The PHP community is my family, a group of people that I love hanging out with at conferences, meetups or events. But it can only be a community if there are people to extend this reach and become part of the ripple-effect the PHP community has. In this talk I describe the reasons why we have in the Benelux 25 php communities and why the are really valuable. Will you be part in the next community rising?

1. C O M M U N I T Y E N A B L E S C O M M U N I T Y
P H P B E L G R A D E
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakobwesthoff/3213542267

2. P H P C O M M U N I T Y
L E T ’ S TA L K

3. P H P

4. P H P
• Core PHP applications

5. P H P
• Core PHP applications
• Frameworks

6. P H P
• Core PHP applications
• Frameworks
• Tools

7. P H P
• Core PHP applications
• Frameworks
• Tools
• …

8. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P

9. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P
• The source: php.net

10. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P
• The source: php.net
• Blogs

11. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P
• The source: php.net
• Blogs
• Forums & Discussion Boards

12. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P
• The source: php.net
• Blogs
• Forums & Discussion Boards
• Local meetups

13. R E S O U R C E S T O L E A R N P H P
• The source: php.net
• Blogs
• Forums & Discussion Boards
• Local meetups
• Conferences

14. • Local meetups
• Conferences

15. P H P U S E R G R O U P
L E T ’ S S TA R T A

16. M E E T U P
E X I T I N G F I R S T

17. H M M …

18. P H P B E N E L U X
2 0 0 8
https://www.flickr.com/photos/caseysoftware/5411571199

19. O U R M I S S I O N

20. O U R M I S S I O N
• To offer a platform for local PHP developers

21. O U R M I S S I O N
• To offer a platform for local PHP developers
• To share knowledge and ideas

22. O U R M I S S I O N
• To offer a platform for local PHP developers
• To share knowledge and ideas
• Collaborate to make PHP and its tools better

23. P H P B E N E L U X
2 0 0 8
• One user group for 3
countries
• Each month a user group
meeting in another
location

24. P H P B E N E L U X
2 0 0 8
• One user group for 3
countries
• Each month a user group
meeting in another
location

25. G R E AT B U T…
• Exciting times when we
came to a location
• Disappointment when we
left that location

26. P H P B E N E L U X
2 0 1 5
• 22 user groups in 3
countries
• Monthly meetings in each
of these locations
• Annual conference in
Antwerp

27. E N A B L I N G L O C A L
C O M M U N I T I E S

28. L O C A L !
• Local developers
• Networking & friendships
• Repetition (monthly)
• Trends & interests
https://www.flickr.com/photos/felixdv/2784080844

29. L O C A L U S E R G R O U P S
P H P B E N E L U X S U P P O R T I N G
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbuck007/2704889223

30. W H A T C A N Y O U D O ?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dasprid/8147986307

31. E X T E N D T H E
C O M M U N I T Y
H E R E T O D AY !
W H A T C A N Y O U D O ?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dasprid/8147986307

32. T H I N G S Y O U C A N D O

33. T H I N G S Y O U C A N D O
• Take notes and present your favorite presentation(s) to
your colleagues at work

34. T H I N G S Y O U C A N D O
• Take notes and present your favorite presentation(s) to
your colleagues at work
• Take notes and write a blog post about the things
you’ve learned here at the conference

35. T H I N G S Y O U C A N D O
• Take notes and present your favorite presentation(s) to
your colleagues at work
• Take notes and write a blog post about the things
you’ve learned here at the conference
• Take notes and investigate a subject in more detail
and present it at your local user group

36. TA K E N O T E S !

37. A S K Q U E S T I O N S

38. “One time at php[tek] X in Chicago”

39. C O N T R I B U T E B A C K

40. T E S T A N D R E P O R T
B U G S
E A S I E S T S TA R T

41. I M P R O V E O R T R A N S L AT E
D O C U M E N TAT I O N
E A S Y S TA R T

42. F I X I S S U E S
L I T T L E T O U G H E R

43. W R I T E A N D R U N T E S T S
G O C R A Z Y

44. php7

45. H AV E Y O U T R I E D I T ?

46. P H P U S E R G R O U P
I WA N T T O S TA R T A

47. H O W D O I S TA R T ?

48. S I G N U P W I T H
M E E T U P. C O M

49. C R E AT E A FA C E B O O K
A N D T W I T T E R A C C O U N T

50. B E Y O U R F I R S T S P E A K E R

51. P I C K A D AT E A N D
P L A C E

52. A N N O U N C E I T

53. T H AT ’ S T O O M U C H T I M E !

54. I D O N ’ T K N O W A N Y O N E !

55. W H E R E C A N W E M E E T ?

56. I D O N ’ T H AV E M O N E Y !

57. A D V I C E R E S O U R C E S

58. A D V I C E R E S O U R C E S
• Apply for an account on
• php-ug mailing list
• php-ug slack group
• #phpgroups IRC channel on freenode.net

59. A D V I C E R E S O U R C E S
• Apply for an account on
• php-ug mailing list
• php-ug slack group
• #phpgroups IRC channel on freenode.net
• Let @CalEvans and me know you exist!

60. A N N O U N C E M E N T S

61. A N N O U N C E M E N T S
• Start with meetup.com

62. A N N O U N C E M E N T S
• Start with meetup.com
• Post it to php.net

63. A N N O U N C E M E N T S
• Start with meetup.com
• Post it to php.net
• Announce over Twitter and Facebook

64. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !

65. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !
• php[architect] Magazine

66. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !
• php[architect] Magazine
• Zend

67. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !
• php[architect] Magazine
• Zend
• Microsoft

68. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !
• php[architect] Magazine
• Zend
• Microsoft
• MongoDB

69. C O R P O R AT E S U P P O R T !
• php[architect] Magazine
• Zend
• Microsoft
• MongoDB
• …

70. A S K L O C A L C O M PA N I E S
T O S P O N S O R !

71. Y E S , J U S T A S K T H E M

72. B U S I N E S S E S T O TA L K T O

73. B U S I N E S S E S T O TA L K T O
• Recruitment agencies

74. B U S I N E S S E S T O TA L K T O
• Recruitment agencies
• Web agencies

75. B U S I N E S S E S T O TA L K T O
• Recruitment agencies
• Web agencies
• Local divisions of international corporations
• Microsoft
• IBM
• Zend

76. W I L L I S U C C E E D ?

77. I D O N ’ T K N O W

78. T H E Y D I D
• PHP UG’s in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
• Memphis, TN (USA)
• PHP SouthWest, UK
• Pune, India
• Madrid, Spain
• …

79. M Y A D V I C E
• Do this because it’s your passion
• Give and expect nothing in return
• Be persistent, continue even if the start is hard
• Be consistent (every 2nd Tuesday of the month)

80. B E F O R E I F O R G E T…

82. N E E D Y O U R F E E D B A C K
S P E A K E R S

83. • To know what they did right
• To learn what they can improve

84. • When it was a good talk, awesome
• When it was not, tell them
• Why it was not good
• How they can improve

85. C O N F E R E N C E
H A V E A G R E A T