Producing Aloha on Rails, The Hawaii Ruby on Rails and Web Development Conference

I love Ruby on Rails, I love bringing people together to talk about web development and engineering, and I love Hawaii. I wanted to do something amazing, something big, that could bring Ruby on Rails to Hawaii in style and share the Aloha of our Islands with the Rails and Web Development communities. I'm proud to announce that I am organizing and producing Aloha on Rails, the Hawaii Ruby on Rails and Web Development Conference. The conference will take place October 5-6, 2009 at the beautiful Marriott Waikiki on Oahu.

The Aloha on Rails Conference is the premier destination event for Ruby on Rails and Web Development. This unique, two day event unites the community’s top speakers and talent with motivated and excited attendees for an unforgettable conference in beautiful Hawaii. Two full days of informative and timely sessions covering Ruby on Rails and the future of web application engineering. The sessions are not simply blog posts, but will be full of wisdom, experience, lessons learned, war stories, and panel discussions, discussions, and most importantly debate.

In producing this event, it was very important to me to organize an itinerary that appealed to all web developers, not just those loyal to Ruby on Rails. I believe the Rails community has a lot to share and teach, but it can listen, too. A successful conference, in my mind, is one that truly generates thought provoking debate. One way to ensure this is to seed the pool with differing view points. A healthy discussion benefits everyone. To this end we are bringing in speakers that will address a wide range of issues and topics relevant to all web developers that are motivated and take their craft seriously (but know how to enjoy it.) The conference is certainly centered around Rails, but will extend outwards to topics such as Erlang, business models, Map Reduce, JRuby, testing, and simplicity.

Hosting the conference in Hawaii is a gutsy move, I know. Convincing people that it's very affordable to get out here is not easy. Luckily, due to the current economic situation, it's actually cheaper to fly and stay in Hawaii than it's ever been (factoring in inflation.) You'll be amazed at the deals the airlines and hotels are cutting to get you out here. True, a lot of the deals only reach out through summer, but nothing indicates these deals will stop any time soon. Hawaii almost sells itself, which helps, and who doesn't want to come out to Hawaii, geek out with some of the best talent in the community, relax, and recharge? We have a large list of hotels and travel tips on the Aloha on Rails Venue and Travel page.

I've been extremely fortunate and humbled to get some amazing speakers to come out for Aloha on Rails. For instance, Chad Fowler will present the keynote. Other speakers currently booked include Obie Fernandez, Charles Nutter, Gregg Pollack, Anthony Eden, Tim Dysinger, Desi McAdam, Scott Chacon, Giles Bowkett, and Jeremy McAnally. This list is going to grow very quickly, so keep an eye on the Aloha on Rails Speaker List.

The Call for Participation is now open and runs through July, so please submit a talk proposal. There's still time and room for your presentation!

There are numerous Sponsorship Packages available, at many different levels. This is your chance to be associated with the premier destination event for Ruby on Rails and Web Development, and directly target and reach a captive, motivated audience of Rails and web developers, designers, team leads, and managers.

This conference a unique and exciting opportunity to learn, share, and immerse yourself in Rails and Web Development with other motivated and friendly attendees and speakers with enjoying beautiful Hawaii. I'm thrilled to be able to bring the Rails and Web Development communities to Hawaii.