Atlanta PHP
Since the news of PHPCommunity.org reached me and I was connected to the New York PHP Web site through Chris Shiflett’s site, I have been toying with the idea of starting a PHP group in Atlanta, Georgia. It strikes me as odd that there isn’t already one.
I’ve done some Google searching and haven’t found any such group. I would think that the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) would have some sort of SIG for PHP, but their direction and goals seem to have changed recently from a networking group that helps technology developers to a networking group that serves to inform businesses on technology. Still, they do not offer any information on open-source technologies. The closest they come is a Web Services working group.
So, today, while looking at nyphp.org, I decided to check on atlphp.org and see whether it is registered. In fact, it is. I did a WHOIS on it and saw that it was registered on February 27, a mere three days ago. I called the contact listed on the registration and left a message. At this point, I still wasn’t sure whether the site was meant as a PHP user group for Atlanta or something entirely unrelated.
A few hours later, Matt Kern, the registrant for atlphp.org, called me back. Calming my fears, he told me that he and a few others registered the domain name as a precursor to forming the local user group for Atlanta. So, I volunteered to help in their efforts. Now I don’t have to go out and register something like atlantaphp.org, and I already know that there is an interest in this area. After speaking with Matt, I talked to Chris, who offered to put us in touch with Hans Zaunere, the founder and president of NYPHP. Hans, he said, could help offer advice on starting the group and inform us on problems and issues they faced in New York.
So, following on the heels of the excitement that the PHPCommunity.org announcement brought me is the soon-to-be-announced creation of a PHP user group in Atlanta. It is my hope that those in Atlanta will become involved in PHPCommunity.org, thus further uniting PHP developers around the world. And I intend to see to it that just that happens.
I hope Matt doesn’t get mad at me for announcing this on here. Announcements made in the PHP community seem to spread far and wide rather quickly and draw much attention (take the announcement of PHPCommunity.org on PHP.net, for example). ;-)