>If there are any other UG managers reading this list, please let me know on >or off-list what your experience has been.
I ran the user group here in San Diego for a couple of years. First of all, it is a very big committment for an individual to run a CFUG, or any user group. Second, user groups are tough to keep going sometimes because people have other committments. I've only been to the local CFUG meetings a couple of times in the last year or so, even though every month there are topics and speakers I would love to see. I think this is part of the changing market for CF. There are lots of CF developers here in town who never show up at meetings. In the corporate and government markets, for instance, I don't know that you necessarily see the same individual passion for technology on a broad level that you see among individual developers and small consulting groups. Professionalism, yes, but not up-all-night caffeine-buzzed passion. And that's OK. When I ran the group here, I had several CF developers working for me, and most of them rarely if ever came to the meetings, even though the meetings were held on our corporate campus. These are all good, skilled, professional people, but they all had lives outside work, whether they had kids, spouses, or other hobbies. I have suggested on occasion that we have local meetings during the work day, but not everyone can deal with that. I think it will help bring out the corporate folks who would not show up at night. There are lots of people around who have run very successful groups. For instance, Fig Leaf Software and TeraTech have run different groups in the DC area for years and done very well with them, but both of those outfits made a serious long-term investment in the groups to make them successful. IMHO it takes that kind of committment from local companies and local users to make a CFUG, or any user group, successful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=11 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:182257 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
