PHP Wiki

communitymeetup-tek2016

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

2026/09/01 07:02	current
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	+	===== [php]tek 2016 =====
	+
	+	The community meetup at [php]tek 2016 was [[https://youtu.be/HH2X5dkmmsI\|broadcast via youtube]] and [[https://twitter.com/cspruck\|Chris Spruck]] was so generous to sum up what happened and posted it to the UG-Admin-Mailinglist. Here's his summary (Thanks Chris!):
	+
	+	User Group Leadership Open Spaces
	+
	+	Attendees: Chris Spruck (AtlantaPHP), Joe Ferguson (MemphisPHP), Sammy K. Powers (Chicago PHP UG), Mark McCollum (St. Louis Full Stack Developers), Dave Stokes (North TX MySQL User Group), Cal Evans (Palm Beach PHP UG, NomadPHP), Brian Retterer (DaytonPHP), James Titcumb (PHP Hampshire, PHP SouthCoast conf), Ben Ramsey (NashvillePHP), Bill Condo (Columbus, OH PHP User Group), Matt Turland (Gnocode New Orleans), Jeff Geerling (Ansible and Drupal St. Louis), Michael Pickreign (NE PA, looking to start a group), Travis Fettig (Palm Beach PHP UG)
	+
	+	How do you handle lack of attendance? Joe said that MemphisPHP tries to provide quality content, and not just a hack night. He encourages members to present, and does more social events (which usually yields better response due to the shorter time committment than a full meeting). Dave made the point to be aware of time issues and entrance security processes, depending on the location. James made the point that lack of attendance isn't necessarily bad, and any consistency is good, even if you feel like the numbers are low. Chris said that fast/immediate growth isn't urgent.
	+
	+	Activities among groups? Cal and others mentioned joint Christmas parties, summer BBQs, etc. with multiple groups, and Bill mentioned things like Laravel/Wordpress/PHP joint activities. Don't forget about groups that use PHP, but are more focused (Drupal, WP, etc.) - opportunity for speaker cross-over and softer skills talks that can apply to any developer. Joe mentioned "Super User Group meetups" - lightning talks across groups, holiday parties, etc. These can be specific to group leaders or involve entire groups.
	+
	+	Beth Tucker Long (of MadisonPHP, @e3BethT) has "training talks" or some kind of material developed to encourage cultivation of conference speakers from within her user group.
	+
	+	Someone mentioned using a Trello board for group members to suggest talk ideas, talks they can present, etc.
	+
	+	Consider PHP-adjacent talks and other tech (JavaScript, databases, etc.); consider remote presenters or other groups.
	+
	+	Look for chances to bring in someone nearby or passing through. Examples: Coderabbi was at Laracon (in Kentucky), so Bill from Columbus asked him to stay an extra day to present to Columbus PHP (Bill went to pick him up, etc.) AtlantaPHP just had an extra "special speaker event", because Sebastian Bergmann was in town the week after their regularly scheduled meeting.
	+	SammyK - summarizes RFC activity for his group, so members can get a taste of PHP internals w/o the stress.
	+
	+	Alternative formats to consider: Show and Tell nights; test fests; bug fix night; pair programming; screencast live coding; "bring your problem", code reviews
	+
	+	Cal asked "how do you level your content?" for junior vs advanced devs. Dave said one of the Dallas groups has a different meeting for junior devs, and Boston started a virtual online class for juniors, where people could contact more experienced group members for help.
	+
	+	It's a good idea for organizers to try to spot new people, to at least say hello and make them feel welcome. Name badges are very helpful to break the ice, remember names, etc.
	+
	+	Do groups have free beer? A few people raised hands and said it's typically sponsored by recruiters or third-parties. Some go out after the meeting to another location.
	+
	+	Try to have the next meeting topic ready to promote in advance, so people know what's coming up and can plan accordingly. It definitely helps reduce organizer stress to have a few speakers lined up ahead of time, and have backup plans for cancellations.
	+
	+	How to start a new group? Definitely get on Meetup, as the discoverability factor is worth it. Ask attendees to bring new people. Public libraries are good for meeting space, as well as banks and other places with a "community space". Find local companies with devs, as they can help with space, new presenters and attendees, etc. Look at local universities.
	+
	+	Dues or fees? Depends on need and scope - some charge per event or special event, some have annual dues, most have none. May need to charge for a given event to cover expenses to bring in someone from far away.
	+
	+	How to handle recruiter spam? Stop it at the source - moderate your mailing lists. Be firm, but polite in person and set the expectations for their behavior at meetings. Some openly allow recruiters to attend and speak or mingle, and others limit it to before or after meetings or at after-gatherings. Have solid guidelines for posting to your lists (see AtlantaPHP's guidelines at http://atlantaphp.org/jobs/ - feel free to use and adapt!)

