Attending September 2025 PHPxNYC Meetup | NYC PHP Developer

In these times of remote work, and algorithmically-divisive social media, it’s important to remember that people need people. We spend the majority of our days communicating through screens and keyboards—often forgetting that there are real people on the other side of our words, receiving them. Every Thursday I listen live to the PHP Architect podcast. It’s how part of how the PHP community connect online. Last night though, the September 2025 PHPxNYC meetup was scheduled for the same time, 6pm. The easier thing would’ve been to listen from my desk at WeWork, and chat in the PHP Architect discord like always. But I told myself “These meetups don’t happen often. I should go.” So with that “carpe diem” spirit, I went.

The September 2025 PHPxNYC Meetup

PHP User Group meetups used to happen all the time. When I decided I was moving to NYC , it was exciting to think about the possibilities that lie ahead. When the COVID Pandemic hit in March 2020, everything changed. The PHP Community never quite recovered. To remedy the situation, some cities have started trying to re-establish in-person meetups under the PHPx banner. Joe Tannenbaum of the Laravel community is taking charge in New York City, who has started up the PHPxNYC chapter. There have been just a handful of meetups so, but the outlook is good.

My social skills have been a little rusty lately. Also, I’m an over-thinker from way back. So I wasn’t sure how I was gonna feel about my initial outing to the PHPxNYC meetup. It went quite well actually. Everyone was welcoming and friendly. It was a unique blend of curious nerds. The presentation was given by Nick Poulos, who did a great job. Sure, there was some pizza, but the best part was talking to people. It felt really good to talk with other developers, without a screen between you. Sure MergePHP is great and all, for an online event. However, an in-person meetup just hits different. You can connect more authentically in person, that’s difficult to replicate online. Remember that people need people. I recommend that you take the opportunity to attend a meetup in the physical world. You never know what the future holds. There might be something great ahead, something unexpected. It just might lie on the other side of taking a chance, walking through a door, and saying “Hello”.