Help Talking an Online Group Into Becoming a MUG
Help Talking an Online Group Into Becoming a MUG
- Subject: Help Talking an Online Group Into Becoming a MUG
- From: Greg Sharp <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 01:40:32 +1000
First a bit of background information. I run the Australian Mac Users Group
which is an online MUG whose aim is to assist and promote all Australian Mac
User Groups. I've developed a rapport with the majority of groups & try to
encourage communication & co operation amongst the other groups
(representatives from committees of around 90%+ of Australian MUG's are
members). I'm also pleased to notice in them over the last 12 months an
increased willingness to work together. I'd like to think my efforts over
the last year since our group formed is at least a small part of the reason.
The thing is MUG's can't just rest on their laurels. It's very easy to
stagnate without fresh blood. However rather than this fresh blood coming in
the form of new members this fresh blood can also take the form of new MUG's
being formed and the thing is I think I've found a group who fits the bill.
I became aware of a group of Mac enthusiasts who formed a Forum dedicated to
promoting Macs and helping Mac users. They've now been going for a bit over
a year and have grown in leaps and bounds. Their membership is nearing 4000
and they cater to users nationally much like my group. It has gotten to the
point where they are being quoted in all the national newspapers and even
international sites are quoting stories from their site eg SlashDot,
AppleInsider, Think Secret etc plus most local MUG's rave about this site as
probably being the best Mac forums in Australia. They receive
sponsorship/assistance from local business's such as Apple Resellers, Apple
Channel Managers, hosting companies etc and are totally self sufficient.
Over the last 6 months or so members have started organizing informal
meetings with each other all over Australia. These meetings continue to gain
popularity. This got me thinking what makes this group any different to a
traditional MUG. When it came down to it I decided this group would make a
perfect MUG so I proposed the idea to them.
They are currently running a poll amongst their members to consider the
merits/ramifications of becoming a MUG. The people who run it are quite
keen, however from the poll results so far and comments posted in the forums
it appears that about 35% are in favour of becoming a MUG, 30% are against
it and the rest would rather just work with or be affiliated with an
existing MUG.
The main reason repeatedly put forward on their forums for not becoming a
MUG is their fear of loosing independence if they became officially
recognised. They are terrified that Apple will request them to censor
threads on forums if they are unflattering to Apple or any of its products
(95%+ are positive), crack down on any bad language (about 1 post/thousand)
or in some other way try and change what they have created (they are
currently very well moderated). I have tried to allay their fears and
convince them that Apple isn't going to try and impose its will on their
group. They are a real community who love the way things are now and as such
are scared of change. Basically they would like to believe me but they would
much prefer to see something in writing & hear from other MUG's on these
issues.
Could the members of this list point me in the right direction for finding
out answers to their questions
Do Apple force groups to make their forums comply to specific guidelines as
a pre requisite for being accepted as a MUG?
Would this group still be able to maintain editorial integrity if they
became a MUG?
In their current situation should they consider registering as an online
group or now they are having regular meetings nationwide as a traditional
MUG? Would there be any advantage in one over the other or to be more exact
would there be benefits they'd miss out on if they made the wrong choice?
Can anyone see any reasons why they may be rejected?
Has anyone got links to official guidelines I could pass on for them to
study? I've given them links to the User Group area on Apples site,
MUGCenter and a few other resources but I haven't found anything that
definitively answers their questions.
My Australian Mac Users Group is only 4 members short of the 100 needed to
qualify as a recognized MUG (hopefully we'll get accepted next time) and it
would be great if I can talk this group into becoming a MUG as well. Perhaps
we could simultaneously register as Australia's first recognised online
MUG's and add some sorely needed new blood into the Australian Mac User
Group scene.
I'm sorry for the long post but I am excited at the prospect of what could
be. There may be more questions later.
--
All the best
Greg Sharp
President/Webmaster
email@hidden
Australian Mac Users Group (AUSMUG)
http://australian.macusersgroup.org
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Augd mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden