JT Smith

You may or may not have heard that The Perl Foundation is throwing a private party after the banquet at YAPC::NA 2012.

We’ve shut down a local party spot for the night so that we can turn it into geek-space. Though it’s usually a hot college night club, on this one night only it’s going to feel more like a private Perl-only pub. Here’s what we’re doing to ensure a great party:

• It won’t be open to the public.
• The bartenders are currently hard at work designing a custom Perl-themed drink menu, but there will of course be plenty of Guinness and other other brews if you don’t like cocktails. 
• We’ve hired a DJ who is putting together a custom music program just for us. If you’ve got genre suggestions, please reply here and let us know. We’ll have him work it in to the program. The current plan is to start out with some classic rock and then migrate wherever the mood of the crowd takes us.
• If you bring a DVD or USB stick with photos from past Perl events (or even YAPC::NA 2012 so far), we’ll get those displayed on the huge projection screens. 
• A private donor has sponsored $2,500 worth of free alcohol and paid the bar so we can shut it down to the public for the night.
• We’ll have an open mic for announcements, toasts, roasts, etc. 

The point is that this party is about having a good time, and providing even more opportunities to socialize with fellow geeks. It may not be for everybody, but we hope that even the most shy amongst us will come out, enjoy a few cocktails and some music. 

[From the YAPC::NA Blog.]