Davey Shafik of Pixelated Dreams has this new posting over on his blog today with information about an effort he's trying to get underway - a PHP Users Group for the Tampa Bay area.

I have decided that it is high time somebody put some push behind the Tampa Bay (and surrounding areas) PHP developers to help us get together and actually meet!

As of today, I am the proud owner of tampabayphp.org (doesn't resolve yet!) and am willing to put the time and effort into this to make it something worthwhile. I'm now going to mooch (read: kiss ass) all of the various contacts I've made in the last couple of years to see what I can come up with regarding: Permenant Meeting Place, with facilities, Sponsorship, Speakers, Goodies.

I want to include the areas from Zephyrhills to Sarasota to New Port Richey (Pasco County, Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Manatee County, Polk County).

So, if you're in or around the area mentioned, drop Davey a line at davey-at-php-dot-net and see how you can get involved.

I know from personal experience that having a group of PHPeers (sorry, couldn't resist) is great to have outside of the traditional workplace environment. Not only can it really foster a more creative part of the PHP community, it can also provide that much needed networking that can knit an area of developers together...