The Rails Edge

Mike Clark has announced The Rails Edge, a set of small, regional Rails conferences. The first will be November 16-18 in Denver.

I'm really pleased with the way he's put these together. He's selected a stellar group of speakers, all with deep, practical Ruby and Rail experience.

Then he's organized it as a single track event. I know this was a hard decision. But having one track means that everyone shares the experience, and everyone can build on each session during the breaks and in the evenings. It means we have a critical mass of folks, and all the more experience to share.

And what I like most of all is the instructions he's given the speakers. Unlike events where one person speaks and the other speakers head off to pick up e-mail and work on projects, Mike is encouraging the Edge speakers to participate in all the talks. If Mike's talking, you might find yourself sitting next to Chad Fowler or core-team member Marcel Molina, Jr. If someone asks an Ajax question that Mike doesn't feel comfortable handling, Stu Halloway or Justin Gehtland might field it from the floor.

As a speaker, I love this format--it means we're all part of the same team. Having other people around to help out lets me go both deeper and broader into stuff. I'm really looking forward to these events.