PHP User Group :: How to start

Ye' old general discussion board. Basically, for everything that isn't covered elsewhere. Come here to shoot the breeze, shoot your mouth off, or whatever suits your fancy.
This forum is not for asking programming related questions.

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
neophyte
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1537
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Minnesota

PHP User Group :: How to start

Post by neophyte »

Does anybody know what resources are availble to start a PHP Users Group?

Has anybody been a part of a successful one?

The nearest group in my area is 3 hours away. :(
jmut
Forum Regular
Posts: 945
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:54 am
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Contact:

Re: PHP User Group :: How to start

Post by jmut »

neophyte wrote:Does anybody know what resources are availble to start a PHP Users Group?

Has anybody been a part of a successful one?

The nearest group in my area is 3 hours away. :(
so you mean like group....people acutally seeing each other :)
hm...might be fun...never been part of one.
User avatar
onion2k
Jedi Mod
Posts: 5263
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:03 pm
Location: usrlab.com

Re: PHP User Group :: How to start

Post by onion2k »

neophyte wrote:Does anybody know what resources are availble to start a PHP Users Group?

Has anybody been a part of a successful one?

The nearest group in my area is 3 hours away. :(
There's a couple of websites that 'help' to organise groupmeets: there's php.net, and there's a PHP section on meetup.com.
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

Just so you're aware, neophyte, if you're the "manager" of a group on meetup, it's not free.* Granted, it is fairly cheap in the end of things, but it's still not free.


* The last time I was reading through there site was probably six months ago, so things may have changed, but I doubt it.
d3ad1ysp0rk
Forum Donator
Posts: 1661
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 8:31 pm
Location: Maine, USA

Post by d3ad1ysp0rk »

meetup.com wrote: 6 months for only $12.00/month
(billed in one payment of $72.00)
3 months for only $15.00/month
(billed in one payment of $45.00)
1 months for only $19.00/month
(billed in one payment of $19.00)
I attend BostonPHP meetups. They're real fun, and if you have enough interested people you should definitely start your own!
User avatar
neophyte
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1537
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Minnesota

Post by neophyte »

Here's a real sad admission:

I don't know anybody in my area that does PHP professionally. Although, I'm sure there are plenty.
User avatar
onion2k
Jedi Mod
Posts: 5263
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:03 pm
Location: usrlab.com

Post by onion2k »

neophyte wrote:I don't know anybody in my area that does PHP professionally.
Meets aren't just for professionals. In fact, they're an excellent way to network and find out about jobs if you're not a professional but want to be. If I was starting a PHP user group I'd start off by:

1. Put an ad in the local paper's 'events' section. It's usually free.
2. Put a notice up on the events notice boards of any local college/university that teachs IT based stuff.
3. Send an email to the contact email addresses of local web design/development companies.
4. Put a listing up on the phpusergroups.org user groups thing (no idea if this is up-to-date though).
5. Contact the nearest 3 or 4 groups and see if they have members who are travelling from your area already. If there's not enough interest locally maybe you could share travel costs with one or two other people.
User avatar
neophyte
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1537
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Minnesota

Post by neophyte »

Thanks for the advice everyone.
Post Reply