In this recent post to his site, Rafael Dohms presents an interesting idea for leaders of groups to consider as a role for themselves (or people maybe wanting to move into something like that) - being an "enabler" instead of just a "leader".

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.

On the Zend Developer Zone, Cal Evans got a chance to site down and talk with Dan Gisolfi, a "Certified IBM Executive IT Architect" and talk about IBM the company, PHP, the Zend Framrwork, and the latest offering from IBM - QEDWiki.

When people mention IBM, the most common mental picture is huge corporate IT. (that and Avery Books starring back at me from my TV demanding to know where the flying cars are) Their reputation for large IT projects borders on legendary. So prevalent is this mental picture that many people lose sight of the fact that IBM has been quietly innovating for the past 20 years.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to slip below the blue veneer. It was far from the corporate cube farm mentality I expected. What I found was interesting, it was fresh; yes, I'll say it, it was innovative.

They talk mostly about the QEDWiki technology - an interface to web applications (which can use PHP) to be a "mashup enabler" for developers. They cover what it is and how it'll help the web in general, and include a mention of IBM's demo site for the project (for a fictional hardware store).

On the Zend Developer Zone, Cal Evans got a chance to site down and talk with Dan Gisolfi, a "Certified IBM Executive IT Architect" and talk about IBM the company, PHP, the Zend Framrwork, and the latest offering from IBM - QEDWiki.

When people mention IBM, the most common mental picture is huge corporate IT. (that and Avery Books starring back at me from my TV demanding to know where the flying cars are) Their reputation for large IT projects borders on legendary. So prevalent is this mental picture that many people lose sight of the fact that IBM has been quietly innovating for the past 20 years.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to slip below the blue veneer. It was far from the corporate cube farm mentality I expected. What I found was interesting, it was fresh; yes, I'll say it, it was innovative.

They talk mostly about the QEDWiki technology - an interface to web applications (which can use PHP) to be a "mashup enabler" for developers. They cover what it is and how it'll help the web in general, and include a mention of IBM's demo site for the project (for a fictional hardware store).