CINUG Forum

What do you want from your group?

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ CINUG Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Mike Gerzema - CINUG President on April 17, 2001 at 17:47:43:

I have been thinking a lot about our group. I'm looking for ways to improve our meeting attendance. Obviously time is at a premium and the group is not providing enough (perceived) value for it to be a priority. I have some important questions I need you to help me answer.

Do you think we should consider changing our name? Does "User Group" have a negative connotation? Does it infer a lower level of professionalism? Are we too restrictive with our Central Iowa moniker? Maybe change our name to something like the (Central) Iowa Network(ing) Professionals (Organization/Association).
We changed our name a number of years ago to show that we understood the homogeneous network was a dying breed. Today most, if not all, networks are heterogeneous. What can we do to promote our position on heterogeneity?
Should we consider joining different or additional national organizations (in addition to/instead of NUI) like the Networking Professionals Association (NPA) (e.g. Iowa/Central Iowa Chapter of the NPA)? Some other possible organizations: Society for Information Management (SIM), Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP formerly DPMA), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, Special Interest Groups include SIGCOMM (Communications), SIGGROUP (Groupware), SIGMIS (MIS)), and National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB, not really a good match). This would probably force some kind of national annual membership fee (NPA - $175).
Should we affiliate ourselves with another existing local group(s) (maybe as a SIG) like the Central Iowa Computer Users Group (CIACUG)?
Should we move our meetings to during the day? Lunchtime (11:00 to 1:00 or 2:00) or late afternoon (3:00 or 4:00 to 6:00 or 7:00)? This will probably require that we move the meetings to another location and may force membership or meeting fees to cover facilities. It also might require people RSVP for the meetings to make sure we have large enough facilities and for meals. Should we drop meals?
If we can show proven value to our members, should we have an annual membership fee? Will this help solidify our legitimacy? If so, how much? What would provide tangible value? Here is our schedule for the next year:
     April 19th - Novell, BrainShare and New Products
          Networks, Inc., Enterprise virus protection (Symantec)
     May 17th - Computer Associates, ARCserveIT, etc.

     June 21st - EMC, SAN vs. NAS
          Palisade Systems, Network Traffic Blocking
     July 19th - Microsoft, Active Directory
          Bind View, Network Security
     August 16th - No Meeting - Baseball outing
     September 20th - Novell
          XIOtech (unconfirmed)
     October 18th - ???
          ???
     November 15th - Microsoft (unconfirmed)
          ???
     December 20th - No Meeting - Social outing???
     January 17th - Novell (unconfirmed)
          ???
     February 21st - ???
          ???

Is this what you want to see at meetings? What else would you like to see?
Should we have social events? Are outings like the tentative I-Cubs game in August a good idea?
Should we be doing community service projects and/or scholarships?
Should we be working with high schools, technical schools and colleges to set up student chapters?
Should we be holding technical conferences or training? Should we be involved with local technical conferences like the Iowa Technology Showcase? NUI can provide on-site training assistance with their HOT Labs offering (3-4 hour Hands-On Training). Several tracks are available. Should we look into this? Maybe hosting at the ITS?
Should we shut down the group? Has the group out-lived its usefulness? Are networking professionals better served by online and vendor resources?

I know this is a lot to respond to, but I need your help. Please send me an email at info@cinug.net, by 4/19 if possible or leave me a note here on the forum. Let us know what you think. This is your group!

Follow Ups:

Where we aren't Mike Gerzema 07:02:52 05/29/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Tom Minger 09:17:51 05/23/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Tom Minger 13:54:18 05/15/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Jeanne Swenson 11:18:40 05/14/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Jeanne Swenson 11:17:56 05/14/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Greg Poulson 10:09:41 05/14/01 (0)
Re: What do you want from your group? Kent A 10:03:50 05/14/01 (0)

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: I have been thinking a lot about our group. I'm looking for ways to improve : our meeting attendance. Obviously time is at a premium and the group is not : providing enough (perceived) value for it to be a priority. I have some : important questions I need you to help me answer. : 1) Do you think we should consider changing our name? Does "User Group" : have a negative connotation? Does it infer a lower level of professionalism? : Are we too restrictive with our Central Iowa moniker? Maybe change our name : to something like the (Central) Iowa Network(ing) Professionals : (Organization/Association). : 2) We changed our name a number of years ago to show that we understood the : homogeneous network was a dying breed. Today most, if not all, networks are : heterogeneous. What can we do to promote our position on heterogeneity? : 3) Should we consider joining different or additional national : organizations (in addition to/instead of NUI) like the Networking : Professionals Association (NPA) (e.g. Iowa/Central Iowa Chapter of the NPA)? : Some other possible organizations: Society for Information Management (SIM), : Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP formerly DPMA), : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, Special Interest Groups include : SIGCOMM (Communications), SIGGROUP (Groupware), SIGMIS (MIS)), and National : Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB, not really a good : match). This would probably force some kind of national annual membership : fee (NPA - $175). : 4) Should we affiliate ourselves with another existing local group(s) : (maybe as a SIG) like the Central Iowa Computer Users Group (CIACUG)? : 5) Should we move our meetings to during the day? Lunchtime (11:00 to 1:00 : or 2:00) or late afternoon (3:00 or 4:00 to 6:00 or 7:00)? This will : probably require that we move the meetings to another location and may force : membership or meeting fees to cover facilities. It also might require people : RSVP for the meetings to make sure we have large enough facilities and for : meals. Should we drop meals? : 6) If we can show proven value to our members, should we have an annual : membership fee? Will this help solidify our legitimacy? If so, how much? : What would provide tangible value? Here is our schedule for the next year: : April 19th - Novell, BrainShare and New Products : Networks, Inc., Enterprise virus protection (Symantec) : May 17th - Computer Associates, ARCserveIT, etc. : ??? : June 21st - EMC, SAN vs. NAS : Palisade Systems, Network Traffic Blocking : July 19th - Microsoft, Active Directory : Bind View, Network Security : August 16th - No Meeting - Baseball outing : September 20th - Novell : XIOtech (unconfirmed) : October 18th - ??? : ??? : November 15th - Microsoft (unconfirmed) : ??? : December 20th - No Meeting - Social outing??? : January 17th - Novell (unconfirmed) : ??? : February 21st - ??? : ??? : Is this what you want to see at meetings? What else would you like to see? : 7) Should we have social events? Are outings like the tentative I-Cubs game : in August a good idea? : 8) Should we be doing community service projects and/or scholarships? : 9) Should we be working with high schools, technical schools and colleges : to set up student chapters? : 10) Should we be holding technical conferences or training? Should we be : involved with local technical conferences like the Iowa Technology Showcase? : NUI can provide on-site training assistance with their HOT Labs offering : (3-4 hour Hands-On Training). Several tracks are available. Should we look : into this? Maybe hosting at the ITS? : 11) Should we shut down the group? Has the group out-lived its usefulness? : Are networking professionals better served by online and vendor resources? : I know this is a lot to respond to, but I need your help. Please send me an : email at info@cinug.net, by 4/19 if possible or leave me a note here on the forum. : Let us know what you think. This is your group!

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ CINUG Forum ] [ FAQ ]