A friend of mine, Chris Geier, posted a blog post titled " SharePoint: The User Group Phenomena…

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Now along with Gary (above) I am involved in organising the C-SPUG & still love seeing/hearing what people are doing with SharePoint. ‘Organise’ for us involves providing food/drinks for the attendees, finding a speaker that is keen to talk to the group, and generally publicise the meeting. Although this level of organisation isn’t essential for the group to function I don’t think we would have the regular attendees and monthly meetings without it.

I’m keen (like everyone else it seems :)) to hear more about what attendees get out of coming along and what format/topics work well. Also I started a SharePoint Overflow question [http://www.sharepointoverflow.com/questions/2250/what-is-a-sharepoint-user-group] a wee while back to get opinions on what the UGs do.

Cheers
Nick

I think that the typical user group has outgrown the book club concept, and the needs that a book club approach meet is best met through more casual meetings. There is a need for that, and I know that some of those groups have formed as a result of acquaintances generated by the Puget Sound SPUG.

I always struggle with the mix of sponsor-provided content and the mix of patron-provided content. It’s clear that there is higher attendance and participation when we advertise that a visiting sponsor or MVP will be speaking. I currently believe that regular surveys of UG patrons is the best way to go to walk this fine line.

I think that as long as the UG can keep alert to what is desired by their membership, they can successfully lead. When a UG leadership starts to worry about a specific agenda, or when business or marketing conflicts arise, the UG patrons will be the first to identify that and stay away.

I can’t think of a better way to build the energy and collective strength of a SharePoint community, though, than a well run UG. User groups can find amazing ways to give back to their membership, and can draw on a large bank of support when the effort is understood. SPSaturdays are an example of this. Service to the UG patrons is the key.

On Leadership – It’s been said that the best leaders always try to build at least two replacements for themselves. Being in that role I’ve learned a lot and met great people, and have learned to delegate better, and probably the group could thrive without me but it’s a tough point to get to. I’d love nothing more than to just be able to show up.

On Old School User Groups / Gatherings – Conversations are great, it’s how we learn. Participation seems to depend on the city and some places you get more than others. Generally whenever you bring developers together no one wants to talk first or ask questions in public, and I do my best to encourage people by asking (what you’d otherwise interpret as) stupid questions of my own. So presentations still have their place to focus the discussion, and depending on group size it’s great when presentations turn into facilitations. Ruven is the best I’ve seen at this by the way (and thanks for pulling me into this thread), go see him speak (or really, facilitate) whenever you can.

On SharePint-style Gatherings – It’s hard to get people out in summertime, and somehow easier the worse the weather gets. I like them because again, it’s about the conversations. It’s good to seed the crowd with a few influencers though to keep people engaged, otherwise you end up with presentations minus demos, and maybe it’s just me but soapbox diatribes tend to grow stale. Even more personally, I”ll always try to make it, if only for a couple drinks, to catch up with old friends and to dig out the stories I haven’t yet heard.

Cheers,
-Eli.

(Toronto SharePoint User Group)

Who’s in?