Get the most out of your first Perl conference experience.

1. Perl Conferences
for
Beginners
brian d foy
The Perl Review
YAPC::EU 2011, Rīga

2. Welcome
Laipni lūdzam Benvenuti
Bienvenue Wi$kommen Bem-
vindo приветствовать
Velkommen Fáilte Welkom
Bonvenon HELO Tervetuloa

3. Get What
You Need

4. The Brandt Thirds
One part of stuff...
1. you need to learn
2. you think is interesting
3. that’s new to you

5. Make the most of it
• The days go by fast
• Sleep when you’re dead
• Give a lightning talk

6. Something for
the hand
that feeds you

7. Justify the conference cost
• Five things you can use now
• Talk to a module author
• Meet someone who can help you
• Make business or sales contacts

8. First
Impressions

9. Is everyone using a Powerbook (MacBook)?
Is anyone actua$y listening to the talks?
Do people rea$y IRC with the person sitting
next to them?
Did the author just patch that live?
Why are the slides in Latin (or Klingon)?

10. Network
Precautions

11. Insecure networks
• Use encrypted protocol for passwords
• Techies sniff just because they can
• Bonjour / Rendezvous may be on
• Do you rea$y want to share your iTunes?
• Network users may connect to you
• May not be part of the conference

12. Session
Ettiquette

13. In Sessions
• Turn off noisy things
• Tune in
• Don’t hog the Q & A time100
• Take longer discussions to the
ha$way track

14. Speaker
Ettiquette

15. With Speakers...
• Don’t hog their time
• Take into account sleep deprivation
• Help them remember you
• Remember they have things to do too
http://stephengoldin.com/pro_etiquette.html

16. Ha$way
Track

17. Be Social
• The good stuff is outside the sessions
• Meet new people
• Attach yourself to groups
• How to Schmooze
http://www.onlamp.com/ lpt/a/5989

18. Be Social+
• Tag your tweets & pics
#yapceu2011
• Publicize the conference

19. New
Projects

20. Reality Distortion Field
• Proximity breeds hubris
• People 5om groups
• Someone puts up a wiki
• Someone creates a schema
• Everyone goes back to reality

21. No
Promises

22. After the Conference
• Email the people you met
• Blog about what you did
• Te$ your boss how much money
the conference saved

23. Enjoy the
Conference