A brief (by Mike's standards) note
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. - John F. Kennedy
I wanted to take a brief moment to express my gratitude this holiday season. First and foremost, a huge thank you to the beautiful Tanja Hoefler who has put in countless hours behind the scenes of Nomad PHP, ranging from finding the best articles and tweeting them out, to tracking down great speakers, to countless hours of video editing (including fixing all my mistakes from the live broadcast).
Thank you to our Founders
I also need to thank Cal and Kathy Evans, an amazing husband and wife team who have done so much for the community over many, many years - including founding and being an invaluable source as Tanja and I took over Nomad PHP. They are truly an inspiration for Tanja and myself, and I hope some day we can do as much for the community as they have.
Thank you to our Speakers
And I need to express my gratitude to our amazing speakers who spend countless hours preparing their presentations, and even stay up all night practicing or get up at 5am to be ready to share their knowledge with the community.
Thank you to our Advisors
Another special shout out goes to Eric Poe, Eric Hogue, and Andrew Caya who have all been tremendous advocates of Nomad PHP, as well as the foundation of our meetings. Their feedback, along with our amazing Advisory Board has helped shake the direction of Nomad PHP, and the many great things we hope to do in the future.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Which brings me to our sponsors. As we try to grow and expand Nomad PHP, as well as bring in more resources and make it more valuable (and affordable), we have done so at a fairly significant loss. That's ok, as that was the plan for 2018, but companies like
RingCentral,
Twilio,
Auth0, and
OSMI have played a critical role in letting us move forward and keeping that loss manageable. Without them, I'm not sure we would be able to be offering the service we do, or have the plans we do for 2019!
*On a side note, if you're not familiar with OSMI, they're a GREAT non-profit who has done so much good in the tech space raising awareness about mental health, and educating employers - I highly recommend supporting this great non-profit organization.*
Thank you to our Family and Friends
Of course, I need to thank my family, my friends, and all those who have supported myself, Tanja, and Nomad PHP over the years.
Thank YOU
Least, but certainly not last - in fact perhaps most important of all - I want to thank the tremendous Nomad PHP community - over 3,000 members strong - that make Nomad PHP what it is. Without you, Nomad PHP wouldn't exist - it wouldn't need to. And
without you, and the greater PHP community, I wouldn't be here today, doing what I love to do.
For those that do not know my story, I grew up in medicine - becoming a first responder and pursuing a career as a lifeflight paramedic (helicopter ambulance) before realizing two things... ok three: I had a tremedous fear of heights, I hated needles, and I loved programming.
Leaving the nursing program left me unsure of what to do next, so I did what I loved - programming - where the number of mistakes I made I'm sure outnumbered the lines of good code. If it wasn't for the community being so patient, so encouraging, and helping me grow - I'm not sure what I would be doing today, but it certainly wouldn't involve PHP, Developer Relations, Nomad PHP, or the community.
So for that I want to say one final thank you - a thank you for giving me the gift to do what I love, and the opportunity to hopefully pay this forward, and give back to the community, helping others do the same.
Next year will be an amazing one for Nomad PHP, but I can't thank you all for how incredible and amazing these few short months in 2018 have been - because without you, there would be no 2019.
Have a very wonderful Thanksgiving,
Mike
***PS - want to support our 2019 initiatives and be recognized on Nomad PHP in the process?
Become a Supporter.***
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