AUGD: re: Health of AUG BBSs (Den Piota)
AUGD: re: Health of AUG BBSs (Den Piota)
- Subject: AUGD: re: Health of AUG BBSs (Den Piota)
- From: Russ Conte <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2008 21:14:56 -0600
I'd like to add in to this discussion. I'm the President of the
Chicago Macintosh Users Group, called The Rest of Us, (TRoU). The
group has been around since 1984. It is actually growing in
membership now, and here are a few of the reasons I think this is
happening, in no particular order:
1. We are not "Apple's unpaid tech support and customer service".
Back in the day, many user groups were the place that people went for
answers to tech questions and/or get unpaid customer service. I went
to MUGs for this reason, too. But now there are resources all over
the place, so the group no longer can have that as its main focus.
TRoU has not had such a focus in its past, but that is even more true
now.
2. We offer some really incredible programs. There are times we work
with other groups in the greater Chicago area to bring in people from
outside our area (for example, Ambrosia is coming in March to us and
the South Suburban Mac User Group), and we also have some incredible
local presentations, too. The local presentations cover everything
from using iCCD to photograph stars to Biomedical Visualization (our
presentation for this month), and much more. We really go out of our
way to get the best presenters that we can, and that helps quite a
bit with attendance.
3. Our meetings are very well organized. From the reception area to
the printed agendas that list when things will happen to the time of
all events to the adjournment, the meeting is crisp, there is
virtually no "down" time while we're waiting for something to happen.
There are a whole lot of people who make sure the meeting moves
along, no subject goes too long, and we get out on time, and that
includes a Q&A and a raffle. We have a raffle going on now in which a
current member (has to be current!) who attends a main meeting earns
one ticket to a raffle in December, 2008. If they attend all 12 main
meetings this year, that's 12 tickets. They can also get tickets by
referring people who pay the membership amount. What are we giving
away in December? An iMac! So we have incentive to really come to
meetings!
4. We communicate like crazy with our members. Not only do we send
out reminder emails, but we are very fortunate to have a person with
incredible abilities in graphic design who produces our post cards
each month. This is just about the only piece of mail that I get that
I also keep. I've got them going back years, it's well worth finding
someone who can really contribute in this way.
5. We have a web site that is the envy of many. You can check it out
yourself, at:
http://www.trou.org
It was designed by a whole team, and there are quite a number of
people who have provided input and help along the way. We keep it
very current, and it is very efficiently run.
6. We have meetings planned out four to six months in advance. If
anyone wants to present to us, the earliest time we have open as of
right now is Summer. All the main meetings between now and June, 2008
are booked, or we are awaiting confirmation, so our first open time
is in July, which falls about two weeks after the first day of Summer.
7. We have permission to video tape our meetings, so those are also
available on our web site, on a delayed basis. Therefore it's
possible to review any information that we have on tape at a later
date, and that is really helpful.
8. We've met in several different areas down through the years, but
our meeting spot for the past several years is the Apple store on
North Michigan Avenue. Suffice it to say that meeting in a very
public place like this is a great opportunity. It comes with great
potential, which we are always trying to work to the benefit of both
sides. There are also some inherent concerns (such as traffic noise
on Michigan Avenue, or the sound of the music in the store when
someone wants to test an iPod sound system) but there have been some
big plusses, too. For example, our second best attended event in 2007
was done by one of the Apple staff, on iPhoto. We also have a non-
compete with the Apple store, which I make sure we strictly follow,
but that also limits what we can do and who we can bring in. For
example, there are stores in the area that sell Apple equipment, but
there is no way we can bring them in without violating our non-
compete, so we don't bring them into the store.
9. We work to bring things in that our members may not find, even
when they search on the internet. The world of the Mac is bursting
with great examples like this. The question I keep asking myself is
what do we present to our members and guests, when they don't even
realize a Mac can do something that is wonderful and amazing. The
iCCD presentation is a great example. Our speaker that night makes
free Mac software called iCCD for taking photos of stars. Most people
don't even know you can do this on a Mac, but you can. We try to show
our members and guests some of the really incredible stuff that can
be done. We also balance this out with the very practical side of
things, for example, last year we had a presentation comparing the
various leading office products, with three of our own members giving
the presentations.
10. We have fun. If you come to a TRoU meeting, you'll actually enjoy
yourself, and you might even learn something along the way :) We are
not a museum to the past, we are a window to the future. Many times
the very first information people get about new software or hardware
is through TRoU. We are fortunate to have a number of people who are
incredibly resourceful, and keep on top of what is going on in the
world of the Mac, and freely share that with us. I think this future/
forward focus is critical to the success of the group. And you are
more than welcome this Wednesday, 2/06/08, to join us, 7:00 p.m. if
you are in the Chicago area.
In case you can't tell, I think we have a great team, from our
Ambassador, to our treasurer, to our membership team, our web team,
and more, we really give a service to be proud of, and I think that's
one of the real reasons we are growing in membership and getting
stronger as time goes on. I'd like to think that we are very
sensitive to the needs of our members and guests, and as responsive
to those needs as we can be.
We are about hardly perfect, but I think the basic thrust at this
time is in the right direction. So while some groups may be declining
in membership, The Rest of Us is growing, and I hope this gives some
ideas and advice to others as you build successful Apple user groups!
I'm sure there are other factors involved, but these are the ones
that came immediately to my mind.
Sincerely,
Russ Conte
President, The Rest of Us
The Chicago Macintosh Users Group
www.trou.org
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