This is the #1st set of 'Know Thy PHP Usergroup' in an attempt to create more awareness of: what is $this PHP UG about + get to know the leaders/Founders/Community behind it, what is a PHP User Group in general and to personally know all the PHP user goups Around The World - that excites me and I hope you too! This concept is also a good opportunity for new #elePHPants to know about PHP UGs.

They talk some about the group itself as well as some of Craig's thoughts about about leading the group. They talk some about the goals of the group, the usual activities of it and how the meetups are planned. There's also a bit about finding sponsors for the group and how it compares to other groups of the same type.

With gathering of more then 250 developers this proved to be a much needed event there and congratulations to organizers for doing it. As a organizer of similar (but much smaller) PHP community in Zagreb I was in constant contact with organizers and was very happy when we were invited to join them on this occasion, especially when they approved my proposal to talk about Laravel4 there.

Even the local media picked up on the meeting and a larger venue had to be found at the last minute due to the overwhelming response. There were a few different topics mentioned (including BDD, a questionnaire, best practices in component libraries and web security) before getting to the main talk.

I would take this opportunity to thank whole PHP Srbija organization committee for inviting us & once again congratulate them on bringing such a large community together.

NomadPHP is like a virtual PHP User Group mainly for people who do not have the chance to avail of a local PHP user group. But it is open to ANYONE around the world. NomadPHP is an initiative brought forward by the icon of The PHP Community, namely 'His Awesomeness' Mr Cal Evans. It will kick-start its first group talk session on the Wednesday 22nd May 2013 (i.e in some 16 days as from the date of this post). The speaker is the PRO PHP Guy / PRO Zend Framework Evangelist and author of the book Zend Framework in action, Rob Allen. Rob will be introducing and talking about Zend Framework 2 - it is a must for anyone willing to learn ZF 2.

The Nomad PHP user group is designed to be a "user group for those that don't have one". It's a virtual group meeting once a month that you can attend anywhere in the world. You do have to purchase tickets, however. This post shows you how you can enter to win one of the two free tickets, though - either via email or by writing a PHP article for 7PHP.com.

Tired of seeing all the great speakers other PHP User Groups are hearing and lamenting that there is no group near you? Nomad PHP User Group is just for you. We meet on-line, so you can participate wherever you are [and] will have well known as well as brand new speakers. You'll also get access to the recordings to review later.

They point out that this isn't intended as a replacement for a local user group if you have one - interaction with peers and being a part of the community is still important. This is just an alternative. If this sounds interesting, head over and enter your information to be contacted with more info about the group.

Some developers may notice this absence of "particles" and interaction between them in their local area, this may even cause them enough of an itch that it needs to be scratched, and thus a User Group starts forming. But how hard is it to start a group? Can anyone do it? what really am I going to have to do to get all these particles into my vacuum and end this "empty space" in my region?

He offers some suggestions of things he's done in the past to help start up user groups including things like:

• Finding local developers interested in meeting up
• Spreading the word via coworkers/other companies using PHP
• Having more than just a "one man operation" running the group
• Looking for partners/sponsors for the group and its activities

Come join the fun, being in a user group and participating is a very good, professionally and personally, you are not just helping others, you are learning, teaching and expanding you set of tools.

Recently we overheard SunshinePHP being grouped together with commercial "for profit" events and conferences, which prompted us to write this blog post to clear things up. The SunshinePHP Developer Conference is NOT a profit driven event, and is actually a community led event by developers, for developers. Early on we tried to make this more public, but it appears the message was lost with everything the conference contains. (we've made it too good)

They note that any profits made from the event will be going back into future events (as put on by the user group) and the PHP community. This kind of thing is similar to some of the other PHP user group-organized conference that have popped up over the last year - good to see the trend continue.

If you're interested in the conference itself, you can find out more on the main event site or just go ahead and register for the event. You can still pick up your tickets until February 1st for about $220 USD (General admission) or $160 USD (Student).

This was discussed in our PHPSP UG and we tried to think of different structures to get past these issues, some ideas came and went but I also left and moved to Amsterdam. As it happens my community-drive did not stop and I started to feel that old itch, and ended up causing the start of AmsterdamPHP. [...] So we do not have leaders, we just have a group of enablers, people who want to help, or do, or have great ideas or contacts, and that seems to be a great title and description for what we are doing. It removes those misconceptions and it opens space for anyone to be an enabler, all the time, some of the time, whenever they want. It still gives credit where credit is due and it allows the people who deserve to help the group find a direction do exactly that.

He notes that by not trying to fill the traditional conceptions of a "leader" role and being more of the "guiding people" kind of person, you can sometimes do more to help others find their passion.

I have really come to love the title and all the "meaning" it holds, maybe it even takes the pressure off the usual labels and let's us focus on breaking down barriers.

In this edition I talked with Geeky Boy, [Adam Culp @adamculp], who is The Leader and Organizer of The South Florida PHP User Group (aka @SunShinePHP will be held in Miami / Florida in feb 2013 and is promising a 'dedication to putting together the best Community led conference of the year'.

Adam answers questions about:

• How he got started with PHP
• His opinion of PHP now as compared to when he started with it
• Advice to up and coming PHP developers
• Resources/books he recommends
• His respect for Michelangelo van Dam and his work in the PHP community
• Advice to people wanting to get involved in the PHP community

In the interview Cal talks with Mike about:

• How did you get started with the Buffalo PHP user group?
• Tell us some of your best practices and successes for running the Buffalo PHP user group
• How did you come across sponsors that were open to helping with the user group?

You can listen to this latest episode either via the in-page player, by downloading the mp3 or subscribing to their feed.

In this edition I talked with Francesco Fullone who is the President of the Italian PHP User Group GrUSP which is one of the biggest European PHP families. Francesco is an Open-source lover, an enthusiastic PHP Evangelist and a conference organizer. He has also been a speaker at so many conferences - his latest talk being about "Compromises and not solution". You can find more about him on his personal blog "NULLA E' IMPOSSIBILE PER CHI NON LO DEVE FARE!"

They talk some about how he got started with PHP, what kind of environment he likes to work in and some of his advice to people either new to the PHP community or wanting to get involved. They also briefly mention the phpDay/jsDay conferences happening next year in May in Verona, Italy. The Call for Papers for both are still open too, so if you're interested in speaking, get your submissions in!