Snow, Cold, & Code — RingCentral at Midwest PHP

Minneapolis, MN in the middle of March is probably not where you’d expect to find 200 developers huddling together — coding through below freezing temperatures in the middle of a winter storm. But that’s exactly what you’ll find this weekend at the 6th Annual Midwest PHP Conference.

What makes this conference so different from most isn’t just the fact that it’s taking place in Minnesota — or that the initial proposal for its name was “PHP Freeze” (quickly ruled out as not to scare developers from more tropical climates), but the fact that it was started for the sole reason of bringing developers together, and making technology more accessible — especially to students, and those who might not be able to travel across the country and shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars for a larger conference. Instead the idea was simple — bring the leading experts to Minnesota, and make it available to as many people as possible.

What started as a simple proposition soon grew to spawn an entire foundation (The North Foundation) devoted to enabling those around the Midwest, and ensuring that technology wasn’t just accessible — but a cornerstone for the smaller, often rural communities.

It’s for this very reason that RingCentral is proud not only to help sponsor this event, but to participate in sharing our experiences with the developers at this conference. As we’ve grown, we’ve had the tremendous opportunity to transform communications — from helping companies move from PBX to the cloud and changing the way teams work together.

And from a developer side, we want not only to help developers revolutionize communication within their own companies, but to be an active participant in revolutionizing and enabling developer communities. As we talk about developers who have completely transformed their own companies and advanced their technology, we likewise want to be a “Game Changer” in the developer community.

If by chance you’ll be at Midwest PHP, I hope to have the chance to talk in person. I’ll also be presenting about the future of API design at the conference tomorrow (Saturday, March 10):

Hypermedia: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Ballroom D at 9:00am

APIs, Chains, & Graphs
Main Ballroom at 1:00pm

Not able to make it to Midwest PHP? Be sure to visit developer.ringcentral.com to learn how you can use our APIs for voice, SMS, Glip messaging, meetings, and fax can revolutionize the way your business communicates!

And be sure to follow @RingCentralDevs on Twitter for more exciting developer news, tips and tricks, and events.