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YAPC::Eu::2006 Plans #4539531

Beatnik on 2006-04-19T16:11:07

I still haven't decided weither or not I'll propose a talk. At the moment I'm having one of those "I'll go for it" talks and I'm thinking about one of my most frequent battles.. SNMP. As mentioned a few months ago, I've been brewing on a talk titled "SNMP for the masses" but I'm not entirely sure what to put in there. If I'll do the talk, it means I'll probably have to include quite a bit of none Perl technical stuff. I have a few weeks left to prepare something but I'll try to submit a proposal ASAP (meaning this week probably). On the upside, now that my girlfriend has agreed on going along (even though we're taking the airplane and she's not too keen on flying), she can probably spend the money I save on the waved conference fee on shopping. Mmmm, it sounded better in my head :)

Talks and shopping

lilstevey on 2006-04-20T14:05:20

Hmm. As a resident of the city, I would like to confirm your fears with regards to the plan.

Birmingham is very well catered for in the shopping department. We have the Mailbox with Harvey Nics, The Bull Ring with Selfridges, a few nice independents at the custard factory and a plethora of shops in the centre including House of Fraser ( the mens department has its own bar ) and the stylish Flannels ( I forget if its plural or singular ).

I fear your conference fee savings may be a dip in the ocean of a possible spend. Thats if you stick to the city - we're only half an hour away from Leamington Spa, which has a wide selection of independents and charming bars, and of course Stratford upon Avon is only just round the corner ( I think they do steam train rides there on saturdays in summer )

Re:Talks and shopping

Beatnik on 2006-04-20T14:24:41

Thanks for the warning. Luckily my girlfriend doesn't have the habbit yet of reading my blog so I'm still in the clear. We'll see how it goes when we actually get there. Is it worth coming a day earlier and seeing the city? I expect the conference to start around 10 AM on the first day but I also expect to arrive late if I fly over on the first day.. So my plan is to come one day earlier and tour around.

Re:Talks and shopping

lilstevey on 2006-04-20T22:08:30

For all of the YAPCs I've been to I've arrived at least the day before, and haven't regretted it yet.

There is certainly enough to keep you occupied for a day - I don't think you could get to Tamworth or Milton Keynes for indoor snowboarding, but you should be able to get a few pints of cider in the City Centre. Its worth noting that over here the weekend before the conference is a bank holiday, and generally there are a few things organised if you wanted to make a couple of days of it, although as a consequence the tuesday after is normally quite quiet, although it could be thought of as an advantage for a visitor new to the city.

I think Barbie has already mentioned that on the tuesday the organisers will be finding a pub for a few pre-conference beers though, should you want to hang out with other early birds.

There are a fair few things to do in Birmingham - in addition to a lot of tourist focused attractions ( Sea Life Center, Canal Trips, The Birmingham Wheel if its still going, Museum and Gallery ) there's a fair few other events - as an example I've been doing indoor climbing for a while now, and I understand a pretty good climbing centre has recently opened on the Moseley Border - about a mile and a half out of the city. I believe there are a number of water sports facilities further out also.

One of Birminghams real advantages is its central location - Snowdonia in Wales is two to three hours drive away, the Lake District is reachable by train. Thats in addition to other towns mentioned earlier. Warwickshire is dotted with beautiful and very individual pubs and villages.

There is a lot to do in the city, but even more if you choose to use it as a base to explore.

If there is anything you are particualry interested in I can try to find you more details.