Hello everyone!

Our first Detroit Area PHP Developers Network Meetup was a hit. To those that attended, many thanks for coming and I look forward to seeing you at the next Meetup. For those that didn't have a chance to come by, you missed out on some great PHP conversation (and networking opportunities).

For the next meeting, the group came up with some pretty good topics for discussion:

• The use of Frameworks - Zend, Cake, CodeIgniter
  
• PHP Design Patterns
  
• IDE's - What do you use when writing PHP code?
  
• As a PHP developer, how are you making money from PHP?
  
• PHP Certification, is it worth it?
  

Are any of the topics above your strengths? If so, let me know if you would like to head those discussions.

Looking forward, I can definitely see this group gaining momentum and popularity. I have gone on ahead and registered a domain name that will soon become our official home, phpdetroit.com. This new site will initially start off very simplistic containing a community message board and expanding out from there.

Feedback, comments, suggestions, or even a random rant. I want to hear from you regarding what you want out of this group.

Thanks again!
Bing Pascual

I would be willing to lead the discussion on Certification. I also know a fair bit about Design Patterns if no one else can cover it. Is there any special way to approach these types of discussions? I couldn't attend the last meeting and know very little about the whole... when you get there part.

Ok, talk soon,

Marco

I would be willing to lead the discussion on Certification. I also know a fair bit about Design Patterns if no one else can cover it. Is there any special way to approach these types of discussions? I couldn't attend the last meeting and know very little about the whole... when you get there part.

Ok, talk soon,

Marco

Marco,

No one has claimed any topics as of yet. I'll mark you down to lead the discussions on PHP Certification, and possibly Design Patterns.

As for attending, it's very casual. With the group still small, using Caribou Coffee has been sufficient. No sign-in or anything like that. As we gain some traction, venue will change.

I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Bing

There is no format just yet. The first meeting was pretty informal with everyone talking about how they're using PHP and the various projects they're working on.

I would think the best thing would be to tell everyone the process you went through to become certified; perhaps bring some sample questions, etc. Also, if you could explain why you decided to get certified and how has it helped your career, would you do it again, etc.

As to Design Patterns...if you could explain the 2 or 3 patterns that you regularly use and why. What did you do before Design Patterns? Are they a time saver?

Eric Hill

Thanks Eric, that is a HUGE help. I will bring this information and follow your advise. This sounds like a few good points to get a conversation going.

I have already invited 2 members from the Ann Arbor area, but I will be attending the Meetup on Saturday, June 27th and would love to carpool if anyone else would like to come. I have two seats open and will be leaving around 9:45am from Ypsilanti.

Please let me know if you are interested.

Marco Cabrera