Re: [UG-ADMINS] Introduce yourself!

By all means we accept people from anywhere. We name user groups after
certain areas because its the area we can manage but by no means for
excluding, do come out to the meetings.

I find that the regular nature of our meetings, every third Thursday ,
really helps with the general dutch culture of planning way ahead, that may
account for lower attendance in some Benelux meet ups. But you are right,
that triangle should have loads more developers.

I'll be at DPC, we are helping at the hackathon and I'll be speaking on
Saturday, by all means come find me and let's chat.
On May 29, 2013 11:54 PM, "Ramon de la Fuente" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi Rafael,
>
> Thanks for the reply. The AmsterdamPHP group is the closest on the map,
> but I think I was discouraged by the name as it' sounds quite specific to
> Amsterdam :)
>
> I wasn't exactly put off by the attendance, you're right the informality
> of it is actually inviting to the "new" like me. But we're in Zoetermeer,
> which presumes to be an ICT friendly city, and could be considered quite
> central right between Den Haag, Rotterdam and Delft. So it shouldn't have
> been a "corner of the land". It caught my attention, so I've started a bit
> of research on how to contribute.
> First trip to Amsterdam is #dpc13 next week - will you attend?
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Ramon de la Fuente
> Future500 BV
>
> @f_u_e_n_t_e
> *new: https://www.facebook.com/future500bv
>
> Goudstraat 99a
> 2718 RD ZOETERMEER
> tel: +31(0) 85 8773879
> mob: +31(0) 6 53443008
>
> On May 29, 2013, at 11:33 PM, Rafael Dohms <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Ramon,
>
> I run the AmsterdamPHP UG and its quite a different tale from PHP Benelux,
> we have high attendance every month (60-70). The reason here is that PHP
> Benelux goes to all the small places and in those its harder to get
> bigger attendance  but having these meetings are the first step in planting
> the "local seed", as you can see it worked with you. So don't get
> discouraged by the number of people you saw at the meeting, that is not
> your pool, its the starting point. PHP Benelux meetings in Amsterdam were
> always bigger then others, and our UG reflects that, which is why we
> support PHPBenelux to keep venturing to the corners of the land.
>
> Which are of the Netherlands are you in? I know of a few areas that are
> brewing to start more user groups, like Twente and Groningen, I will be
> more then glad to help you get started, i have done that so many times in
> the past its second nature.
>
> First step i recommend is to start online, meetup group, mailing list,
> anything that can help you get more then 5 people together, then start
> meeting, informal meetings in pubs for example, just talk shop, that
> usually get attention and you can start growing by word of mouth. Second
> step is to find PHP shops and invite their people over, or go over there,
> one by one you get more members and more sponsors. Meetup.com is a great
> place to attract more people.
>
> We meet every 3rd thursday of the month and we have started getting people
> from Rotterdam, Utrecht and other cities. Come join us one of these months
> and i'll be glad to have a chat with you and help you out.
>
> *Rafael Machado Dohms*
> *Developer, Evangelist, Gamer
> *
> *http://doh.ms*
>
>
> On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 9:54 PM, Ramon de la Fuente <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> My name is Ramon, owner of a small (4 devs) PHP development company in
>> the Netherlands. I'd like to think we know a little bit about what's what
>> in the *language* PHP, but I've only just started crawling out of isolation
>> regarding PHP "community service".
>>
>> I don't actually lead a UG, I just asked Cal about available resources on
>> starting a group - interested in what kind of work is involved. He
>> suggested joining the list and asking about it - so here I am :-).  The
>> reason I asked Cal at all was, I attended my first PHPBenelux meeting last
>> month, which was right at our front door. There was a very poor attendance,
>> which troubles me because we should have a pretty large group of PHP
>> developers in the area. I'd like to take a more active part in raising
>> interest for PHPBenelux.
>>
>> So basically, I'd like to know do you actively approach or search for
>> developers in your local area? What approach has given the best results in
>> your case?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your time,
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ramon de la Fuente
>> Future500 BV
>>
>> @f_u_e_n_t_e
>> *new: https://www.facebook.com/future500bv
>>
>> Goudstraat 99a
>> 2718 RD ZOETERMEER
>> tel: +31(0) 85 8773879
>> mob: +31(0) 6 53443008
>>
>> On May 29, 2013, at 8:07 PM, Cal Evans <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > Someone asked me on twitter after I posted about this group so maybe it
>> > bears repeating.
>> >
>> > If you are new to this group. If you have joined but not yet introduced
>> > yourself. Please do so. Let us know who you are, what group you
>> lead...and
>> > if you want to, what is the biggest problem you have?
>> >
>> > The best conversations I've seen happen on this group happen when
>> someone
>> > asks a question.
>> >
>> > Cheers!
>> > =C=
>> >
>> > --
>> > *Read this book* before you hire a
>> > developer to build your website.
>> > *Avoiding a Goat Rodeo* <http://avoidingagoatrodeo.com>
>>
>>
>
>