Each year, we try to do something unique at tek. Two years ago, we had an appearance from the  PHP KISS rockstars. Last year, we had the Hackathon led by the highly esteemed Matthew Turland. This year, we’re still going to have a Hackathon, but wanted to do something more.

On top of that, we faced some hard decisions. When the call for speakers ended, we had nearly 10 submissions for every speaking slot and some of them were fantastic. So after much deliberation and debate, we reached a simple conclusion:

We’re dropping the Unconference this year. (gasp)

I know you’re disappointed but in exchange we were able to add 6 more sessions to the 36 we had.  Now we only had ~9 submissions for every speaking slot!  Whew, problem solved. Anyway, let’s face it, after successful uncons at ZendCon 08, tek 09, and ZendCon 09, we all know how they work and what makes them not work. The same formula over and over again doesn’t drive the community forward. It doesn’t make people get creative or get them excited. So after a bit of eggnog, arguing with Marco & Cal, bribing Arbi with cookies, and another round of eggnog, we came up with another idea:

Enter… the Hack Track.

Every year big ideas come out of tek. Some are good, some are bad, but they always come from running into new and old faces in the hallways, at a meal, or over drinks. The problem is that there’s not a good place for this stuff to happen. The hallways lack outlets, the tables are in the restaurant, and people’s rooms are… well, they’re hotel rooms.

This time around, we’ve set aside some space with tables, chairs, power, and coffee… but no formal agenda. We’re using the Open Spaces model where small groups can get together to discuss, create, demo, code, and generally enjoy themselves on whatever topics they choose.

Just like the Unconference before it, we’ll make sure some smart people are lurking in the corners. If you’d like to talk about that code from that session, ask the speaker to show you. If you want to know about that project someone mentioned, ask about it. I plan to be there working on our AIR client for web2project. There’s already some interest around the Zend Framework and Subversion and Javascript libraries and Git and PHPUnit and Refactoring and…

Long live the Hack Track.

The gift giving seasons is upon us. In the mad rush to get everyone that special gadget they want, don’t forget to get yourself a little something.

This year, TEK·X is going to offer up a chance for some Christmas cheer. We are offering a limited number of Charter Tickets for sale before the schedule goes up. If you hurry, for the next two weeks you can purchase one of 50 full-experience tickets available at 35% off the full price.

This is a chance for our closest supporters to get in one of the best conferences of 2010—some say the best—at the lowest possible price, and it’s only available until January 6th, 2010. If you already making plans to attend TEK·X, why not buy yourself a Christmas present this year?

To take advantage of this special offer!

Hurry, there are only 50 tickets available at this price and once they are gone, even Santa himself won’t be able to get one.

Happy Holidays from the entire php|architect crew!

Tek is the biggest community conference out there. You’ve been looking forward to it all year. You’re chomping at the bit. It’s what you’ve all been waiting for.

But we’re not there yet…

We received almost 350 submissions from across the spectrum of topics, ideas, and complexity. The ideas are fascinating. The people are sharp. Their takes on topics—both new and old—has been creative and sometimes entertaining. While all of this makes for a great conference, it also makes our job incredibly difficult. The tutorials and sessions will be announced on January 4th, 2010.

But in the meantime, we’ll have surprise announcements about…

Well, if I told you, they wouldn’t be surprises, now would they?