Now that everyone has returned from the php|cruise and settled back into their normal routines, some like Marco Tabini have posted their views on what went on.

The most important one is a simple consideration on just how limiting the conventional conference format is (and, please note, I am including a good portion of php|c in the "conventional format" as well, because that's how we designed it).

Within the context of a technical conference, like php|c, there is one major problem in this setup: audience participation is neither encouraged, nor really possible. People are, by their very nature, shy and unwilling to "cast the first stone" and start a discussion going, and the fact that in a theatre they are all facing in the same direction, often in semi-darkness, and facing a speaker who is presented as "the oracle" to whom everyone should listen certainly doesn't help.

He goes on to talk about some of the solutions that came about, including "shared experiences" which went off (sometimes) more successfully than just a speach...