Ruby Manor - Ruby Manor needs YOU.

So now you’ve got a ticket, what next? Sit back and idly wait for sparkling Ruby brilliance to pour into your head? Tsk. You should know by now. With Ruby Manor, it’s not quite that easy.

Maybe you didn’t get a ticket? Don’t worry, you can still get in, if you pay attention to this.

You need to start thinking of what might like to hear at the conference, but more importantly, what you can talk about.

No - wait - don’t recoil in terror. Anyone can speak at Ruby Manor. There is no elite group of long-time speakers here, peddling their wares from conference to conference. You are the elite. You probably have no idea what you might speak about, but it’s actually much easier than you think.

Think about what you’re working on right now. Chances are that you’ve found (or maybe even built) a tool that you really like - that’s making your life easier. It’s your duty to share what you know about that tool or library. Maybe it’s Cucumber, or Shoulda, or MacRuby, or Redis… who knows. But chances are you know more about it than some people, and if that’s enough of a seed for a great talk.

Or, maybe there’s something that you keep meaning to learn about, but haven’t got round to using yet. Maybe that’s Treetop, or HTTParty, or who knows what else. This is the perfect opportunity to spend a bit of time learning about it, figuring out how it works, and then sharing that knowledge with everyone else.

Of course, it’s also useful to get ideas about what you might like to hear, which topics that you think are interesting, and should be covered. Likewise, providing feedback to help other people shape and hone their own presentation ideas is a vital part of the Manor process. But without actual speakers, we’re all going to be sitting in a room twiddling our thumbs.

Speaking at Ruby Manor affords you kudos among peers, and is great for both building your own confidence, and building the strength of our Ruby community. So, what are you going to talk about?