It's been a long time since I went to a user's group! But I'll be honest, I don't miss them at all. I attended in the late 90s and early 2000s when most of the other attendees were non-technical...
It's been a long time since I went to a user's group! But I'll be honest, I don't miss them at all. I attended in the late 90s and early 2000s when most of the other attendees were non-technical people trying to get on the Internet for the first time. I like to help others, and I enjoyed helping people with their computer issues. But the meetings would just drag on forever. They were like 3 hours long, and consisted of Q&A where less experienced people would get up and ask questions and the more experienced people would offer solutions. Then there were 2-4 presentations that were usually sales presentations. (I even did one or two myself, as I was running my own software company at the time.) These ranged from useful to terrible. People would stick around, though, because at the end of the meeting was the raffle for free prizes and you had to be present to win! The prizes were often free copies of whatever was demoed by the speakers that day (unless it was something really expensive).
What I found more useful were the smaller groups within the user groups that tackled specific issues like programming or video editing. Those meetings were shorter, more focused, and far less salesy.
But yeah, once this info was available instantly online nobody wanted to go to a 3 hour meeting once a month on a Saturday when they could be doing something useful with their time.
That said, I met some really nice people during user group meetings and I do miss the camaraderie.
I never attended these types of happenings until this last December (Dec. 2019)...when i started attending my local linux user group (LUG). At the time i was recently unemployed and actively...
I never attended these types of happenings until this last December (Dec. 2019)...when i started attending my local linux user group (LUG). At the time i was recently unemployed and actively looking for work. But honestly my intent of attending this LUG was 3-fold" 45% for general socializing with geeks (my partner said i really needed to get out of the house!); 45% for learning new things - in this case linux/FLOSS stuff; 10% for possibly getting employed, if a job prospect should happen to manifest, etc. I should add that i've been computing for decades now...but almost exclusively alone. Well, i've on occasion connected with folks online via forums, but those interactions were short and not deep relationships. I've never enjoyed the scenarios depicted in this article. Never got the benefit of someone more capable than me teaching me "hey you did it upside down...", etc. Oh, i knew friends who were more capable, but they never frequented these events, and while they were close friends, happened to be introverted enough in this regard that i haven't learned much from them; again in tech/computing. Back to the LUG that i joined...It has been around for about 30 years or so, and has seen much better days. The population of the group is tired, older men who don't even talk to each other that much during the meetings. Let me clarify, i'm from a generation who respects my elders...it is just that this LUG has close to zero energy, ambition, or even direction. I'm not expecting it to be full of a bunch of startups or schedule hack-a-thons or anything like that...but even if it was only geeks socializing that would be an improvement. This pandemic with its remote, zoom calls doesn't help of course. And, a further challenge is that the guys really are sweet guys; no malice in there...Just sort of husks of what they probably used to be decades ago. I thought about leaving, but then remembered that these guys are really nice, and certainly welcomed me to the club...so i feel a sort of loyalty i guess. I have been considering trying to shake things up, but would want to do so with preserving membership. I feel like the LUG needs either a new lead or someone to jazz things up just slightly. I joined the LUG with the hopes to meet geeks, learn stuff, etc...And, i certainly don't want to go back to being into tech alone. Sorry for being a downer...but i guess i wish i had participated in these clubs years ago when they were at their height!
It's been a long time since I went to a user's group! But I'll be honest, I don't miss them at all. I attended in the late 90s and early 2000s when most of the other attendees were non-technical people trying to get on the Internet for the first time. I like to help others, and I enjoyed helping people with their computer issues. But the meetings would just drag on forever. They were like 3 hours long, and consisted of Q&A where less experienced people would get up and ask questions and the more experienced people would offer solutions. Then there were 2-4 presentations that were usually sales presentations. (I even did one or two myself, as I was running my own software company at the time.) These ranged from useful to terrible. People would stick around, though, because at the end of the meeting was the raffle for free prizes and you had to be present to win! The prizes were often free copies of whatever was demoed by the speakers that day (unless it was something really expensive).
What I found more useful were the smaller groups within the user groups that tackled specific issues like programming or video editing. Those meetings were shorter, more focused, and far less salesy.
But yeah, once this info was available instantly online nobody wanted to go to a 3 hour meeting once a month on a Saturday when they could be doing something useful with their time.
That said, I met some really nice people during user group meetings and I do miss the camaraderie.
I never attended these types of happenings until this last December (Dec. 2019)...when i started attending my local linux user group (LUG). At the time i was recently unemployed and actively looking for work. But honestly my intent of attending this LUG was 3-fold" 45% for general socializing with geeks (my partner said i really needed to get out of the house!); 45% for learning new things - in this case linux/FLOSS stuff; 10% for possibly getting employed, if a job prospect should happen to manifest, etc. I should add that i've been computing for decades now...but almost exclusively alone. Well, i've on occasion connected with folks online via forums, but those interactions were short and not deep relationships. I've never enjoyed the scenarios depicted in this article. Never got the benefit of someone more capable than me teaching me "hey you did it upside down...", etc. Oh, i knew friends who were more capable, but they never frequented these events, and while they were close friends, happened to be introverted enough in this regard that i haven't learned much from them; again in tech/computing. Back to the LUG that i joined...It has been around for about 30 years or so, and has seen much better days. The population of the group is tired, older men who don't even talk to each other that much during the meetings. Let me clarify, i'm from a generation who respects my elders...it is just that this LUG has close to zero energy, ambition, or even direction. I'm not expecting it to be full of a bunch of startups or schedule hack-a-thons or anything like that...but even if it was only geeks socializing that would be an improvement. This pandemic with its remote, zoom calls doesn't help of course. And, a further challenge is that the guys really are sweet guys; no malice in there...Just sort of husks of what they probably used to be decades ago. I thought about leaving, but then remembered that these guys are really nice, and certainly welcomed me to the club...so i feel a sort of loyalty i guess. I have been considering trying to shake things up, but would want to do so with preserving membership. I feel like the LUG needs either a new lead or someone to jazz things up just slightly. I joined the LUG with the hopes to meet geeks, learn stuff, etc...And, i certainly don't want to go back to being into tech alone. Sorry for being a downer...but i guess i wish i had participated in these clubs years ago when they were at their height!
Gosh, thanks! :-)