I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be speaking at PHPTek 2026 in Chicago! This will be my fourth year speaking at the conference, and I couldn't be more excited. If you've never been to PHPTek, you're missing out on some amazing opportunities to learn and network.

The conference runs May 19-21, 2026, and tickets are available now. I really hope to see you there!

My Talks

I'm presenting two sessions this year, both on topics that I'm genuinely passionate about because they've bitten me repeatedly.

Advanced SQL: The Features You've Been Ignoring (But Shouldn't)

Let's be honest: most of us learned just enough SQL to get by. We can SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE with the best of them. Maybe we even write a JOIN without checking Claude first.

But modern databases are incredibly powerful tools, and we're barely scratching the surface. In this talk, we'll dive into the SQL features that can make your applications faster, your code cleaner, and your database interactions more robust. I'm talking about:

• Triggers and stored procedures that can handle complex business logic at the database level
• Views and materialized views for simplifying complex queries
• Database replication strategies that can save your app during high traffic

These are tools I've used to solve real problems that a lot of developers have barely scratched the surface of. They're really powerful and can cut query times from seconds to milliseconds and make your code more maintainable.

Taming Time in PHP: Best Practices and Gotchas

Time is challenging, and working with time in PHP is also challenging. Like, really challenging. Time zones, daylight saving time, and leap seconds can all interact with our applications and create weird, unexplainable behaviours (at least until I tell you why :-)).

In this session, we'll cover:

• Why you should almost always store times in UTC (and the rare exceptions)
• The difference between timestamps, DateTime, and DateTimeImmutable (and why you should always use DateTimeImmutable)
• How to handle user time zones correctly without losing your mind
• Common pitfalls with data manipulations, date formatting, and database timestamps

I'll share real bugs I've encountered (and caused) and practical strategies you can apply immediately. Because the only thing worse than a bug is a time zone bug that only happens twice a year during DST transitions.

What I Love About PHPTek

PHPTek has this incredible energy. The hallway track is amazing, the talks are consistently high-quality, and Chicago in May is wonderful, especially after the long Midwestern winter. Plus, the conference organizers genuinely care about creating an inclusive, welcoming environment. Whether you're a junior developer attending your first conference or a seasoned veteran, you'll feel at home.

See You There!

If you're on the fence about attending, let me make it easy: go grab a ticket. The conference is May 19-21, 2026, and it's worth every penny.

If you do attend, please come say hi! I'll be around all three days, and I'd love to chat about whatever PHP challenges you're currently wrestling with.