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What tips would you give in starting a user group?

I'm currently working on a LabVIEW User Group Starter Kit for interested parties looking to establish a user group in their area or at their account. I'd like to incorporate everyone's expertise into the documentation. What tips woul you supply to an individual who is looking to start a new LabVIEW user group?

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Location, location, location.  I have the Oak Ridge UGM setup at Ryan's Steakhouse, a buffet restaurant with two private rooms that can hold up to 40 people.  Buffet style means my life is easy when it comes to food, and there are no interruptions for ordering, bringing tickets, etc. 

Also, it helps to plan out a series of presentations ahead of time.  Otherwise, you'll end up scrambling to find a presentation a week before the meeting.  Lining up presenters ahead of schedule is always easier than finding one at the last minute.

Brian B
Account Manager
National Instruments
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Great tips, Brian! Along the line of the pre-planning, I was thinking of suggesting a year's worth of content (4 presentations) for new user groups. I know the UI stuff is always popular. That could be 2 presentations with part 1 and now part 2. It seems something on OO is also good, but I do want to be sensitive to skill level of a new group members. Other ideas on starter presentations?

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My biggest concern with organizing a user group (as I've stated in other threads - I hope I'm not sounding too redundant...) is getting enough buy-in from others to help organize it.  We've actually been pretty successful with this at our group.  (I'm not complaining here!)  But I think there are three potential paths:  An NI rep organizes the group (e.g. someone is paid to make sure the group keeps going), a single dedicated person makes sure the group continues to live (I think this might be the most common situation for groups independent of NI), or an ad-hoc committee organizes the group.  Getting continued commitment from the committee members is a key challenge.  That said, we've been running our group by committee for about six years now.  I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences in this regard.  How is it that other independent user groups keep going?


DaveT

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David Thomson Original Code Consulting
www.originalcode.com
National Instruments Alliance Program Member
Certified LabVIEW Architect
Certified Embedded Systems Developer
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There are 10 kinds of people: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
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I concur that location is important.  Above and beyond food, though, it may be important to your group to have amenities such as a central location, ample parking, handicap access, privacy (for quietness), power outlets for those users who bring laptops, video projectors and screens, a sound system, extra tables and chairs, etc.  Our NINILUGgroup meets at the main public library location in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, and that has seemed to work out well so far.  It covers all the amenities listed above, and food can be brought in for the meetings.

The meeting's agenda and presentation need to be well planned out ahead of time.  I don't know that it is necessary to have presentations planned out for an entire year's meetings, although there is nothing wrong with being that prepared.  A goal should be that the topics and agenda of the upcoming meeting should be finalized two weeks or so prior to the meeting.  This will give the organizer(s) a chance to get the word out to start drumming up interest in the meeting.  If the group has a website in the NI Community pages, an announcement should be posted in the banner at the top of their group's page.  If there is a group distribution list, the agenda should be sent with plenty of notice prior to the meeting.  I concur that it is better to get these details figured out earlier rather than later.  Unfortunately, it is easier to procrastinate, too.  If there is some knowledge of the agenda of the next meeting, that should be discussed at the current meeting as well.

The depth of the subject matter is a concern for users with various experience and skill levels.  I have found, though, that there are still things I can learn regardless of the level of the subject matter.  It may be something simple like a tip on block diagram editing that I never knew, or as complicated as a VI that I will probably never have a use for.  I can usually find at least one nugget as a take-away.  And remember, a big part of a user group needs to be networking with the other members.  So leaving time for that in the beginning (prior to the official meeting start), the middle (during supper, for example), and at the end (after the official meeting end) is very important - maybe more important than the presentation material itself.

There is a concern when it comes to who spearheads and leads the meetings.  In our group, our local NI rep and I share the duties of organizing the meetings and everything that comes along with that.  The reality of the situation is that the meeting organizers have to be passionate about it, or the group will die.  The advantage of doing things by committee is that individuals have smaller tasks to complete.  I think many times, though, some committee members decide they no longer want to be involved and you end up with one or two remaining members who do not want to shoulder all the burden from the members that have relinquished their responsibilities.  So these remaining committee members get frustrated, and no good comes from that for anyone.  User group meetings should be enjoyable for everyone, from those doing the work to organize the meeting, to those simply sitting in the audience.  This all gets back to having leaders who are passionate about the user group.  If you don't have that, you really don't have a very functional user group.

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Matt

Did your User Group Starter Kit turn out?  I ask because we're trying (again) to get the momentum up, and I think part of the problem is we all have different ideas about how, or whether, it will succeed, so there's no common focus.  Perhaps, once we get a session or two under our belts, we can find our own way, but if someone has something to give us a leg up, it might be worth it.  I considered starting a session with a review of a few of the posts from the "worst abuse of locals" thread in the NI Developer Zone, but that could get pretty testy and negative pretty quickly.

Blair

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Hi Blair,

There is a great resource for you to peruse. It is the User Group Starter Guide https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-18577 which is found on the Documents tab of the User Group Resource Center. https://decibel.ni.com/content/groups/labview-user-group-leaders

The Resource Center will provide you with many excellent presentations and answer all of your questions regarding how to create and maintain successful User Groups.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 512.683.9576. I have been tasked with looking at User Groups for all regions and am very interested in assisting you in any way that you may need.

Best of luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Kelly Hunka

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Just an update from the NINILUG group.  We just had a meeting this past Wednesday, and decided to try having it at a pub versus our usual location of a public library.  The number of attendees was about the same, although I had predicted that we would have more.  I feel it worked out very good at the alternate location.  It was more informal, and we still had a great discussion.  Disadvantages were the lack of projector, screen, power outlets, etc., but we improvised and made it work. 

Ed DeWitt

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