Comments on: Revive your User Group

By: Revive your User Group, part IV | ButtonForums

Revive your User Group, part IV | ButtonForums — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:04:37 +0000

[...] Revive your User Group [...]

By: Revive your User Group, part II | ButtonForums

Revive your User Group, part II | ButtonForums — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:04:01 +0000

[...] the first part of this post, I discussed the importance of local user groups as a technical and even career resource. If you [...]

By: Revive your User Group, part IV « WebbTech Solutions

Revive your User Group, part IV « WebbTech Solutions — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:06:29 +0000

[...] Revive your User Group [...]

By: Revive your User Group, part III « WebbTech Solutions

Revive your User Group, part III « WebbTech Solutions — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:33:11 +0000

[...] series kicked off with a discussion of how and why User Groups should be an important part of your career [...]

By: pinaldave

pinaldave — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:15:26 +0000

Very nice and I agree with all the points!

Regards,
Pinal Dave

By: Revive your User Group, part II « WebbTech Solutions

Revive your User Group, part II « WebbTech Solutions — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:41:51 +0000

[...] your User Group, part II In the first part of this post, I discussed the importance of local user groups as a technical and even career resource. If you [...]

By: Mark Ginnebaugh

Mark Ginnebaugh — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:34:18 +0000

I have been attending and running user groups for the last 16 years. Currently I am leader of the Silicon Valley and San Francisco SQL Server User Groups (local chapters of PASS). The experiences I have had and observed have been beneficial for leaders, speakers, and attendees alike.

You asked “If you’ve met your spouse at a user group meeting, I’d love to hear the story.” Well, I can’t resist responding.

I didn’t meet my wife at a user group meeting. However, I did introduced a couple back when I led the SF Visual FoxPro User Group, and they are still together today.

They often call me on Valentine’s Day, and I’m always glad to hear from them. He was the speaker, and she was the one in the back asking the tough questions. He asked me about her afterward, and I put them in touch. The rest is history.

By: Pam Shaw

Pam Shaw — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:49:51 +0000

I went to my first meeting 6 year ago. I had been presented with an issue at the office and needed a solution – but did not have a clue. I was alerted that there was a UG meeting that week and the topic addressed my issue. I went with a co-worker and got a solution that blew the issue out of the water. I was hooked.

I am now the chapter leader of that UG and hope that others find the group as resourceful as I did all those years ago. Our meeting after the meeting is where the strong networking occurs. We adjourn to the local watering hole and sit, talk, play pool and drink the poison of our choice as we exchange war stories and solutions with each other.

It seems the more I put into the group – the more I get back. I highly encourage everyone to get involved.

By: Jason Haley

Jason Haley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:51:51 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. I think user groups are completely under utilized.

This month we just had the 4th meeting of the Seattle.Net user group (designed for people who work downtown Seattle) and we finally reached a core group of repetitive attendees (people who have been to previous meetings) of around 8 people. The first 3 meetings is was almost all new faces … now it is slowly becoming a community that can help each other.

One of the challenges of user group leaders (or even just members who are engaged in the group) is getting the word out about the group to the right people at the right time … so they make the effort to attend that first meeting. Sort of like finding a new church after you moved