It was such a joy to see so many members of the Laravel community together in the same place, including old friends (including some who were old friends but new to the Laravel world, which was fun) and many new!
My biggest regret at conferences like Laracon is that there's no way to meet everyone I want to meet. I'll talk to people for a few seconds, shout my email address to them as I'm whisking away to whatever the heck is next, and ask them to contact me... which they do maybe a quarter of the time if I'm lucky.
I have a fun idea for what I'm going to do to fix this. Hopefully more soon about this. For VERY LONG TIME readers you may remember Confomo... it's not that, but is perhaps its spiritual successor.
So.. Laracon AU is coming up. I'll be speaking! If you live anywhere accessible to Australia, I couldn't recommend this amazing conference more. Brisbane is a gorgeous city, the Australian Laravel community is just lovely, and Michael Dyrynda is an actual king of a human being. No notes, just come.
Podcasts New seasons of Laravel Podcast and Pragmatic AI podcast coming soon! We're about to record our last episode of Laravel Podcast season 7, and just recorded the first episode of Pragmatic AI season 2.
For both, I'm taking what I've learned and using it to update the podcast to what feels most needed in the moment. For Pragmatic AI, after my first season I've learned a lot about what I want to cover each time and how to build more continuity between guests, and for Laravel Podcast, I'm always adapting the format of each new season to match what I think the community needs, and, honestly, what I need. I think next season of Pragmatic AI will be like the first but better, and the next season of the Laravel Podcast will, I think, be a ton of fun and a great throwback for longtime listeners.
Marketing
Right now the majority of the publishing, editing, and marketing work on these podcasts happens through my VA, Kayla, as it has for my last three VAs. But I am starting to think it might be about time to bring in someone to help me full time with marketing. I suspect I'll be hiring someone outside the US, at a more entry level. I might share this journey with y'all! Or even ask for feedback as I go!
School Everyone in my house is in school except me! Kids were back in school first week of September, which means every other week I spend roughly 4.5 hours per weekday in the car, plus a few hours more on the four days a week they also have soccer practice. I'm actually currently writing this from my car sitting outside my son's school. đź«
My wife Imani is also back in school, studying the business of entertainment. She's a writer, actor, and director by training, but her producing work has been purely self-taught (plus a few smaller courses), so she's getting a more formalized education there. It's fascinating, and it also means our home life is NUTS. Absolutely nuts. Good nuts, but nuts.
But everyone's doing great. I am great. Which is nice, considering... everything around us.
I hope the same is true for you!
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