Alls well that….

The first UKLUG has ended.  After
a rush of sessions lasting the whole day, a demonstration lab available
for people to test ND8, Quickr, Sametime and Composite applications, a
drinks reception, prize draws and very productive conversations, everyone
(most notably Warren) is wrecked.  I bowed out early from the bar
last night simply because I just couldn’t stay awake any longer.  
I’m now sitting in Luton airport, for the first flight to Dublin at 6am
reflecting on the day.

The User Groups have started to come
into their own in the UK and Ireland.  SNUG, UKLUG and ILUG are all
growing, and growing fast.  Also, Spain and Italy are now very promising.
  There were interesting discussions on how to grow the UG in the
UK.  While I don’t think some of the suggestions will work, I do think
that some of them were great.  When it comes to a forum or discussion,
these days I am not really in favour of dedicated sites anymore.  My
reasoning is simple:  If there is a UserGroup forum available on-line
that people have to go to, or even log in to, people will eventually lose
interest as their real lives get in the way. However, a forum on Facebook
is easy to run, and the majority of the people in the room already log
into Facebook.  Therefore, that’s the most sensible solution to me.
 Lets use the tools that people already use every day.

Warren and Kitty put in a massive amount
of work into this event, and deserve the thanks of everyone that was there.
 Lets not forget Matt, Julian, Bill, Frank and all the speakers and
sponsors.  Next steps are already being discussed, and I am constantly
looking out for UG’s nowadays from other countries that are looking for
speakers or assistance.  But for now, sleep.