The latest episode of php|architect's oddWeek podcast series has been posted - episode two with guest Chris Cornutt talking some about user groups and the Dallas PHP User Group.

This week's special guest is Chris Cornutt, co-organizer of the Dallas PHP User Group. Listen as we talk to Chris about the Dallas PHP user Group and user groups in general.

As always, you can get this latest episode in a few different ways: by downloading the mp3 itself, by subscribing to their feed or by just listening to it via their in-page player. You can also subscribe to their show notes mailing list to get the complete notes from this and other episodes.

On the PHPClasses.org blog today there's a new post from Manuel Lemos looking at user groups - how to keep them alive and what you can do to rekindle a faltering group.

PHP was spread by its users. Over time PHP user groups have been doing an extraordinary job in promoting the PHP communities everywhere, so local PHP users get more support in their local idiom and progress faster in their careers as PHP developers. Many PHP user groups organize meetings and events that help PHP users learning more and make valuable contacts that they often use to get in touch with more experienced and helpful PHP developers.

He mentions a big challenge for keeping groups alive - leadership shifts and dwindling membership - and something the PHPClasses site offers to help advertize groups all around the world. If you're looking for a group in your area (most of the coverage seems outside of the US right now) try their user group directory.

Rafael Dohms has a new post today promoting the benefits of local user groups (any of them, not just PHP) and talks about the "unsung heroes" of these groups that put the real effort in to make their groups better.

Its really a wonderful environment, especially for the members, who get to experience and benefit from various perks brought to them by the UG. In this whole scenario we have a few unsung heroes, the UG leaders. Fearless souls that sacrifice whatever free time they have to give back to the community and make our PHP world a better place.

He mentions the hard work of these local participants and talks a bit about some of the things they do to make their groups better - coordinating resources, a sacrifice of free time and being there to help when needed on whatever project might come around. Without these people, a lot of local PHP groups just wouldn't be what they are today.

Vinu Thomas has a new post to his blog today about an effort that's underway to get a Banglore-area PHP developer user group started up:

The purpose of this meet is to share knowledge with the community, discuss issues you're facing with others in the same field and help you network with other PHP professionals. This is not a one-off event, but we're planning on making this a regular event. We haven't really finalized the frequency of the events, but you can let us know of your preferences when you meet up with us this month.

A Meetup Group has already been started for the effort and they're in the process of trying to locate a good place to hold the meeting. Right now, the meetup is scheduled for the end of October, so if you're interested join the group and let them know your opinion on the location and their list of suggested talks.

In a new post to his blog Tibo Beijen talks about the most recent PHPBenelux meeting featuring talks from Stefan Koopmanschap and Juliette Reinders Folmer.

Yesterday (sept. 29th) I went to the Freshheads office in Tilburg to attend the monthly PHPBenelux meeting. As it appeared it was right around the corner of the 013 venue so it was an easy find. [...] The evening concluded with some informal chatting and some beers generously provided by Freshheads. As usual I went home with some new things on my 'got to check that out' list...

He talks about the two presentations - Stefan's on the integration of Symfony and the Zend Framework and Juliette's quiz with sixty-five questions testing the PHP knowledge of those that attended. You can find the slides for Stefan's talk on Slideshare.

Don't forget - the PHPBenelux group is also hosting a conference in January 2010!

On the Zend Developer Zoen today Eli White has announced the winners of the free passes for this year's Zend/PHP Conference - five groups all across the PHP community.

As previously announced, Zend held a contest here to give away 5 free tickets to ZendCon 2009 to 5 deserving User Groups. It's now time for the announcements of who won! [...] To the end, the following groups are being chosen to each receive a free ticket, and they will get an email from me to start processing that soon.

The five groups that will be receiving their free pass are:

• Austin PHP Meetup
• Chicago PHP User Group
• Burlington, VT PHP Users Group
• PHPBenelux
• PHPWomen

Congrats to the winning groups! For all others, you can still get in on the early bird rates as long as you order before August 28th (plus there's all sorts of other discounts). Check out the registration page for more information.

Suraj Kika sent an email over the other day with an announcement about a new user group starting up in the East Midlands, UK area - PHPEm.

The aim of PHPEM is get PHP developers from the East Midlands together to create a local PHP community and to get together regularly for PHP-related talks and drinks. The first meeting is yet to happen but we're currently trying to organise it. Check back here or follow @phpem on Twitter for the latest information about future meets.

They have their first meeting coming up on July 23rd at The Quarter. For more information on the group, keep an eye on their wiki as other members and more details are defined.

The Zend Developer Zone (and S&S) have announced a contest giving away five tickets to this year's ZendCon conference. How can you enter? Read on...

Zend and S&S support local PHP user groups, and will be providing a limited number of free ZendCon passes for user groups to distribute to active members who might not have the financial wherewithal otherwise.

There'll be five passes handed out to user groups - one to each of the five selected groups. To enteryour user group, get one of the organizers to submit a bit of information about the group and reasons why they think the group should be given a pass. Full details on what needs to be sent and where to set it all off to can be found in the full post. Good luck!

Keith Casey has posted about user group involvement in this year's CodeWorks conference and their selection of a local speaker to round out their local event.

Of course, the "names you'd probably recognize" aren't the only people doing cool and amazing things in the PHP Community. [...] But here's the thing...We don't claim to know every local community perfectly. We don't know who in your groups is doing what cool and amazing things. We don't presume to know who the hidden gems are in your group, but you do.

He also points out the discounts that user groups can get for their members - 20% off just for being part of the group and another 20% off if you get your tickets during the Early Bird period. You can find out more about the conference and some of the stops its making along the way on the CodeWorks website (or you can just sign up right away).

On the Internet Super Hero blog there's a recent post talking about a PHP event happening June 15th through the 21st visiting several German user groups (including ones in Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Berlin) - the PHP BBQ Tour.

It is getting summer in Germany: let's have a PHP BBQ tour! The PHP BBQ tour is one week tour from Monday, 15.06. - Sunday, 21.06.2009 visiting the german PHP user groups. The tour will go through Munich, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Berlin, Dortmund, Hamburg and Kiel. The tour is an offering and a suggestion to the user group to come together for a barbecue instead of meeting in conference rooms in the middle of the summer, when the days are long. Everybody is invited to join me and other MySQLers on the tour to visit the PHP user group in his neighbor town.

Check the blog post for when they'll be in which cities and what will be happening while they're there. They've also set up a wiki page for more information.