I recently surveyed the Burlington, VT PHP Users Group to get an idea of what motivates people to be involved with the group. I got the idea from a blog post on the top 7 reasons why people join a user group community. This was certainly not a scientific survey and there were only 16 responses, but it still offers some insight that can be useful in planning user group activities. Here are the top reasons, in order of most important to least important:
- Network and make new connections
- Learn from your peers
- Share your expertise and knowledge
- Meet experts
- Find job opportunities
- Get solutions to problems
