User Group Open Spaces notes from php[tek] 2016

Hi all,

Here are the notes I captured from our Open Spaces session on group
leadership. Apologies if I didn't attribute you or misstated something.
Hope this helps others!

Chris
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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!)