Thijs Feryn proves once again to be a great PHP evangelist… and Combell promoter!

Have you ever listened to Voices of the elePHPant? This podcast is recorded by Cal Evans, one of the godfathers of the PHP community. It is a must for all those who are interested in the latest developments on the Internet, and more specifically in the field of PHP. The podcast includes exciting discussions with people who are deeply involved in the very active PHP community, and one of the most recent podcasts also included an interview with Thijs Feryn, who you probably already know.

Who is Thijs?

Thijs is one of the PHP evangelists and a community leader at PHPBenelux. On many conferences (123 so far!), he has been talking about different aspects of PHP, but also about all sorts of tools that can help close the gap between code and infrastructure. Everywhere he goes, he listens to the latest news and to the developers’ ambitions. After that, he studies these subjects closely in order to make a talk out of them, which he then presents at various conferences, here and abroad. Thijs is also very active in user groups, and is always happy to share his knowledge with other PHP developers.

PHPBenelux

Thijs has been around ever since the very first PHPBenelux conferences and meetups, of which the next edition will be held on 23 and 24 January 2015, in Edegem, nearby Antwerp.

The full list of speakers and talks can be found on the PHPBenelux website. With such an extensive list of subjects, it is not surprising that the 2015 edition is sold-out… Especially if you consider that the organisers always find great ways to entertain the public, like when they had bumper cars at the previous conference. You can check out the pictures of this event (and the resulting bruises!) on Twitter under the hashtag #phpbnl14! But now, everyone focuses on #phpbnl15.

The link with Combell

This year, like for previous editions, Combell will once again sponsor the PHPBenelux conference. After all, Thijs is one of the “elders” at Combell; he has been working there for over 10 years and was among the company’s first 7 employees. Combell soon understood that supporting its customers was a must – a hosting company should not only offer hosting services; it should also understand what its customers want in order to be able to provide them with the best possible solution, and anticipate future needs. Thijs is one of those people who are constantly on the lookout for information, helping Combell meet its customers’ needs.

The podcast, which was recorded at the Drupalcon congress that took place last year in Amsterdam, can be downloaded (MP3) or streamed.

Another podcast

Recently, a second Voices of the ElePHPant podcast featuring Thijs has been released. The episode in question is titled “The Europeans” and is about the PHP scene in Europe. The recording took place in Washington D.C. at the php[world] conference and features several community leaders from the Benelux.

In the podcast, you can listen to Thijs, but also to Michelangelo van Dam, one of his partners in crime at PHPBenelux. In addition, you can listen to Rafael Dohms(who is, together with Michelangelo, half of the ninja turtles in the PHP scene), a Brazilian who moved to the Netherlands and founded AmsterdamPHP. And, last but not least, you can also enjoy the words of Michelle Sanver, a Swedish woman who has been living in the Netherlands for some time and who founded the GroningenPHP user group.

This podcast too can be downloaded (MP3) or simply streamed.