I just listened to the PHP User group Panel discussion from the Unconference session at ZendCon. While I listened I took some notes to try and help our Irish PHP Users Group be awesome like some of the other groups out there. I reckon the podcast and great tips it contains will help other User Groups out there too (not just PHP). Wow there doesn't seem to be any other PHP developers out there It may be that most PHP developers are freelancers. Due to the competitive nature of the business they don't want to get together to discuss for fear they will lose customers. Why socialise with the enemy. Most freelancers get work by word of mouth. Actually wouldn't this make it better to get together with others to share work when there's too much? Hopefully the user groups can promote the idea that sharing information and working as a community is good for the industry for EVERYONE. There is a suspicion that more developers are out there and don't ever hear about the user groups because there isn't enough marketing. Another problem is there isn't normally PHP development shops set up. I know there are a lot of examples but this is a perception when comparing PHP development to JAVA for example. Finally Developers may come from being hobbiests or from being designers so don't know the channels to join the PHP world, and therefore don't end up finding out about the user groups. Things that discourage developers to come along

• Being too far away
• Being at a bad time of day, too early or too late
• the members being a clique
• Not having a regular time and place can be too confusing
• members being too experienced - The high level talk that occurs is scary for newbies
• Lots of talking - no doing - People want to get out and do things in the community and get frustrated with talking only

Ideas for User Groups

• Do more hands on stuff like the bug hunting days - Take a look at the bug lists of frameworks out there, get some more advanced or involved developers to come along and explain how to go about triaging and making patches.
• Discover and explore open source applications together, show newbies how to get involved in the project, help them dig into it and make changes.
• Encourate regular users to present, give everyone a turn, sure some may not be so good at speaking but who knows.
• Run events/workshops specifically aimed at newbies, people starting out
• Explain the path of the PHP developer from newbie to guru
• Invite speakers - Adobe, Zend, IBuildings, people from open source projects
• Set up as a non for profit organisation based around the user group - this helps companies make donations and in some countries be able to claim the donation against taxes.
• Have a mother site for the country or area then this will point people to specific area user group websites. Umbrella groups and Sub groups or chapters.
• Use the tools of the web - twitter, facebook, mailing lists, IRC, forums
• have your user group site come up on google for [country]+PHP or [city]+PHP
• Organise Events / Conferences
• Have social events based around pizza, coffee or beer
• Make sure to get feedback from the community, what do they want? What do they like and dislike about what you're currently doing

Why PHP Users groups are good for you

• Speaking at a user group is great for your career, showing that you know something.
• Help you become a better developer
• they give you access to tools
• Give you access to contacts for payment or to work together on projects
• The presentations can be very informative and introduce you to new concepts
• It helps grow PHP as a viable technology for the whole community
• As a freelancer belonging to a usergroup can help with sharing contracting work between the group.

PHP User Groups and the Sponsors

• Sponsors can help the user groups by centralising the conference/event organising efforts - e.g. Mark de Visser mentioned as part of the ZendCon conference process they were sent in many excess talk proposals, it would be great if the local user groups could access the good speakers that lived locally
• Sponsors can help advertise user group events - if they are sending out a newsletter to PHP developers they could send them information about PHP community events in their area
• In return the community can refer people to the companies e.g. about certification, services, products, information, training
• User Groups need to let sponsors know exactly what they will get for their buck, how many people attend events, how many on mailing list, topics that come up, how they will be presented at the event. Concrete Facts
• Recruiters may want lists and job boards, access to people changing jobs
• Charities may be interested in sharing resources because of the open source aspect of PHP, and the fact they may have access to open source specialists for their own needs. Example premises for holding events.
• The user groups need to remember to request stuff, not just sit around waiting for items and sponsorship to flood in
• Remember to thanks sponsors (on mailing lists, at the event) and come good on the promises/agreements

Sponsorship Ideas and Tips

• Books from publishers e.g. O'Reilly
• Recruitment companies
• Companies that use PHP - PIZZA!! or BEER!! or COFFEE!!
• Zend - Training, Studio, Products, Vouchers, Certifications
• PHP|Architect - Magazines, Training, Books
• Sugar CRM
• Ibuildings
• Universities - Space - Attendees from student community
• Sponsors may want one of their staff to do a talk, for example a new author may want to do the circuit or a consulting company may want to promote their knowledge
• Borland
• Local PHP hosting companies

Promoting the PHP User Groups

• Get onto master user group sites for your local area
• get your events onto php.net
• Share presentations among the user groups in your area
• PHPClasses shows maps and lists
• PHPusergroups - though may be unmaintained and events not vetted
• Future Idea - having php.net tell people about events in their area by map

Other Notes

• People that come to PHP User Groups are usually there individually, they aren't being sent by their employers
• The PHP User Groups that were represented have around 30 people attending meetings/lectures regularly.
• Dalas had a nice thing going where they would have a follow up event after a talk at a coffee shop/book store to discuss the ideas further.
• People come for what they can immediately gain e.g. a talk on a specific topic. and stay for the networking

Again, these are notes I have made while listening to the podcast made at Zendcon unconference session about PHP user groups I hope they are useful to you. Do you have any other tips for PHP User Groups?