If you’re going to Macworld Conference and Expo and are (or want to be) part of your Mac User Group’s leadership, you need to be sure to attend two specific sessions in the User Group Lounge.

On Wednesday, January 7 at 12 PM, Nancy Carroll Gravley, the President of Capitol Macintosh (CapMac) and the Computing with Bifocals columnist from The Mac Observer will present Ways to Make Your User Group More Successful. If you haven’t been watching the CapMac web page, you’ve missed one of the most creative sets of meeting agendas and services in the MUG universe. Come hear Nancy discuss their successes and what goes into making them happen.

Then, at 2 PM the same day, Chuck Joiner, the editor of The MUG Center and president of the Hershey Apple Core, will discuss Evolving Your Mac User Group. Chuck’s extensive coverage of Mac User Groups and his years as Chairman of the Apple User Group Advisory Board provide him with a unique perspective on where MUGs are and where they’re going.
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The audio of the discussion at the first User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conference is now available for listening and download.

The MUG Center’s first gathering of user group leaders to discuss the state of the MUG community, exchange ideas and look to the future was held on October 29, and keynoted by James Lee of Tropical Software. Jim addressed the group with his top 5 Tips for welcoming a vendor to your user group.

The participants in the conference included:

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Virtually every user group needs to communicate a common class of information to their members and to the world: their meeting and/or event schedule. For Mac User Groups, Apple’s iCal is the obvious choice to accomplish this goal, but it must be used with care or it can actually become an obstacle to getting the info to the audience.

The benefits of iCal are obvious:

• Management of the group’s schedule and events from a desktop application

• Automatic publishing and updating of the group’s calendar on their web site

• Ability of members to subscribe to the iCal version to have meetings and events automatically added to their schedule

• Archiving of all group events in the iCal for historical and reference purposes

The problem comes when iCal is not implemented with the user in mind, contains incomplete or generic information, or is used in lieu of good meeting notifications on the group web site. With that in mind, here are the do’s and don’ts of iCal for Mac User Group web sites.
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The world of personal computing is constantly changing, and that means user groups are also constantly changing..or at least they should be. We’ve seen many groups enthusiastically and successfully adapt to new technology, new socialization options and new structure models. We’ve also seen many groups struggle with those issues and more, missing opportunities for benefit, interaction and fun.

There have been lots of discussions but not enough specific action to help groups accomplish the evolution necessary to survive and thrive in today’s environment. That’s why The MUG Center is starting a new regular feature: Take Your Group to 2.0.

Each week for the next year (yes, year), we’ll be providing you and your group a tip on how to improve and put you in the User Groups 2.0, best of class category. Many of the pieces to the puzzle are simple. Some will be repeats, yet we see many groups who don’t do them. If you’re already doing them, that’s great: you’re ahead of the game. If not, we believe most of them will be easy to implement, especially if you are truly interested in moving your group forward.

“Taking Your Group to 2.0″ will include best practices, ideas about what you have been doing, what you should be doing and more, all in bite-sized pieces that are more likely to be implemented than if we just published one big list that looks overwhelming. We want to help you get and keep you in the mindset of advancing your group.

We’ll start the list with a very simple one: Publish your group’s next meeting date and topic on the front page of your web site.

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This is a simple tip, but it will help distinguish your user group as a competent, modern organization, aware of its responsibilities to its members and itself: draft and adopt a privacy policy.

Is that really necessary? At the moment, from a legal standpoint, no. But with the focus on personal information confidentiality brought about by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) running rampant, the standards of handling such information have changed. Have you noticed the disclosure statements you receive annually from your bank, broker, insurance agent, credit card companies and every other financial institution? Those are required by law.

What is not required by law are the notices you see on all sorts of web sites, email list sign-up pages and message boards allowing you to opt in or out of receiving certain types of information, and promising to share or not share your information with various classifications of partner or associate entities. The fact that they are there (assuming they are followed) is an indication that someone thinks they are important enough to include.

Important?
Who thinks they are important? For one, Apple. Did you know that, to join the iTunes Store Affiliate Program, your web site is required to have a posted privacy statement?

Your group’s members, for another, if for no other reason that the spam problem. If you doubt this, consider what happens when someone successfully posts a spam message to a closed newsgroup. There is an almost inevitable flood of protestations and complaints from list members. And that is in response to just one spam email.

Think how your MUG would be viewed if you decided to share you members email addresses with, say, a vendor who promised an extra-special product discount? Or a group member who has a service to sell. Some of them might not mind, but others will be looking for someone to blame.

