Obie Fernandez

What Is the Rails Way (To You)?

Back in 2007 as I was finishing the first edition of The Rails Way, I asked you to send me your thoughts on the meaning of the "rails way." I incorporated most of your responses into the book's Afterword, introducing it with the following paragraph:

I love the Ruby community. It’s vibrant, witty, and smart. Truly, our community is one of the best aspects of working with Rails and no small part of its success. As I was nearing completion of this book, I felt a strong urge to include the community in whatever way possible, to give readers a taste of what it’s like, and then it hit me. We all know that there is a Rails way, and yet it is an intensely personal experience, subject to interpretation and joyful exposition. What better way to end the book than with a collection of your thoughts!

Well, it's that time again. The Rails 3 Way is almost finished and I'd like to update the Afterword with new content culled from a much larger and diverse generation of Rails fanatics. Send me your thoughts, poetry, quips... whatever gets the idea across:

What Is the Rails Way (To You)?

Please make sure to get your submission in before July 31 to ensure consideration for the new edition. Thanks!

Meet David Allen at BizConf 2010

Just a quick update to my readers who might have been on the fence about attending this year's BizConf, coming up August 4th. We're pleased to announce the addition of David Allen (of GTD fame) to our lineup of provocative and educational presenters.

http://www.bizconf.org/presenters/david-allen

David will be presenting a special three-hour workshop to a very small audience in an intimate setting. Chances like this don't come along very often, certainly not at this price.

Registrations have been coming in slowly, but surely. As I write this we're over 60 registrations. Since I'm confident we're going to sell out soon, the time to commit and register is now. Click here to use the coupon code OBIE40 when you register to get a huge $771 discount. Believe me, I know that even with a 40% discount we're still an expensive event, but I promise you it's worth it. Our lineup is superb and the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island is the nicest conference venue I've ever been to and worth every penny.

Incidentally, some of you might be wondering why we're giving such steep discounts late in the game. The first iteration of our budget was overly optimistic and planned for a healthy profit. As a still young conference, we've lowered our sights to breaking even. Last year we lost a lot of money (more than $40k) on BizConf, but conventional wisdom is that you always lose money in the first year of an ambitious event. Profit should help us get ahead in the years to come, as our reputation solidifies and we build a base of loyal repeat attendees.