promotion

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

2018/02/09 11:59		current
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	=== Social Media ===		=== Social Media ===

-	It goes without saying that your user group should have a social presence, which regularly interacts with the community. It's well worth setting up accounts with [[https://twitter.com/\|Twitter]], [[http://www.linkedin.com/\|LinkedIn], [https://www.facebook.com\|Facebook]] and other social networks to allow you to converse with the community.	+	It goes without saying that your user group should have a social presence, which regularly interacts with the community. It's well worth setting up accounts with [[https://twitter.com/\|Twitter]], [[http://www.linkedin.com/\|LinkedIn]], [[https://www.facebook.com\|Facebook]] and other social networks to allow you to converse with the community.

	=== Mailing Lists ===		=== Mailing Lists ===

resources

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

2018/02/14 06:45		current
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	* https://hackernoon.com/how-to-run-a-meetup-297ef448d157#.7w5stody9		* https://hackernoon.com/how-to-run-a-meetup-297ef448d157#.7w5stody9
	* http://www.dragonbe.com/2014/02/theres-no-php-user-group-here.html		* http://www.dragonbe.com/2014/02/theres-no-php-user-group-here.html
		+
		+	There where some excellent resources by atlassian (the Usergroup Handbook and the Usergroup-Checklist) but they don't seem to be online or publicly available any more.

starting_a_user_group

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

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	So you want to start a usergroup? Great! Just do it!		So you want to start a usergroup? Great! Just do it!

-	But are you sure that there is not one already around? The organizers of existing usergroups can always need a helping hand!	+	But are you sure that there is not one already around? Check [[https://php.ug/\|php.ug]] to see (whilst we try to encourage as many user groups to add their meetup, there might be others, so check elsewhere too like Meetup, Twitter as well!). The organizers of existing usergroups can always need a helping hand!

	OK, you checked! No other group around. Where to go from your decision? What's next.		OK, you checked! No other group around. Where to go from your decision? What's next.

community

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

2026/09/01 07:02	current
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	+	===== Community-Meetups =====

	+	Sometimes during conferences some community-leaders might gather and discuss topics of interest to them or to others watching. Sometimes those meetups are broadcast live or there is a summary of it. Let's try to get them into one place!
	+
	+	* [[:usergroups:communitymeetup-tek2016\|[php]tek 2016]]

handbook

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

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	- [[usergroups:handbook:sponsorship\|Sponsorship]]		- [[usergroups:handbook:sponsorship\|Sponsorship]]
	- [[usergroups:handbook:finding_a_venue\|Finding a venue]]		- [[usergroups:handbook:finding_a_venue\|Finding a venue]]
-	- [[usergroups:handbook:promotion\|Promoting the user group]]	+	- [[usergroups:handbook:promotion\|Promoting the User Group]]
		+	- [[usergroups:handbook:resources\|Resources for starting and running a User Group]]

sponsorship

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-04-03T13:08:43+00:00

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	* Zend Technologies		* Zend Technologies
	* Sensio Labs		* Sensio Labs
		+
		+	=== Other Tech-Companies ===
		+
		+	JetBrains:\\
		+	https://www.jetbrains.com/community/support/#section=communities
		+
		+	EngineYard\\
		+	https://www.engineyard.com/blog/announcing-our-new-php-user-group-program
		+
		+

2013/12/12 13:51		current
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	- [[usergroups:handbook:sponsorship\|Sponsorship]]		- [[usergroups:handbook:sponsorship\|Sponsorship]]
	- [[usergroups:handbook:finding_a_venue\|Finding a venue]]		- [[usergroups:handbook:finding_a_venue\|Finding a venue]]
-	- [[usergroups:handbook:promotion\|Promoting the user group]]	+	- [[usergroups:handbook:promotion\|Promoting the User Group]]
		+	- [[usergroups:handbook:resources\|Resources for starting and running a User Group]]