Re: [UG-ADMINS] What makes up a usergroup?

Hello Andreas,

you brought up a good discussion on this stance.

My view:
For me a user group should definitely comprise physical and virtual. But a
distinction should be made to help people know if it's physical or virtual
and thus helping them in their decision of the "when/how/where" to attend.

In this respect, php.ug should revamp the way the description of a User
Group is presented; it should give a clear view of what the user group is
categorised as:
1) Physical Groups
2) Virtual Groups
2.1) Self-Hosted (e.g NomadPHP)
2.2) Social-media group
2.2.1) Facebook
 2.2.2) Google+
2.2.3) LinkedIn

Now concerning whether they are paid or free, you should also display a Tag
(or perhaps like a badge) to show that. I'm not of whether a user group
should be paid, but I'm totally inline with you in that a user group should
be freely accessible since the sole aim should be to promote knowledge of
PHP and boost The Community.

The tricky part is how to display virtual group since your default layout
is Map-based.

An additional idea (or may be you already have it):
=> I don't know how you handle the 'time scheduling' of the different
groups, but for virtual groups like NomadPHP, expose an API with which
NomadPHP can push their NEXT schedule or for a whole month..etc (Implying
giving a secret key permanently to a registered Virtual group with php.ug)



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On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 10:02 AM, Andreas Heigl <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> A short introduction for those that don't know me: I'm Andreas Heigl.
> I'm currently leading the PHP-Usergroup in Frankfurt/Main Germany
> (http://phpugffm.de) and I'm the one running http://php.ug. So anything
> you ever wanted to ask or rant about php.ug, feel free to drop me a line.
>
> The question I want to drop here is: What makes up a usergroup?
>
> Currently on php.ug only usergroups that physicaly meet on a regular
> basis are listed (at least that's what I try to achieve). But is that
> what a usergroup is about?
>
> The initial idea behind php.ug was to help people looking for a
> usergroup to find the next one nearby. Therefore I considered only those
> physical meetups. But what about NomadPHP for instance? It's not a
> physical meetup but I'd consider it a usergroup.
>
> Or what about a facebook group that is (officially) only for users of a
> certain local area? Is that a usergroup? Even though they don't meet
> physicaly?
>
> And what about accessibility. Is a usergroup that charges for attendance
> a usergroup? I always thought attending a usergroup should be free of
> charge. And you should have the possibility to find a usergroup and it's
> next meeting without having to register somewhere (be it facebook or a
> mailinglist or a forum). Or am I totaly wrong there?
>
> Or is there a difference between "physical" and "virtual" usergroups? A
> forum in thai for instance being a "virtual" thai usergroup?
>
> Thanks for your feedback.
>
> Andreas
>
> PS: I have started php.ug but I see it as a community work. So anyone
> interested in helping out (coding, accepting groups, promoting new
> groups etc) feel free to get in touch with me!
> --
>                                                               ,,,
>                                                              (o o)
> +---------------------------------------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo-+
> | Andreas Heigl                                                       |
> | mailto:[email protected]                  N 50°22'59.5" E 08°23'58" |
> | http://andreas.heigl.org                       http://hei.gl/wiFKy7 |
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