Re: What do you want from your group?

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: From an email... (mjg) : : 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). : Greg P - I like Central Iowa Networking Professionals : : : 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? : Greg P - I think #3 might be the answer to this question : : : 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). : Greg P - Any that provide value to the group. I would guess that NPA would : be at least one. : : : 4) Should we affiliate ourselves with another existing local group(s) : : (maybe as a SIG) like the Central Iowa Computer Users Group (CIACUG)? : Greg P - Good idea : : : 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? : Greg P - Personally, I would be able to attend more meetings either over : lunch or late afternoon. Anyone brought up a Breakfast Club type meeting? : I know that many other professional groups meet for breakfasts. : : : 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? : Greg P - I think a membership fee would be OK, depending on the amount. The : schedule looks fine to me. : : : 7) Should we have social events? Are outings like the tentative I-Cubs game : : in August a good idea? : Greg P - Yes : : : 8) Should we be doing community service projects and/or scholarships? : Greg P - What type of service projects? Might be a good idea if there was : interest. : : : 9) Should we be working with high schools, technical schools and colleges : : to set up student chapters? : Greg P - Good idea, maybe keep more talent here in the area. : : : 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? : Greg P - Sounds like another good idea. : : : 11) Should we shut down the group? Has the group out-lived its usefulness? : : Are networking professionals better served by online and vendor resources? : Greg P - I don't think so. Although I am one of the members that rarely : attends (mostly due to scheduling conflicts), I think that the membership : still enjoys and needs to meet in person. : : : 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!

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