For the last several months it has been my distinct opinion that the ColdFusion user group down here in San Antonio is, to put it frankly, lame. Attendance is high when we have more than three people show up (including the manager and co manager), the agenda is non-existent really, and all of our best meetings are held at the Flying Saucer (local college hangout with hundreds of kinds of beer) or TGIs (killer apple tinis). It's important that you understand I am not casting blame or pointing fingers...I believe our manager really does care and puts forth the effort needed. Nevertheless, this has been my personal assessment.
Last night was our September meeting. The manager called me and asked me to make sure and be there early because he was stuck in jury duty and wasn't sure when he would be out. So, I arrived at our regular meeting place (a training facility) only to find the room we always use occupied by a class. The sign that's usually taped to the door pointing the way to the meeting room wasn't there either. So I hung out in the lobby and waited for any other members to show up so we could discuss options. Eventually two guys walked in looking for the user group meeting. They were new faces, had never been to one of our meetings, and were interested in the topic of Flex that our manager had sent out as something we were going to talk about. I explained the situation to them, and for the next 45 minutes had an incredibly deep conversation revolving around Action Script 3 and Flash development, the forte of both of these guys. Our manager arrived soon after and we all went to the Flying Saucer where we spent the next two and a half hours geeking out (I say that affectionately), discussing specifics about projects we were working on, experiences we've had, and our own technical autobiographies. Some good connections were made on several levels, and I know that something positive will come from having gotten to know these guys over a few barley wines.
The real purpose of this post comes now and has to do with an epiphany I had on the way home. I obviously have been of the opinion that my user group is lame, most of that stemming from the fact that NOBODY hardly ever shows up for it. Up until last night, somewhere inside of me I harbored a kind of grudge against those others in this city who I KNOW use Coldfusion on a daily basis yet do not bother to show up and take part in the improvement of our craft as a whole. When I would try and understand why they so very often choose not to be there, I would always think "it must be because they don't get anything from our meetings", and would put my mind to coming up with ways to make the meetings more useful in a practical sense. Last night, though...it was a very small group, 5 in total (another guy joined us later after I called and invited him); yet the meeting was SO GOOD! And no, it wasn't just the barley wine. It was the dynamic of the conversations...I was LEARNING from these guys, I was being sharpened and improved simply by partaking of their experiences and sharing, and I was contributing like things from my own areas of expertise. So, boys and girls, here are my thoughts post-epiphany on the subject of user group meetings now...
If the reason you don't attend your user group meeting is because you don't think you're going to get anything from it...then shame, shame on you. The audacity one must have to believe that the user group is there solely for his or her benefit and partaking! Au contraire mon frere, au contraire. The user group is only as good as its members, bottom line. If you want it to be useful to you, then contribute to it in the form of BEING there and SHARING what you have learned! It's the manifestation of the old saying, you reap what you sow. If you want to gain something from the user group, then man, GIVE something to the user group! As I shared, our meeting last night was so inspiring and enlightening, opening my mind up to things I've not yet exposed it to and showing me the possibilities in these other avenues; but it was not solely because I sat idly by and just listened...I participated. Your user group will only ever be as good as the members who support it, so if you, like I have done for so long, believe your user group is lame, then stop pointing fingers or casting blame! Attend the meetings and make them what you want them to be. Offer to give presentations, offer feedback and ideas to your managers, be outspoken and a participant rather than a spectator. In a nutshell, either do your part or stop complaining (even if its only to yourself).
And to those of you who DO attend your meetings but tend to worry over the fact that many others do not: stop worrying about it. Simple truth is, you probably are better off without the dead weight anyway.
Just my take.
Doug out.
You are not logged in, so your subscription status for this entry is unknown. You can login or register here.
yes, our group is exclusively coldfusion. We have actually toyed with the idea of expanding to include other technologies (in fact I'm very familiar with the kansas city group so did throw them out as an example at one meeting), we just haven't acted on it yet. But thanks for the good input!
Good luck with the group - you may see an uptick in membership if the economy takes a turn downwards, so that may be an opportunity to cement some regular members.
Cheers,
David
I've run a CFUG for a few years and what I've learned is that you need to focus on identifying and pleasing the passionate ones. They're a lot more fun to hang out with anyway ;<).
Being a UG Manager isn't easy, and it takes more time than you think. But there are passionate people who have the time and will do the work necessary to revitalize a group and make it successful, if they are given that chance.
I did that very thing in Kansas City over the past two years. In fact I helped revitalize two groups and start a third. It was like pulling teeth to get the current manager to hand the group that I renamed KCDevCore. I do not understand why is it so difficult to get some people to hand over the group to other more motivated people. They act like they are concerned that we might fail. Are you kidding? The group is already dead. The only thing that could happen is for the group to improve. In a city like San Antonio there is no reason at all a ColdFusion or RIA User Group shouldn't have hundreds of members in the database and at least 50 at each meeting.
Your current UG Manager has immense resources available from Adobe and beyond to help him/her make the group successful. If the group has been around for longer than six months, then it's time for a change. It takes a selfless act from the current manager to act on behalf of their group, to either decide to spring into action and revitalize the group or let someone else have a try. I certainly hope your manager considers those options and makes a decision soon.