Starting a FUN: Some thoughts

["Paul Kevin Schulte" <paul.k.schulte@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good day, Framers,

I've been quite remiss in replying to some people who requested some more information on starting a FUN. (Observant Framers will note that I've been working on InFrame and all the other busy details of life.)

I have the luxury of working for a large institutional user of FrameMaker. We have several hundred users (some only part-time) of FrameMaker (thus a bit of a built-in base). We also have a very large Corporate Atrium that can host most of the meetings without having to individually security badge everyone in. (It seats 300 and is a rather "public" area. We have full projection capabilities.) We don't have to charge members to come to the meetings; they just must be able to take the time off from work. We do meet during the day and during the work-week.

FYI:     Medtronic, Inc. makes implantable medical devices. We invented the modern pacemaker. The security concern stems from our highly-patented work. In the early 1990's, users from other companies attended FrameMaker training at Medtronic. One such user was caught snooping in unauthorized areas, and there went those training sessions.

When we started, we used a free lunch and give-aways, sponsored by Adobe, to lure people. Our first several meetings drew over 100. We have settled down to closer to 50 at every meeting now. (We meet 6 times a year now in the odd months and normally on the 3rd Tuesdays. The meeting time can vary from morning to lunchtime to afternoon.) And these 50 are not the same people — our mailing list, graciously maintained by our VAR, is several hundred.

We have recently held some meetings at our VAR, which is in the south of our metro area. (Our main Medtronic facility is in the northern metro.) This has allowed some different people to attend from outside the metro area, depending on which location hosts.

As you can see from this narrative, there are several main points to consider when starting such an endeavor.

*>   Location. Particularly projection capabilities for laptops, as many presentations are delivered via laptop for such a user group. If a company or your VAR can host without having to charge, so much the better.

*>   Mailing lists. Both your FUN list and the lists to mail to spread the word. As to the former, anyone capable and willing of maintaining an email list can handle this. I believe the FrameUsers site can also assist you with this. As to the latter, Adobe and your local VAR can help pull together lists of major clients/users, Frame trainers, and licensed users in your area. Remember that this may need to take the form of snail mail, so leave plenty of time for such a mailing to go out. (You'd be surprised how many users are not on the Framers lists and are unaware that a supportive community even exists.)

*>   Speakers. Adobe can assist you in this regard. Their staff is more than willing to try to speak at your session. If you can put in some advance time to planning, so much the better as then the Adobe staffer may be able to combine business purposes. The framers lists are also good for asking for such help. Other likely targets are plug-in vendors.

*>   Timing. Leave yourself plenty of time to plan the first meeting. See whether Adobe or your local VAR can spring for some refreshments and giveaways.

*>   Volunteer help. I "forced" my willing crew to help me on this insane quest. I also had a very, I repeat — VERY — supportive VAR when I started this rolling. Several other users signed on to help me with a Steering Committee. And we've continued to exist for over 2 years. But the workload can be overwhelming if you don't have some help (and delegate better than I seem to do).

I'll be more than happy to expound more on or off-list.

Paul K. Schulte
UM-FUN (Upper Midwest FrameMaker User Network)


** To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@omsys.com **
** with "unsubscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.   **