TCMUG Thoughts

[David Bitner]

My time is dwindling quickly this month.  If anyone else wants to plan
a meeting for this month, please speak up, otherwise we should
definitely plan on meeting next month.  If anyone would like to grab a
drink still this month, I'm game.

I did want to try to get some discussion about Users Groups going
before some of our folks head to Chicago to discuss the foundation.

Personally, I would love to see this users group evolve to a users
group for all foundation projects (possibly with sub groups for
individual projects).  I would like to see regional groups like this
become a recognized part of the foundation rather than an ad-hoc group
of users who get together.

Here are some of the roles that I could see the Users Group playing
for the foundation.

-- Point of contact for trying to bring presentations to regional
conferences (ie GIS/LIS)

-- Point of contact for speaking at schools etc.

-- Potentially organizing events for things such as GIS day

-- Maintain registry of Regional Professional Services related to
Foundation projects (possibly with a participation/sponsorship
requirement)

What do other folks think about formalizing Users Groups?  Is this
something that we should lobby to include under the umbrella of the
foundation?  Are there other roles/responsibilities that you could see
a users group taking on?

Thoughts?  Comments?