This April, the PHP community is going to descend upon Nashville, Tennessee for its inaugural PHPCon. Judging by the speakers and attendees, it's going to be a conference to remember and one that will be talked about for some time. It's being organized primarily by Ben Ramsey, Lisa Denlinger, and Nick Sloan, with plenty of help and support from the rest of the PHP community.

This is a conference I've been hoping would emerge for years. Conferences organized for profit have their place, but the heart and soul of the PHP community, and the open source community in general, is not profit-driven. From PHPCon's about page:

We believe the PHP community is just about the friendliest group around, and we're going to be sharing stories of successes, failures, and lessons learned along the way. Because this is our first conference, we're hoping you'll join us, roll up your sleeves, and help make this something we can all be proud of.

This is your chance to support a good thing, and you get so much in return. Those who register will be supporting the conference financially as well as supporting the people who make it happen. Thanks to some generous sponsors, the all-inclusive pass to PHPCon is only $300, and it includes:

• Both tutorials on Thursday
• An entire day of talks on Friday
• Free food, snacks, and conversation
• The chance to meet the people who make PHP

This is probably the best lineup of PHP speakers I've ever seen, and I've been to a lot of PHP conferences. Have you ever been to a conference with Rasmus Lerdorf, Andrei Zmievski, Sean Coates, Paul Reinheimer, and Terry Chay? I haven't. Have you ever met the people behind PHPDeveloper.org, Phorum, 24 Ways, Smarty, Spaz, CakePHP, Lithium, or Zend Framework? They're all going to be there, along with people from Flickr, Etsy, Automattic, and SourceForge.

The tutorials are free for everyone who is registered, and you get to choose from Lorna Mitchell talking about web services, Helgi Þormar Þorbjörnsson talking about caching, Joël Perras talking about Lithium, and Matthew Weier O'Phinney talking about Zend Framework.

All of this is happening in a really cool space with a rather dumb name (aVenue). :-)

If I sound a little bit jealous, it's because I am. I'm not going to be able to make it this year, but I genuinely hope it's a huge success, and I can't wait to hear all about it. If you're lucky enough to be there, be sure to get the Pot Pourri at the Spaghetti Factory and the Kansas City Strip and Demos'. That'll make me extra jealous.

Have fun, learn lots, and make something great.