Has their been any progress on anyone starting a Group? I know we heard some rumblings possibly at SolidWorks World. I was just curious if this is still a possibility?
Gary
Has their been any progress on anyone starting a Group? I know we heard some rumblings possibly at SolidWorks World. I was just curious if this is still a possibility?
Gary
Hi Gary,
You're a busy guy this morning - see you in Baltimore.
The Buffalo/Niagara EPDM User Group started late last year, and is now an official member of SWUGN. You can talk to Tyler if you are interested in getting one started in your area.
http://www.swugn.org/swugn/calendar/ugdetails.htm?id=498
Richard
Yes I am seeking knowledge. I am interested Richard could you forward me Tyler's contact information. How do you find out the need in your area? I would hopefully like to cover a wide area since us EPDM users and Admin's are not the quantity of SolidWorks users. Hopefully It could cover a good portion of Maryland, Southern PA, Delaware and Parts of New Jersey. I don't know the demand for it besides my interest.
Tyler's contact info is on the website I linked to - I'm not comfortable posting it here.
The EPDM group spun off from the local SolidWorks chapter after some of the members expressed interest. They had several people attend the first meeting (the local SolidWorks group averages 30 or so), and all of the attendees decided to meet bi-monthly. Size doesn't matter in this case.
I think the best thing is to "just do it". An EPDM group will likely be dominated by IT/Admin types, but let's not forget about the smaller companies where the CAD Guru is also the PDM Guru - there's a lot of them out there. Presentations could also be directed at the actual users.
Coverage area is another thing to consider - how far will people drive, or is the group leader willing to move the meetings around. If you plan maybe two all-day meetings per year, folks will drive greater distance's to be there. A local group will be much easier to manage, and remember, it's not the size of the group, it's the passion that really matters. As long as the group is helping people, it's a good group.
Richard
I will be driving from Waterloo in Ontario to Buffalo NY for the meeting there. So yes, Richard you are right people will drive for the passion and knowledge gain they will get out of user group meetings. I wish we (WOSWUG and OSWUG) together can find enough people to do EPDM user group meeting locally.
I am willing to just do it!! Is there a time I can write out all my questions to start this ball rolling after I talk with Tyler that you would have time to answer and help guide me to getting this started.
Gary
Any time Gary - that's why I'm here.
Richard
Richard could you please e-mail me a checklist of steps I need to take to get this group started.
Gary
http://www.swugn.org/swugn/support/forms.htm
Gary,
You may have seen thsi webpage for starting groups.
In addition to Mike's reply, check the SWUGN Support page for the "Starter Kit" - your checklist is in that document.
Richard
Thanks Mike and Richard!
Ok now I have some reading and organizing to do. This looks like it will be an interesting and challenging endeavor. I can't wait I hope their are others as interested as I am. Thanks for responses.
Hi Gary,
I wanted to get in touch with you about the EPDM group that you are interested in. We are about to have our 3rd group meeting (http://www.swugn.org/swugn/calendar/ugdetails.htm?id=498). The user group seems to be going very well so far and there is definitely an interest. As you were saying, the EPDM audience is not as big as the SolidWorks audience; however there is definitely value and interest in the group even though it is fairly small. I would say that out of the members who attend, half have an IT role, and have have a CAD/CAM role while being the EPDM admin. There are also users who are simply interested in what the product can do for them.
Anyway, with all that said if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me and ask.
Tyler's contact info is on the website I linked to - I'm not comfortable posting it here.
The EPDM group spun off from the local SolidWorks chapter after some of the members expressed interest. They had several people attend the first meeting (the local SolidWorks group averages 30 or so), and all of the attendees decided to meet bi-monthly. Size doesn't matter in this case.
I think the best thing is to "just do it". An EPDM group will likely be dominated by IT/Admin types, but let's not forget about the smaller companies where the CAD Guru is also the PDM Guru - there's a lot of them out there. Presentations could also be directed at the actual users.
Coverage area is another thing to consider - how far will people drive, or is the group leader willing to move the meetings around. If you plan maybe two all-day meetings per year, folks will drive greater distance's to be there. A local group will be much easier to manage, and remember, it's not the size of the group, it's the passion that really matters. As long as the group is helping people, it's a good group.
Richard