Speaking in Frederick, MD on April 7, 2015

March 29, 2015

My presentation to the Frederick Web Tech group, in Frederick, Maryland, originally scheduled for March 3, 2015, was postponed due to nasty weather. (At least from my side, that was a good decision, as all of central Pennsylvania got covered with two inches of ice.) I’m happy to say the presentation has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The event is free, and if you’re in the greater Maryland-Washington, D.C.-Virginia-Pennsylvania-West Virginia-Delaware (why not?) area, I encourage you to come out. It’s going to be a cozy affair, with pizza and beer!

The specific presentation I’m doing is “How To Get There”, first given at the Northeast PHP 2013 conference, and revised as a keynote for php[tech] 2014 in Chicago. This is a motivational-type speech, in which I lay out the attitudes and behaviors you need in order to achieve  your personal and professional goals. The official talk description is below.

The talk itself will begin around 7:00pm, and last around 45 minutes. There will be plenty of time for questions, during and after. Or you can have a beer with me later that night!

My thanks to the Frederick Web Tech group for having me!

I have a degree in English literature, with a minor in Philosophy and Religion. My only formal computer training was a Pascal class in high school. And yet, I’ve managed to become a relatively successful developer, writer, instructor, and speaker. And now I’m (quite honored to be) part of a significant start-up in Stripe. How in the world did this happen? Call it getting older, or having had varying experiences, or perhaps this is my mid-life crisis, but I’ve been reflecting upon the path I’ve taken and how I got to be where I am. I’ve come to the conclusion that success and achievement aren’t about learning X or Y technologies, but rather stem from having the right attitudes and behaviors. Whether you want to be a developer, the founder of a startup, a writer, or whatever, in this presentation, I’ll explain what I think you need to know and do to get to where you hope to be.