Ben Ramsey

Departing Miami, I gazed upon the Atlantic Ocean as we cut through the clouds, making our way farther from the shore, and the thought occurred to me that this tour — these two weeks — has taken me from sea to shining sea across this great country. What a fitting thought to have as this next leg of the tour took us to Washington, DC.

I have traveled the country and have engaged the PHP community face-to-face all across it. It has been a great experience and an excellent opportunity to connect with the PHP community at all ends of the United States. Perhaps a tour to other parts of the world is in order, to connect with the community on a global scale. If I’m ever afforded that opportunity and privilege, then I will be certain to evangelize the PHP Community in each location, hoping to grow our community, bringing in new faces and new ideas.

As I mentioned, our next stop was Washington, DC. Some of us took advantage of free time we had on the afternoon and evening of the tutorial day to visit the city and walk the Mall of the United States capitol. We walked from the Washington Monument to the World War II Memorial, along the Reflection Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, along the Viet Nam Wall, around the Ellipse, and to the White House. Andrei remarked that he was using this opportunity to “consumate his citizenship.” Finally, we had dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill, apparently the oldest saloon in Washington.

After dinner, our small group met up with some of the other speakers and conference attendees at The Brickskeller, where we enjoyed each other’s company and some great beer — they have other 1000 beers.

The session day went well. After some technical difficulties with my HTTP presentation, I managed to get started, and one of the attendees even remarked that he thinks my talk is perhaps the most important one at the conference. That’s the best compliment I’ve ever received. Everyone stayed for the end of my talk, which ran fifteen minutes late, eating into the lunch period. My AtomPub talk later in the day was much smoother in delivery.

As I wrap up in Washington, I’m left wishing that I had more time to explore the capitol, but now it’s time to move on to New York and the last leg of our tour. I’m one step closer to going home, and while I’ve had a great time on the tour meeting new people, giving presentations, and hanging out with old friends, I’m ready to go home to my family.

I hope to see you at New York CodeWorks!