Re: [UG-ADMINS] Introduction: PHPJutland in Denmark

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Hey Jesper,


Welcome to the mailing list, always great to see that you've decided to =
step up and bring people together to share knowledge and experiences. =
Thank you for your commitment.

To answer your main question and underlying sub-questions I will share =
my experiences and ideas that have worked for us (PHPBenelux) in the =
past. Just keep in mind these steps worked for us and might not be =
applicable for your situation.

When you're starting a community, the two main challenges are finding =
speakers and finding locations. The location challenge is often solved =
by reaching out to companies in the region that are using PHP or are =
heavily involved in (web) application development, this can include =
educational institutes and recruitment agencies. To find speakers that =
are willing to come to your user group meetup is often a bigger hill to =
climb, but not impossible. Let's look at different categories we can =
classify speakers in.

Grow your local developers into public speaking

When you have a bunch of developers together for a meetup, but no =
speaker you can start of with "open spaces" or "round table" discussions =
where everyone can introduce themselves and let them talk about their =
latest project or a cool feature they worked on.

Create a "Bar Camp" type of meetup where people can come to the meetup =
and give a short talk about a subject (5 to 10 minutes)

If you want to make it a bit more formalised, announce "lightning =
talks", short talks of 15 to 20 minutes) upfront and have people submit =
their ideas so you can create a schedule for the meetup.

Invite speakers from other areas

Once you have something going, it's interesting to invite speakers from =
areas further away from your own location. You mention that Copenhagen =
is a 3-hour drive away from you and they have come already to speak at =
your events, so that's already something you experimented with. You also =
state you cannot do this all the time, but I believe that's something =
you need to work out yourself. What I see is that there are many =
speakers that are willing to enter the conference level of speaking =
engagements. To practice their skills in public speaking they need to =
rehearse a lot and user group meetups are perfect for it. This is also =
true for speakers that are already engaged with multiple conferences as =
they want to try out a new talk or practice a workshop they want to give =
at the next conference. So there are plenty of people out there looking =
for opportunities to speak in front of your meetup audience.

Invite speakers from outside the country

Lastly you can invite speakers from other countries as well. This might =
require some work on your part as well as often they have to stay =
overnight, and can often be coupled with a training or consulting gig at =
one or more companies in your area. What I often do is to check your =
local audience and figure out the challenges they face. Then look at the =
known speakers that are experts in that field and offer the company you =
can bring in a "specialist" to help them solve their problems. These =
companies pay the expenses of travel and lodging and you plan your =
meetup during the stay of this expert. Reach out to this mailing list to =
find the experts for the problems your developers face in companies =
within your area.

And you also have crazy folks, like myself, that don't mind traveling =
and speak in front of your audience. I know of others that do the same, =
but I don't want to speak for them so they will chime in after I send =
this e-mail out.

Don't be discouraged!

Organising events is a true effort and not always accredited as such by =
your peers. Your events have highs and lows, but be consistent and don't =
be discouraged. In the long run it will pay off.

Good luck and let me know if you would like me to come over and speak at =
your meetup.

Michelangelo


Michelangelo van Dam
Sr. Web Application Architect, Test Automator & Microsoft Azure MVP

Mobile/WhatsApp: +32479922951 - Telegram/Twitter: @DragonBe - Skype: =
michelangelovandam
GPG Fingerprint: 5732=E2=80=AF D8FE =E2=80=AFEDE8 =E2=80=AFD59F =E2=80=AFE=
59F 1597 =E2=80=AF70DF =E2=80=AF8F88 =E2=80=AF2024 =E2=80=AF203C

> On 17 May 2018, at 01:22, Jesper =C3=98stertoft Jacobsen =
<[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> Hello UG-Admins
>=20
> I am Jesper Jacobsen, I run the Danish PHPJutland group.
>=20
>=20
> We've been up and running for a year and a half now, and are finally =
starting to gain some real traction.
>=20
> However, developers in Denmark are still very shy, as there has been =
no precedence for meetups or the likes beforehand. Luckily it's =
contagious, and companies that has hosted us has started to do similar =
events.
>=20
> What's your best advice for reaching out to new users, and to =
potential speakers?
> It's currently quite the challenge to find speakers as they are shy, =
and Denmark is quite split. About 50% of the developers we can use as =
speakers are located in the capitol, Copenhagen, about three hours away. =
We have had speakers from there before, but I don't think we can do that =
every time.
> Aarhus, where we're located has a lot of great companies, but they =
aren't very keen on speaking, unfortunately.
> I'd be glad to hear anything you can tell me about running a Meetup, =
as I still feel very new to the whole process.
>=20
>=20
> Thank you very much
> - Jesper


