An elephpant family picture

Elephpants are part of the life of PHP developers. They are cute, they help coding, they attract attention and make us feel part of the community. They also require a lot of love, some grass and water. And, on a rainy day or a shiny moon night, they reach for the window, looking away. Get close to them, and listen to their sighs. They say: “I wish I see my elephpant buddies one more time.”.

It’s a poignant sight, and there is an easy solution to that mood: bring your elephpant to an ‘Elephpant family picture’!

Why doing an elephpant family picture?

Elephpants plus toys are social animals. They don’t like to stay alone, although they do make the best baby sitters. Take them out of the shelf, and bring they with you outside. May be, get your own elephpant first.

Outside may be basically anywhere:

• Office
• Conferences
• PHP User Group
• Non-PHP user group
• Customer meeting (works but use with caution)

When?

Anytime you are attending an event, use social media to announce a time and place during the event for the ‘elephpant family picture’. Get in touch with the organizers: they are usually more than happy to include an extra short event.

Ask around about the picture, and request everyone to bring one or two elephpants: special ones, like the big elephpant, the unique elephpants, the old or the rare ones.

Ideally, communicate about it a few days in advance. Be prepared to smile when you hear: ‘I wanted to bring my elephpant but I forgot it at home’. At least, 17 times during any event. Then, pack your own elephpants, and bring them.

What to do during an elephpant family picture?

Gather the herd

It is recommended to add an accessory to your elephpants, so you can recognize them quickly after the picture. Nothing looks like an elephpant more than another elephant. Add a scarf, some rubber bands, tie them together, put a hat, make them cook scrambled eggs or anything that is convenient for you.

Elect the patriarch. Select the elephpant for the honors of the picture. There is no specific protocol, but here are a few tips to select it :

• The oldest elephpant of the herd, like ‘the Trisaieul’
• A big elephpant
• A very recent elephpant
• The local group or company’s elephpant’s
• Any elephpant that is linked to the day’s special occasion.

Take the picture

Yes, don’t forget that step….

Make friends

Here are a few games you can play during an elephpant family picture

• Retell how you acquired your elephpant
• Direct people to this page when they want to get their own elephpant [->]
• Tell an epic story of your elephpant
• Make a flag with the available colors. We did France and Germany, failed with Canada and USA…
• Make a pile of elephpants. 4 or more!
• Make a pyramid with elephpants: 7 levels with small ones, and 5 with big ones. Good luck.
• Ask around how to make a new elephpant generation
• Try to find that rare elephpant that is eluding you for so long
• Complain that the gather doesn’t have enough elephpant to break the world record, and prepare the next elephpant family picture with more
• Don’t give water to the elephpant after 10h30, they won’t sleep after that

Wrap up

After the party, just collect your elephpants, and swear to meet again, at the same place, in ten years. Send us your picture so we can add it to the gallery.