- The London Perl Mongers group was started in 1998 by Dave Cross who sent a message to a Perl mailing list asking if others in London would be interested in meeting up. This attracted enough interest to pursue the idea further. - The group established a website and mailing list. Their first meeting was held in August 1998 with about a dozen people attending. Meetings grew in popularity over subsequent years. - After three years of organizing meetings, Dave Cross stepped down and new leaders were elected to "herd the cats". The group continues to regularly meet up and has participated in various projects over the years.