Welcome the ninth official bulletin for the 2006 YAPC::Europe Perl Conference in Birmingham, UK.

Call For Participation

We've got a venue, scheduled speakers and now have so much momentum, we don't think we could stop this thing if we tried! The next step is to get you lot as excited as we are. As such we are pleased to open up the website and conference registration to everyone.

Website Registration

Prior to booking a place on the conference register, individuals will need to register on the website. Fill in all your details and submit. The system will create a login for you so you're ready for conference registration.

PLEASE NOTE: Registration for the conference website and the conference wiki are two different mechanisms and are not integrated.

To register for the website, please click on the 'Registration' link in the top box on the right hand side of the page. From here you will be presented a registration screen. Please enter your details and click the Register button. Once successfully registered, you will be automatically logged into the system. From here you can then register for the conference.

Conference Registration

As mentioned in a previous backstage bulletin, we have two types of conference fee available, a standard rate and an individual rate.

Note that all payment processing will be handled by PayPal, and we will not process any of your credit details.

To register for the conference, please click on the 'Registration' link in the second 'Conference' box on the right hand side of each page of the website. From here you will be presented with either Standard or Individual registration button. Click the appropriate button and complete the following screens. The final confirmation screen will include a PayPal button, which you can click to complete the payment process.

The standard rate of £100 (approximately 150 Euros) per attendee is for businesses who would like to send attendees and make a single payment. On the standard rate registration screen, please enter the appropriate details for each attendee and complete the payment process. Receipts will be available for collection at the conference or can be sent by recorded delivery, fax or email as requested.

The individual rate of £75 (approximately 110 Euros) is for those attendees who will be handling all the registration and payment process themselves. Prior to registering with the individual rate, you will need to login or register to the website. On the individual rate screen, please verify your details and complete the payment process.

Attendees registered through the standard process, may register for the website at any time, although the automated process will create a basic login once payment has been cleared. You will then be required to login and complete registration. Note that you will need to register with the same email address as supplied on the standard form. If there is any change to these details, please let us know as soon as possible.

Venue Capacity

We have a limited capacity venue. Our absolute capacity is 300, which includes attendees, speakers, organisers and conference helpers. If we reach our full capacity we will not be able to accept further online registration or payment "on the door". As such it is recommended you register for conference registration at your earliest convenience.

Online registration will close on the morning (GMT) of Saturday 26th August, or when full capacity has been reached, whichever occurs first.

Only in the event of online sales not reaching venue capacity will we accept people on the door. Please note that the discounted individual rate will not be available after the close of online registration.

Just to make this clear - if you turn up expecting to pay on the day it will cost you £100 and places will be subject to availability. Therefore you are strongly recommended to purchase your ticket online.

Introduction To Our Sponsors

Following on from our previous major newsletter, we are extremely pleased to announce a further sponsor.

1) Morgan Stanley

Platinum sponsor, Morgan Stanley are set to sponsor Lecture Room 1. We are delighted to have them aboard, helping us to put on a great conference for you all.

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm offering a complete range of sophisticated financial services to a large and diversified group of clients and customers, including sovereign governments, corporations, institutions and individuals throughout the world. With a unique balance between institutional and retail capabilities, Morgan Stanley maintains leading market positions in its three primary businesses - securities, investment management and credit services.

Introducing The Team

We've introduced the core members of the organisational team, but now we'd like to introduce you to two press-ganged members of the organisational team.

Jon Brookes first came along to a Birmingham Perl Mongers meeting when he couldn't find who was responsible for the Stafford group (it died a long time ago) and felt Birmingham.pm was easier to get to than Manchester.pm (which has also since died). Jon has been helping us to look after the server that was kindly donated by Positive Internet, and ensuring the upgrades, patches and reboots work as expected.

Andrew Stringer has been a constant source of suggestions for venues, local sponsors and generally opening up the networking within the local government to help us find alternative ways of funding the event. Andrew is an enthusiastic Perl Monger and a keen Linux and Open Source advocate

Contact

Should you wish to contact us, please email The Organisers for direct contact, where you can mail us with your questions and suggestions. There is also the regular YAPC::Europe conference mailing list, which is open to all.

That's all for this release. Look out for more news and announcements in the future.

Thanks,
The Birmingham 2006 Organisers
www.birmingham2006.com

YAPC::Europe::2006 is sponsored by Morgan Stanley, Shadowcat Systems, Positive Internet, UKUUG and Apress.