Michigan User Group

[MMccomb]

As I attended the latest local Building System User Group put on by our software vendor, I noticed that out of the six (6) people who attended, my co-worker and I were the only two who used Building Systems. Of course there was an educational commentary at the beginning (on subjects we knew well enough about) The same subjects that are talked about over and over at each Building System presentation you attend.

I'm writing this in hopes to see if there are other Building System users who would like to get together once in a while and discuss topics about Building Systems. Maybe meet for a lunch at the local pub, or in our office over pizza at the end of the day.

If you've got an interest in this let me know.

Thank you,

Mitch McComb

[Revit MEP DR]

I would be interested in sharing ideas, unfortunatly I am in Raleigh NC.

[Steve_Bennett]

I would be interested in getting together as well but I'm located in so. cal. - maybe this would be a good product to use a virtual user group. This has been thought of by others but never done to my knowledge.

It could be done via a net meeting service that provides a toll free # for people to call into & a web interface where the people in the conference can share stuff (ideas, methods, etc.). Maybe you could talk your local reseller into to setting this up. If they're not willing, perhaps if enough people get interested we could split the cost of conferencing - its not very expensive.

[Brian Myers]

...this would be a good product to use a virtual user group....

The idea of a virtual LUG has been mentioned in the past and in theory it is a good idea. But in order for such a LUG to exist demands a pretty heavy dose of coordination and resources. From recruiting "speakers" to handling the bandwidth issues involved, its not an easy undertaking. That's not to say it can't be done.. it can... its just not as simple as it sounds on the surface and having a strong sponsorship and technical support base would be critical.

In many ways, AUGI is a virtual LUG. The only thing it lacks is interactive on-line video demos, etc.

I suppose I'm trying to say: I understand what it would take to run and organize a virtual LUG, but the effort involved in keeping it going as a volunteer would almost be prohibitive over the long haul, which is likely why we've yet to see a true virtual LUG and only a handful of on-line presentations by organizations that don't have a direct financial gain tied into the presentations.

[Steve_Bennett]

I think I'll post something to this effect here (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=17148). Perhaps if enough requests were to come through, it might happen.