2008's RubyFringe conference, put on by Canadian Rails consultancy Unspace, was heralded as a landmark in Ruby conferences and set a benchmark that has only recently been approached by the fervor around events like Ruby Manor. After the event, Unspace rapidly said that there wouldn't be another RubyFringe, but...

Unspace has decided to do it all again with FutureRuby. Like RubyFringe, FutureRuby is a single track, small (150 attendees max) conference with a focus on high energy, high quality presentations (see some videos from RubyFringe, and remember that Giles Bowkett was named our top presenter of 2008 for his RubyFringe show!) and lots of extracurricular activities (i.e. parties and other entertainment), swag, and festivity.

If you're interested but not sure, you can keep up with news about the event on Twitter @futureruby - I expect they will mention when they're about to run out of tickets on there, as well as post info about speakers, etc.

Also.. The Ruby Hoedown Needs Your Help!

Jeremy McAnally is seeking to raise $15,000 from folks who want to attend the next Ruby Hoedown (a very successful Nashville-based unconference in the past). Basically he wants the event to be "free" (barring the donations, of course!) with no sponsors, and $15,000 is needed to get a venue for 100s of people. If you've enjoyed the Hoedown in the past or just want to go to a great Ruby event in Tennessee this year, see if you can help out.