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Going Backstage on Community Trends: Bug or Feature?

Jenny Wong
February 15, 2018

Going Backstage on Community Trends: Bug or Feature?

Over the years, the PHP community has enjoyed an increase in events. This has given us more choice than ever over what we attend. At the same time, some of our favourite events have come to a close.

As the community recalibrates, needs have changed and events are repeatedly being challenged. Organisers are burdened with finding the solutions, but is there a way for us all to help?

With change comes an opportunity for growth. This is our chance to grow richer and stronger as a community.

Jenny Wong

February 15, 2018
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Transcript

  1. This group popped up on Meetup.com so I thought I

    would come along. I learnt things at the meetup that I instantly improved my job. Anonymous
  2. ORGANISERS MONTHLY TO-DO LIST ▸ Find people who are interested

    attending ▸ Find a venue ▸ Work out a date & time ▸ Find speakers ▸ Tell people about the event:
 meetup.com / Twitter / Facebook / Slack etc ▸ Find sponsors to cover costs ▸ Create slides ▸ Host the event ▸ Clean up after the event ▸ Contact & thank people for coming ▸ Repeat
  3. FINANCIAL COST OF A USER GROUP ▸ meetup.com ▸ Domain

    registration ▸ Venue hire ▸ Hosting costs ▸ Equipment ▸ Food ▸ Drinks
  4. FINANCIAL COST OF A USER GROUP - £456.25 A MONTH

    ▸ meetup.com ▸ Domain registration ▸ Venue hire ▸ Hosting costs ▸ Equipment ▸ Food ▸ Drinks £11 a month £15 annually £200 a month £3 a month £41 one off £100 a month £100 a month
  5. I went to this event as an attendee and gained

    a lot. Organising the event allows me to pay this forward whilst still providing great networking for me. Lee Stone PHP South West
  6. Wanted to meet new people when moving to the city

    and enjoy talking about tech. Danny Wilson, Aberdeen PHP
  7. MOST COMMON REASONS FOR THE BREAK ▸ Lack of speakers

    ▸ Organiser was unavailable / no one else offered to host ▸ Lack of venue
  8. REASONS THAT GROUPS THAT DISBANDED ▸ Organisers got too busy

    ▸ No support ▸ Moved away from the area
  9. Struggles ▸ Attendees ▸ Speakers ▸ Diversity ▸ Sponsors ▸

    Marketing ▸ Venue ▸ Session Ideas ▸ Time ▸ Number of organisers
  10. A lot of tech focused people don't like to speak

    infront of crowds. Also lack of time from an organisational point of view, we can only spare so much personal time to look for speakers. Nick Edwards, Glasgow PHP
  11. I’ve been going to user groups and giving talks so

    that I can improve my confidence in speaking in groups both in public and at work. It has resulted me being better at my job. Matt Brunt
  12. I’ve been going to user groups and giving talks so

    that I can improve my confidence in speaking in groups both in public and at work. It has resulted me being better at my job. Matt Brunt
  13. Venues are always tricky to sort out, commercial venues often

    let us use a venue for free initially but then commercial bookings soon push the meetup out. Simon Jones, PHP Cambridge
  14. Finding the right theme/subject/talk for the audience is never easy

    and at times finding speakers proves a challenge too. Antonis Pavlakis, PHP MiNDS
  15. That it’s a fair bit of hassle and you don’t

    get much thanks Andy, PHP Essex
  16. We could do with more sponsors to fund certain things.

    Currently we are splitting some payments between ourselves as organisers to keep things going. Ben Plummer, PHP Warwickshire
  17. People contributing to the user group, Similar to open source,

    an user group lives by contributors, which can be developers or companies. Anonymous
  18. Can you recall a moment where someone has helped you

    before/at/ during an event and made it easier for yourself? What happened?
  19. An attendee, turned co-organiser started by helping informally. They helped

    a lot in discussion sessions, engaging in conversations which helped break the silence without taking over. Rowan Collins, BrightonPHP
  20. Having additional people to handle the drinks (putting them in

    the fridge/helping set up the tables etc) Craig Willis, PHP London
  21. The Greeter’s role is to welcome everyone to the club

    meeting, particularly visitors and people who are new to Toastmasters. Making everyone feel welcome at our club is important, as this may be the start of their Toastmasters journey. toastmasterclub.org/portal.php?page=2210
  22. The Greeter’s role is to welcome everyone to the club

    meeting, particularly visitors and people who are new to Toastmasters. Making everyone feel welcome at our club is important, as this may be the start of their Toastmasters journey. toastmasterclub.org/portal.php?page=2210
  23. CONVERSATION STARTERS ▸ Have you travelled far? ▸ What kind

    of work do you do with PHP? ▸ What session are you planning? ▸ Been to any interesting sessions? ▸ What did you think of the topic? ▸ How did you get started in our industry?
  24. When standing as a group of people, always leave room

    for 1 person to join your group. Eric Holscher ericholscher.com/blog/2017/aug/2/pacman-rule-conferences/
  25. SMALL WAYS TO HELP OUT ▸ Be a greeter ▸

    Start a conversation ▸ Pac-man Rule ▸ Get a glass of water for the speaker & organisers ▸ Digitalise hand-written notes ▸ Do a session at your local user group ▸ Tweet that you are going ▸ Share ideas & feedback