Tomorrow night is the first meeting of the new Detroit SharePoint User Group. I am pretty excited and wanted to document some of the challenges (great word, my bosses have used this since I started working) I have encountered and how I currently have met them.
1. A User Group is a great idea but a lot of work. Not that I didn't think it was a lot of work but it has eaten up more of my time than I thought. Things such as:
- Getting sponsors
- Putting together the flyers
- Planning the event and getting a speaker
- Location
- Postcards
- Getting people to register and come
- Putting together the agenda
- Getting Microsoft on board
2. Just because it is a Micrososft User group DON'T assume their participation. This has been an uphill battle. I believe they are about to come on board because of the customer list I have assembled. At first they were hot to trot and then their interest waned - no returned phone calls or emails. It will happen, they just have to see the commitment is real.
3. Network, Network, Network. From sponsors to people coming, to the how-to set up a user group, network. People will be interested, you need to network. Make phone calls, visit companies, talk it up with customers. This is what makes it successful.
4. Be committed to the idea. I could have said - believe in the product. I do believe in the SharePoint product. It is tremendous out of the box, it is a great infrastructure tool, it can bring an organization together - streamline, and bring a measurable ROI. If you have this level of passion, you will see the idea through fruition.
5. Be ready to spend some of your own money. I know, this is not popular - but John Grisham sold his own books out of the back of his car before he became popular. So it is when starting a user group. I have paid for mailings, flyers, the website, not to mention my time.
6. Participate in other user groups. When embarking on this endeavor I started attending the SQL Group, the ASP.Net group and
These are some of my thoughts. I am interested to hear from others who have done the same thing or who have feedback.