The YAPC::Europe::2006 Backstage Pass
Bulletin 11.1
- A 'Behind The Scenes' missive from the organisers

"Friends of Mine" (Registration)

Three weeks to go and the confirmed attendees are increasing. We have seen a number of people claim to be doing bank transfers, which have yet to materialise. Please note that unless we have confirmed your attendance via email and on the website, then you will NOT be registered. If you are planning to pay via a bank transfer, the money will need to clear into our account by Friday 25th August in order to guarantee your place. We will publicise via the usual routes whether cash (Pounds Sterling only) on the door will be accepted after Saturday 26th August. However, we do urge you to prebook as soon as possible.

"Hungry Like The Wolf" (Conference Meal)

The Conference Meal is now booked. We are planning to have a Balti Night as the conference meal for all you lovely people. This has been a logistical worry for us, as how on earth do you fit over 200 people in a restuarant built for less than 100? Well thanks to JJ, we've managed to find a TARDIS! The meal venue will be Second City Suite, who have a purpose built hall for large weddings and events. They specialise in Indian weddings, and as such are more than able to accommodate everyone and provide a very enjoyable evening.

As part of this booking, we need to know exactly who will be joining us. So if you are planning on bring partners or the family, you will need to let us know as soon as possible. At the current time there will be no extra charge for partners and family, however we may need to make small charge for guests if numbers increase dramtically over the next few weeks.

"Last Chance on the Stairway" (Deadline For Papers)

Any speakers reading this, please note that Papers, Slides, Demos, etc, are due by the end of this week, Friday 11th August. Anything later than this will miss the final deadline, as we need to burn all the Conference CDs.

"New Moon On Monday" (Swag For The Bag)

Many sponsors have come forward and offered swag and various items to help us with conference merchandise. Please note that if your company would like to donate anything, please get in touch as soon as possible. All swag needs to be delivered by the end of next week, Friday 18th August.

The Wild Boys" (Sponsors)

Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was looking like us organisers would be digging deep into our personal pockets to help pay for the conference. Thankfully, two late sponsors have come forward to save our wallets. However, we are still looking for anyone to help us get over the final hurdles. If your company can help, even by a small amount, we'd be delighted to hear from them.

"Is There Something I Should Know?" (Any Questions)

If there are any issues or questions, please direct them to the organisers.

Thanks,
The Birmingham 2006 Organisers
http://www.birmingham2006.com

This update is brought to you with a help from one of Brum's finest pop bands, Duran Duran.

I wanted to ++ this node twice because you managed to make so many Duran Duran references :)

It's now confirmed (see other post) and will be on the Thursday (31st August) evening. We're currently arranging routes and directions, but there will be cat-herders :)

--
Barbie | Birmingham Perl Mongers user group | http://birmingham.pm.org/

The YAPC::Europe::2006 Backstage Pass
Bulletin 11.2
- A 'Behind The Scenes' missive from the organisers

"Thunder In The Mountains" (Lightning Talks)

Have something to say that everyone at YAPC should hear? Want 5 minutes of fame? Then what are you waiting for? Sign up for a Lightning Talk today.

Lightning talks are a regular feature of YAPCs, which enable attendees to participate in quick fire talks, without the overhead of worrying about whether you got your talk presentation just right. You don't even need slides. If you have a project or topic you want to announce, that would only take 5 minutes to tell everyone about, now's your chance.

• http://wiki.birmingham2006.com/wiki.pl?LightningTalks

"Victims Of The Riddle" (Registration)

We have over 200 registered users of the website, of which over 160 are now confirmed. We have some bank transfers pending, so that number is likely to rise over the next few days. If you're planning to attend, we advise you to register as soon as possible, as once numbers start to approach our limit, we will have to disable conference registration.

If you are planning a bank transfer, please ensure it reaches us by Friday 25th August. Unless we have funds in our account, we cannot confirm your attendance. If you don't see yourself as a confirmed registered user when you login to the website, but believe you should be, please contact us as soon as possible.

"In The Fairground" (Jobs)

Shopzilla are looking to hire some cool Perl programmers. If you're interested take a look at their full page advert (PDF)

• http://www.birmingham2006.com/Jobs_UK_S_S_Engineer.pdf

"Street Addict" (Directions)

Over the next week, we will start to upload lots of direction information for everyone. How to get from the airport to the city centre, from the city centre to the hotels and then from the hotels to the venue. We'll also include references to places to eat and drink around the venue. The city centre is within 5 minutes walk, but around Broad Street, Brindleyplace and The Mailbox there are a plethora of restaurants, bars and pubs, and even two supermarkets.

"Blue Meanings" (Early Arrival Plans)

So everyone is aware of plans for the two days before the conference, we thought we'd be best to share some of them with you now.

Firstly on Monday 28th August, a number of people will be in Brum early. As such we are planning to meet up at a local pub (to be determined) and move on to an Indian restaurant located close to the Jury's Inn. If you would like to join us, please add your name to the Arriving Early wiki page, so we know who to contact with further information.

• http://wiki.birmingham2006.com/wiki.pl?ArrivingEarly

On Tuesday 29th August, virtually everyone else will be joining us. We have booked the Panama Bar, which is approximately 2 minutes walk from the venue, on the banks of the canal. We have an area allocated to us for doing registration stuff, but feel free to come and go as you please. Note that registration will also happen during the conference too, at the front desk in the foyer.

Please also note that The Panama Bar doesn't serve food. However, The Mailbox, Brindleyplace and Broad Street all have plenty of restaurants, if you wanted to go eat for a bit and rejoin us later. Registration will start about 6pm and probably finish when the bar closes (11pm), at which point we shall adjourn to the bar and foyer of Jury's Inn.

• http://www.birmingham2006.com/cgi-bin/yapc.pl?act=map-main

Then the fun begins.

After the conference, on Saturday 2nd September, there will also be a meetup for those staying for the weekend. We'll announce where we'll be meeting at the end of the conference.

"Urban Tribesman" (Security)

Due to the fact that the CBSO foyer is open during the day for the public to buy tickets for forthcoming events, we would like to ensure that everyone in the rest of the building is supposed to be there. As such, please ensure you have your conference badge with you at all times. Venue and conference staff may challenge you if they are not sure who you are, so please do not be offended if you are asked.

Conference badges will be distributed with your conference bag during registration.

"It's A Mystery" (Any Questions?)

If there are any issues or questions, please direct them to the organisers.

Thanks,
The Birmingham 2006 Organisers
http://www.birmingham2006.com

This update is brought to you by the delightful pop/punk princess that is Toyah.