From the Inside May/June 2017

User Group Members Wanted!

Are you looking to meet up with MultiValue Professionals in your area? Well, you are not the only one. I've talked with many people that want to start up User Groups again, but didn't know who else would be interested.

For those that have been in the market for a few years, you remember the old user group meetings that had 30 or more people attending. Then, over time, the meetings seemed to get smaller and smaller, until people stopped planning new meetings.

Ok, so you are saying that is proof that the User Groups are dead? I disagree. Many of the people that attended the meetings in the past, would be interested in attending again now; they are just waiting for someone to tell them when and where the meetings are.

There are 2 road blocks many people find when restarting a user group meeting: location and time. Some might say attendance, but in reality, that is usually just an issue with the location and/or time.

Let's start with the location issue. Many of us work in buildings or for companies that have conference rooms that can hold 10-20 people easily. Check with your boss to see if you can use the conference room for one evening. This allows you to set a location to start with. If you get a large turn out, you can always talk it over with the people that attend to see if they want to do it at another location that you many have to pay for.

I've talked with a lot of people over the last couple years that would love to be part of a user group again, and would be willing to contribute $10-$20 to pay for a room and/or food.

Now for the time question. Set and plan your meeting 1 or 2 months in advance so people have time to schedule. You'll also find that if you schedule 2 or 3 meetings over the next 6 months, you'll get different people each time. Some people can't make it for the 1st meeting, but will be able to make the 2nd or 3rd one, if they know when and where. We all live busy lives, so don't expect a major turnout every meeting.

You don't have to have a meeting every month, but you should always have the next 2 meetings marked on the calendar.

Once you have decided when and where, advertise it to the community. How, you ask? Well, send me an email, and I'll included it in the newsletter, and post it in the social media outlets so that others will know.

Now, the question of topic. That is the easier part. Talk about why your company uses MultiValue, or how your company implements a product or hardware, or what your company does on a day to day basis. It does not have to be anything extravagant.

Talk about how you just upgraded your system, installed new hardware, or hired a new employee. You can even talk about what your company does and how MultiValue Technologies have made it successful.

The trick to the User Group is keeping it going. It really isn't very hard, and only takes about 1 hour a month (outside of the meeting of course). If you need additional help, just ask. International Spectrum is here to help the community.

Featured:

May/Jun 2017