Re: Local Groups
Re: Local Groups
- Subject: Re: Local Groups
- From: Claude Mathis <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 08:56:27 -0700
Johan Yokay <email@hidden> wrote:
I could fill a huge list - but I'm going to try to keep it short.
1. Online UG support people in rural and suburban areas - It may be nice in
SD where a 10 min. drive could get you to your meeting, but in suburban and
rural areas it can be a 45 min or longer drive to the closest UG.
San Diego happens to be the largest city in the United States in
terms of square miles. Many members do not come to every meeting and
some have never attended.
2. UG Provide More Useful Help - If a member needs help using a rare
graphical programming interface ProGraph, I can refer him to another member
of ours. If a member needs help finding if he can use his current Airport
card in France we have someone to help him. Usually no question is outside
the limits of our user group where at a local level with only 50 people,
they are somewhat limited in their knowledge to what's common.
We have over 500 members and have the same ability to "refer" people.
Most User Groups have an online forum (BBS) as we do, that is open to
the public so we don't have to rely on only our members ability to
know the answers to problems.
I've been to Community groups that have a help session and its verbal help.
So members go to the meeting and try to remember what they were told to do.
Wouldn't it be easier just to get help from a video tutorial or website link
right when you get home?
Our Special Interest Groups offer hands on tutoring.
3. Costs are lower with Online UG
I agree. We do charge $36 per, but by the time you deduct the
MacFixIt Pro subscription and free annual BBQ our members receive
they are only paying about $2 for their membership.
4. Ease of Guest Speakers/Presentations - Its seems very easy for me to
arrange guest speakers/presentations with any company that I want where with
a physical group you have to wait for the person to come on tour to your
location which can come at an incontinent time. We're usually able to
schedule pres. Near upcoming product announcements.
With a group as large as ours, that doesn't seem to be a problem.
There's also something to be said for a face to face demo where you
can ask questions of the presenter. Something that can not be had
using a video tutor. Plus, many new members do not know how to get
online and find the information they need. We show them.
I see online-only groups as
the future of User Groups since they provide an easy way that busy people
can access information.
It sounds like what you are describing is the Internet and you don't
need to belong to a group to access it. It's obvious that our members
see something different in what we have to offer than what you
perceive.
With the enhancements of the web with Java, more
graphics, broadband etc..., its becoming closer and closer to actually
touching and feeling the person.
"Java, graphics, broadband" = Personal interaction? Not for some of us. ;-)
So far, you haven't listed anything that a physical group can not and
does not deliver. There are a great many online news and referral
services out there. We refer members to them all the time.
Perhaps our group has been lucky in that it has grown over the years,
when others have folded. Many members have told us that they stay in
the group for the sense of community, not for just the information
they receive. Many of us look forward to that "meeting after the
meeting" where we share a meal and swap stories. Our members have the
added bonus of recognizing a smiling face and sharing an evening with
friends that can not be replaced by the exchange of electronic data.
(as virtually real as some may think that is).
I'm not saying that physical groups are "better" - they aren't. They
just meet the needs of different people.
Let's just say that we disagree and leave it at that. If people are
having their needs met, it's a good thing.
Claude Mathis
President - San Diego Macintosh User Group
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