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<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=3D"">Hey =
Jesper,<div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Welcome to the mailing list, always =
great to see that you've decided to step up and bring people together to =
share knowledge and experiences. Thank you for your =
commitment.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">To =
answer your main question and underlying sub-questions I will share my =
experiences and ideas that have worked for us (PHPBenelux) in the past. =
Just keep in mind these steps worked for us and might not be applicable =
for your situation.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">When you're starting a community, the two main challenges are =
finding speakers and finding locations. The location challenge is often =
solved by reaching out to companies in the region that are using PHP or =
are heavily involved in (web) application development, this can include =
educational institutes and recruitment agencies. To find speakers that =
are willing to come to your user group meetup is often a bigger hill to =
climb, but not impossible. Let's look at different categories we can =
classify speakers in.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D""><b class=3D"">Grow your local developers into public =
speaking</b></div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">When you have a bunch of developers together for a meetup, =
but no speaker you can start of with "open spaces" or "round table" =
discussions where everyone can introduce themselves and let them talk =
about their latest project or a cool feature they worked on.</div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Create a "Bar Camp" type =
of meetup where people can come to the meetup and give a short talk =
about a subject (5 to 10 minutes)</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">If you want to make it a bit more =
formalised, announce "lightning talks", short talks of 15 to 20 minutes) =
upfront and have people submit their ideas so you can create a schedule =
for the meetup.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D""><b class=3D"">Invite speakers from other areas</b></div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Once you have something =
going, it's interesting to invite speakers from areas further away from =
your own location. You mention that Copenhagen is a 3-hour drive away =
from you and they have come already to speak at your events, so that's =
already something you experimented with. You also state you cannot do =
this all the time, but I believe that's something you need to work out =
yourself. What I see is that there are many speakers that are willing to =
enter the conference level of speaking engagements. To practice their =
skills in public speaking they need to rehearse a lot and user group =
meetups are perfect for it. This is also true for speakers that are =
already engaged with multiple conferences as they want to try out a new =
talk or practice a workshop they want to give at the next conference. So =
there are plenty of people out there looking for opportunities to speak =
in front of your meetup audience.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><b class=3D"">Invite speakers from =
outside the country</b></div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">Lastly you can invite speakers from other countries as well. =
This might require some work on your part as well as often they have to =
stay overnight, and can often be coupled with a training or consulting =
gig at one or more companies in your area. What I often do is to check =
your local audience and figure out the challenges they face. Then look =
at the known speakers that are experts in that field and offer the =
company you can bring in a "specialist" to help them solve their =
problems. These companies pay the expenses of travel and lodging and you =
plan your meetup during the stay of this expert. Reach out to this =
mailing list to find the experts for the problems your developers face =
in companies within your area.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">And you also have crazy folks, like =
myself, that don't mind traveling and speak in front of your audience. I =
know of others that do the same, but I don't want to speak for them so =
they will chime in after I send this e-mail out.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><b class=3D"">Don't be =
discouraged!</b></div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">Organising events is a true effort and not always accredited =
as such by your peers. Your events have highs and lows, but be =
consistent and don't be discouraged. In the long run it will pay =
off.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">Good luck =
and let me know if you would like me to come over and speak at your =
meetup.</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">Michelangelo</div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D""><br class=3D""><div class=3D"">
<div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, =
0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: =
break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" =
class=3D""><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=3D""><div =
style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: =
Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: =
normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><b =
class=3D"">Michelangelo van Dam</b><br class=3D"">Sr. Web Application =
Architect, Test&nbsp;Automator &amp; Microsoft Azure MVP<br class=3D""><br=
 class=3D""></div><div style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, =
0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; =
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: =
none;">Mobile/WhatsApp: +32479922951 -&nbsp;Telegram/Twitter: @DragonBe =
- Skype:&nbsp;michelangelovandam<br class=3D"">GPG Fingerprint: 5732=E2=80=
=AF D8FE =E2=80=AFEDE8&nbsp;=E2=80=AFD59F =E2=80=AFE59F 1597 =E2=80=AF70DF=
 =E2=80=AF8F88 =E2=80=AF2024 =E2=80=AF203C</div></div></div>
</div>
<div><br class=3D""><blockquote type=3D"cite" class=3D""><div =
class=3D"">On 17 May 2018, at 01:22, Jesper =C3=98stertoft Jacobsen =
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" =
class=3D"">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=3D""><div dir=3D"ltr" =
class=3D"">Hello UG-Admins<div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">I am Jesper Jacobsen, I run the Danish PHPJutland =
group.</div><div class=3D""><img src=3D"cid:1636b3e0b412c91aec1" =
alt=3D"1.png" class=3D"" style=3D"max-width: 100%; opacity: 1;"><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">We've been up and running for a year and a half now, and are =
finally starting to gain some real traction.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">However, developers in Denmark are =
still very shy, as there has been no precedence for meetups or the likes =
beforehand. Luckily it's contagious, and companies that has hosted us =
has started to do similar events.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D"">What's your best advice for reaching out to new users, and to =
potential speakers?</div><div class=3D"">It's currently quite the =
challenge to find speakers as they are shy, and Denmark is quite split. =
About 50% of the developers we can use as speakers are located in the =
capitol, Copenhagen, about three hours away. We have had speakers from =
there before, but I don't think we can do that every time.</div><div =
class=3D"">Aarhus, where we're located has a lot of great companies, but =
they aren't very keen on speaking, unfortunately.</div><div class=3D"">I'd=
 be glad to hear anything you can tell me about running a Meetup, as I =
still feel very new to the whole process.</div><div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D""><br class=3D""></div><div =
class=3D"">Thank you very much</div><div class=3D"">- Jesper</div></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br class=3D""></div></body></html>=

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