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Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 02:44:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: dnrg <dananrg@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Active Oracle user group in Raleigh, North Carolina area?
To: "Bobak, Mark" <Mark.Bobak@proquest.com>,
  "ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com" <ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com>,
  'oracle-l' <oracle-l@freelists.org>
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Thanks to all for the great replies, suggestions, insights and interest both online and off. Great food for thoughtful reflection, further research, and action. I will reply to everyone who wrote--some time over the next few weeks. Appreciate the effort. Letting it all sink in first--good answers naturally lend themselves to new questions.

Kind Regards,

Dana


________________________________
 From: "Bobak, Mark" <Mark.Bobak@proquest.com>
To: "dananrg@yahoo.com" <dananrg@yahoo.com>; "ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com" <ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com>; 'oracle-l' <oracle-l@freelists.org> 
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 10:37 AM
Subject: RE: Active Oracle user group in Raleigh, North Carolina area?
 
Comments inline....

-----Original Message-----
From: oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of dnrg
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 6:02 AM
To: ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com; 'oracle-l'
Subject: Re: Active Oracle user group in Raleigh, North Carolina area?

Thanks Chris, I think. :-) That group doesn't seem to be active. If it is I haven't heard of any meeting announcements lately.

Of folks here who participate in local or regional Oracle User Group events:
-- How valuable do you find them to be versus Internet resources like Oracle-L or annual Oracle conferences?

MB>I think user groups are extremely valuable.  Not only for the presentations, and the information that can be gained there, but the very real benefits of networking, chatting informally, etc.

-- How frequently does your group meet and is it as frequent as you like? What's optimal?

MB>Here in the Metro Detroit area, we are struggling.  Groups vary quite a bit in their meeting schedules.  Some will do a 2-3 hour evening dinner meeting every month.  Others will do only 2-4 meetings a year, usually emphasizing one of them as the *big* annual meeting.

MB>In my opinion, to start out, you're going to want some excitement and momentum.  So, plan the "first annual", which will be your *big* meeting.  Probably one (or if you're ambitious, two) full day(s) meeting.  At that meeting, solicit input from the users about what the future schedule should be.  Just the one annual meeting?  (That makes it difficult to maintain momentum.)  One big meeting, and monthly or quarterly smaller meetings?  Half day smaller meetings?  2-3 hours in the evening?

-- What formats do you find to be most effective / worthwhile? Straight up presentations? Roundtable discussions? Interactive workshops?


MB>Straight up presentations are the bread and butter, for the most part.  Interactive workshops can be excellent, but are more work to organize, and usually take longer.  (Perhaps two hours, rather than 45 minutes or an hour for a presentation)  Roundtable discussions are good, even better if you have a "big name" to drive the discussion.

-- What type of content do you not see that you'd like to see at these types of events?

-- Given "Oracle" represents such a large universe of potential topics and content, is it better to have a user group that addresses broad or narrow interests?


MB>This, I think, is going to be a function of size.  Larger groups can afford to break down into specialized groups (SIGs), while with a smaller group, you may need a larger functional cross-section to have a group large enough to work.  I say, start small.  One Oracle user group, that covers everything and everybody (core database, eBS, Peoplesoft, etc), and if you've got a large enough turnout, you can always sub-divide later.

-- Can anyone name a few local or regional Oracle User Groups that are Best of Breed? Would be interesting to see what these groups do and what makes them successful.


MB>One in the US and one international, come to mind: RMOUG and UKOUG.

-- What makes Oracle User Groups succeed or fail generally besides the obvious? (general lack of interest or insufficient # of local Oracle practitioners). With the Research Triangle Park here in North Carolina I suspect there are enough practitioners to support an active and productive group.

MB>A committed and enthusiastic executive committee is critical.  It's a lot of work to organize such a group.  You need more than one person who sees the value.  If one person is running the whole show, he/she will get burned out.  It will start strong, but, eventually fade away and die.


And anything anyone else would like to add of course.

MB>Taking on the organization of a user group can be a daunting task.  First, get your committee together.  You'll need a strong central group to rally everyone else.  Find a good venue.  Perhaps a local community college.  Try a one-day, full day, conference.  See if you can get a "headliner" to come in, to help kick off your group.  (A Tom Kyte, Cary Millsap, Jonathan Lewis, etc).  That will be a big draw.  I'm guessing there are many potential attendees that don't participate in mailing lists like Oracle-L, or read much in the way of blogs, etc.  So, I think you'll need to network as much as possible with others at other companies, try to get the word out.  Getting the initial communications out there, will be difficult.  Once you get rolling, you can maintain a mailing list.  Getting it initially populated will be tricky.

Good luck!

-Mark

PS  If you need a speaker, let me know.... :-)


________________________________
From: "Taylor, Chris David" <ChrisDavid.Taylor@ingrambarge.com>
To: "'dananrg@yahoo.com'" <dananrg@yahoo.com>; 'oracle-l' <oracle-l@freelists.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 3:24 PM
Subject: RE: Active Oracle user group in Raleigh, North Carolina area?

Hmmmmmm

Region RUG/User Group Name RUG Liaison

"SOUTHEAST North Carolina Oracle Users Group Donald Burleson"

Dana - perhaps you should start one after all..... 

Chris Taylor

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort."
-- John Ruskin (English Writer 1819-1900)

Any views and/or opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ingram Industries, its affiliates, its subsidiaries or its employees. 


-----Original Message-----
From: oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of dnrg
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 2:13 PM
To: oracle-l
Subject: Active Oracle user group in Raleigh, North Carolina area?

Is there an active Oracle user group in the Raleigh, NC area? Seems there used to be. Asked my local Oracle rep and he didn't know of one. Would rather join an existing group. But I'm potentially open to helping organize a new one (lots of work if done right).
Thanks.

Dana


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