, and is probably the most technically demanding item on this list.

We need people to monitor the LiveStreams to make sure that things are proceeding smoothly and to let us know if / when things go pear-shaped.

We need folks to greet / redirect / guide attendees to their destinations on Monday morning. Ideally this will be people who have tablets with maps of the area to show people where to go and how to get there. There are other ways to do this, of course, and the above is just one tested and known-working approach. This also includes people standing outside LBJ and making sure people reach the registration desk, which brings us to the next point.

We need people to coordinate registration on Monday morning, which opens at 7 AM. Yes, it's 7 AM, and it's a crime against nature. However, there is a major perk for this position: every single person needs to pass through registration. Every single attendee. This is a unique opportunity to meet new people and make connections with a large part of the Perl community. If you've ever wanted to have a good reason to talk with someone in the Perl community, this could be it!

We need people to shepherd folks to / from the busses and into The Stage for Tuesday night. This will help make sure everyone arrives where and when they need to be there.

We need people to coordinate setting up and tearing down at The Stage early Tuesday and late Tuesday, respectively.

If any of the above sounds interesting, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. We'll contact you to coordinate further. Thank you for your interest in helping out! YAPC is more than anything a community conference, and by helping out you help us make a better conference for everyone.

[yapcna]

Hula Hut Is Sold out

UPDATE: We're sold out.

We currently have 103 people paid to attend the arrival dinner Sunday at Hula Hut. We have reserved and paid for 100. Technically They can seat 120 and we've left registration open to allow this. However, we need to notify them of the additional attendees prior to Sunday. Registration is now closed.

If you would still like to attend, please email [email protected] by the end of the day and we will get you added to the list if space allows.

Thanks,

YAPC::NA Admin.

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YAPC Austin TCC floor plan and conference schedule snapshot

This is the second of two posts on the conference venue and schedule.

Here are some smaller-ish versions of the TCC floor plan and conference schedule (the same images as they appear in the printed conf booklet, actually).  If you have a smartphone and you're attending the conference, save this where you can reference it easily so you don't always have to go online to see the schedule.

*Actually there is already one correction to the below; at Monday 3:40, Nick Perez is speaking on CloudPAN instead of Samit Badle on Selenium.

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YAPC Austin Navigation - The LBJ Auditorium and Thompson Conference Center

Starting with the LBJ Auditorium, this is the main meeting hall, the site of all the plenary events and one quarter of the talks.

Here is its floor plan, where North is to the right.  Note its two entrances - the 6 exterior doors from the Lower Lobby are shown in several of the photos below, so you can find them.  They are at the bottom of a long stairwell ramp on the side of the large concrete platform.

The other entrance is through the Upper Lobby, a long, wide walkway connecting the stairs from the first floor lobby (yes, a lobby above the Upper Lobby) with the Lower Lobby.

Registration/check-in on Monday morning is in the Upper Lobby.

LBJ Auditorium simple floor plan

Here are some interior photos of the LBJ Auditorium, perhaps most helpful for speakers to get an idea of the space.

LBJ Auditorium interior, facing west

LBJ Auditorium interior, from the lectern

LBJ Auditorium sound booth

LBJ Auditorium screen when dark and crowded

LBJ Auditorium camera platform

Here are a few shots of the 1st floor lobby (the glass-walled area that contains the large staircase down to the Upper Lobby).  YAPC'ers will be able to hang out in this area, and it does have wifi like the rest of the areas.

LBJ Entrance, facing south/southwest

LBJ Entrance

LBJ Entrance interior, facing west

These photos are of the Upper Lobby. You get to the restrooms through the doorway on the west end of the Upper Lobby.

LBJ Auditorium upper lobby facing stairs down to lower lobby

LBJ Auditorium upper lobby; facing stairs up to the 1st floor lobby

Overhead view of the area.  Note the concrete area connecting the parking lot with the Sid Richardson Hall (the long building); Enter the glass area there on the first floor to find the staircase (and elevators) down to the Upper Lobby of LBJ Auditorium.  Note especially the long staircase ramp.  At the bottom of that is the south entrance to the LBJ Auditorium Lower Lobby (shown below).

LBJ area, facing north. Thompson Conference Center (TCC) in the top

Here is the Lower Lobby, first as seen from the south (standing in front of the 6 exterior doors), then from the north, facing the exterior doors, then from the staircase looking down on some occupants.

LBJ Auditorium Lower Lobby

A view of the backstage area as shown in the floor plan.

LBJ Auditorium backstage

The Thompson Conference Center is north of the LBJ Museum and Library and LBJ Auditorium.  You can get to it from LBJ by exiting the south doors of the Lower Lobby and walking around the concrete platform to the west.

The TCC 1st-floor auditorium (room 1.110):

TCC Auditorium (room 1.110)

See the next post for the TCC floor plan and conference schedule.

[yapcna]

Welcome Bronze Sponsor: Freeside Internet Services

We're happy to announce Bronze Sponsor: Freeside Internet Services

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Freeside Internet Services provides consulting and professional services, pre-configured hardware, support, customization and training for the Freeside billing system.

We're currently looking for some sharp developers who have a passion for working on open-source and experience with modern Perl/SQL webapps. See our jobs page for more information.