RailsConf Europe gathers Rails enthusiasts

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:
Dawn Applegate
dapplegate@oreilly.com
707-827-7111

RailsConf Europe Gathers Rails Enthusiasts from 43+ Countries
The 2007 Program Included Visionaries and Detailed Rails Discussion

Sebastopol, CA, September 25, 2007--RailsConf Europe, which took place 17-19 September, was a
global melting pot for Rails developers, industry luminaries, Ruby hackers, web-based
entrepreneurs, and IT managers. The conference brought attendees from as far away as Peru, Iceland,
and South Africa, giving further evidence that Ruby on Rails is truly a global movement. Held over
three days at the Maritim Pro Arte Hotel in Berlin, the conference was co-presented by Ruby
Central, Inc. and O'Reilly Media, Inc. 

The Ruby on Rails development framework, only three years old, has gone from cult favorite to major
player in the web development world. By every measure--feature richness, adoption, publications,
developer reception--Rails is a phenomenon, and one that's here to stay. Conference chair David
Black said,  "The conference had the cohesive, shared-experience feel of a much
smaller event, a quality that Ruby Central always aims for in its programs. O'Reilly's on-site
production mastery allowed that intimate feel to scale up. The result was three very collegial,
very exciting days of Rails content."

The first day of the conference began with tutorials, including a for-charity tutorial led by Chad
Fowler and Marcel Molina. Completing day one was a wonderful keynote from Dave Thomas of  the
Pragmatic Programmers. The presentation focused on drawing correlations between art and engineering
and proposed the notion that the two are intertwined, or as Thomas put it, "Without engineering
there is no art, and without art there is no engineering."  The presentation seemed to resonate
with conference attendees and garnered thunderous applause.

The second day of the conference featured sessions ranging from "Deployment and Continuous
Integration from the Trenches" to "The Forgotten Child: Powerful CSS with Rails." The second day
offered keynote addresses from David Heinemeier Hansson and Dr. Roy T. Fielding, both forward
thinking industry leaders. These engaging presentations will be available in the coming weeks on
the RailsConf Europe website.

Networking opportunities were plentiful during RailsConf Berlin, particularly during evening events
such as the Birds of a Feather (BoFs) sessions, during conference breaks, and while mingling in the
exhibit hall. In addition, the Berlin Ruby User Group hosted over 500 conference attendees for a
Bratwurst on Rails dinner event on the first night of the conference.  

The exhibition hall was filled with industry leaders, all discussing Rails strategies and
solutions. Included were Diamond level sponsors ELC Technologies, Sun Microsystems, and
ThoughtWorks. Also sponsoring RailsConf were CodeGear, EngineYard, GotThingsDone.Com, IBM, UnBoxed
Consulting, and Webpulser. 

Additional Resources:

For a complete list of speakers and the full program schedule visit:
www.railsconfeurope.com

To review the presentations from the speakers visit:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/61/presentations....

If you would like to stay up-to-date on the happenings around RailsConf Europe 08 (conference news,
speakers and activities) sign up for the conference newsletter at:
http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/nl/home#conferences

For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at RailsConf Europe or RailsConf
Portland, contact Yvonne Romaine at 707-827-7198, or email her at: yromaine@oreilly.com

For information on media or promotional partnerships opportunities, contact Avila Reese at
(707)827-7116 or mediapartners@oreilly.com

Upcoming O'Reilly events: 
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/

About Ruby Central
Ruby Central, Inc. is the parent organization of the annual International Ruby and Rails
Conferences and is a visible presence and point of contact for corporate sponsors interested in
supporting these conferences and other Ruby activities. For more information, visit:
http://www.rubycentral.org/

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