The 8th annual O'Reilly Open Source Convention is returning to Portland this July (24 Jul - 26 Jul). It's easily my favorite conference, partly because of its diversity - the best of the best from all of the open source disciplines are there, and the cross-pollination is enriching.

Of course, conferences are expensive, especially if you have to pay your own way. Want to know the secret? Propose a talk, and you might get in for free! :-) The OSCON dealine is this Monday (you can still submit talks on Monday), so there's still time.

This year also brings us the inaugural NYPHP Conference, being held at the historic New Yorker Hotel on 34th St. NYPHP is a great user group, and I'm sure this will be a great conference. Let me know if you plan to attend - maybe we can schedule a PHPers dinner. :-)

Just remember the secret - submit a talk for NYPHPCon, and you might get a chance to attend for free. We all benefit from more diversity - I'd love to see what other PHP developers are up to.