To Share or Not to Share?
Developing a privacy statement is simple. Decide whether your group is willing to share your membership roster (emails, home mailing addresses, phone numbers, etc.) with anyone, under any circumstances. If the answer is yes, spell out exactly what information you would share, with whom and under what circumstances.

Now that the policy is determined, give your members the opportunity to opt out. An additional field in your membership database will be sufficient to track who does not want their information shared. Consider setting up a separate email address at your group’s domains to handle the requests; that can also help you maintain a record of who makes the requests and when.

Finally, publish the policy on your web site and in your newsletter, and include it in any new member welcome package, email or letter.

The Gatekeeper Option
An option that you might want to consider is to have the group’s leadership act as a gatekeeper. Rather than hand over your members’ information to a third party, accept and evaluate anything that third party wishes to deliver to your members. If it is something that is indeed worthwhile, distribute it through your own channels (email lists, web site, newsletter, etc.). Your members still receive the benefit, their information is protected and the organization is protected from blame or worse.

A published privacy policy requires a small investment in time and can save your group from all sorts of arguments while protecting your members.

And in case you were wondering, yes, The MUG Center has a privacy policy for your review.

A common challenge for any user group is delivering on the wants and needs of the membership. Sure, a group’s tone is often set by the leader(s). That can be a very good thing of the leader’s orientation is similar to that of the group members, but can limit or even damage the group if the aim is too high, too low, or simply off the mark.

Gathering feedback from your members should be at least an annual activity. You will stay in closer touch with what their interests are, understand the general levels of expertise, and will be able to make your group’s meeting topics, web site, publication(s) and any other offerings a greater value. That translates into better membership retention and more benefits to attract new members.

Barriers to Success
Accomplishing this obvious task is another matter. If you ask for feedback at your meeting, a hush usually falls over the meeting and everyone is suddenly very interested in their shoes. Some are afraid to speak up in front of a group for fear of being in the minority. Others don’t want to appear ignorant; they may feel inferior to the rest of the group (in spite of the fact that there are probably plenty of other people in the room with the same question or comment). And then there’s the old user group joke, with plenty of truth behind it, that if you make a suggestion, you are suddenly in charge of the project…whether you wanted to be or not.

You might pass out paper surveys, or even include them in your newsletter. One problem with this approach is that there is still a boring form to fill out and return. Another is that you have handwriting legibility issues to deal with. Finally, you will need to aggregate the results into something useable, especially if you used a multiple choice format to cut down on the chicken scratch problem.

Getting It Done
What’s the solution? On online survey! You don’t even have to chain your webmaster to a chair to create one. There are a variety of survey services on the Internet that offer all the capabilities you need, many for free.

There are multiple benefits to this approach. Distribute the link to your survey in your newsletter, as a clickable URL in an email to your members, or even in the electronic version of your newsletter (text or PDF), and as a link on your web site. An iBook or PowerBook set up in a corner of your meeting space will allow attendees to complete the survey while attending. With all these options for publicity of your survey, better participation is guaranteed.

The answers are also likely be more substantive. Because a respondent can type their answers, you are less likely to get those annoying one or two word answers that leave you more curious than informed.

Add in the ability to create multiple choice and ranking questions and the survey can actually be fun to complete.

Be sure to tout the fact that all answers are anonymous, but include a place for a name and email address, in case the volunteer spirit moves someone as they are giving you their information.

You might even consider taking a page from The MUG Center and do a new survey question every month. Your members stay involved and you stay informed. If you can get members in the habit of providing feedback, your percentage return goes up again.

The Results Are In
When the time comes to analyze the results, the survey service has already done the aggregation work for you, in numbers and percentages. Just log in to your account and start analyzing.

Share the results with the rest of your leadership team by giving them the service password, taking screen shots, or, if you opted for a paid service level, export them to an Excel spreadsheet for further study and manipulation

Choosing A Service
What service to use? Do a Google search to find a wide variety, but our choices are Survey Galaxy, Zoomerang, and our favorite, Survey Monkey.

We like Survey Monkey because it allows up to 100 responses in one survey under the free account, has a clean, easy to understand interface and produces surveys that are not intimidating. Upgrading to a paid account won’t lose any of your existing surveys or results, gives you the export to Excel option, and provides customization options in the form of logo inclusion, custom color schemes and more. Answer our latest TMC Survey question (found at the top of our ad bar on the right hand side of any page on The MUG Center) to see what a Survey Monkey Survey looks like.

No matter which service you use, be sure it accommodates your needs and offers plenty of flexibility.

Get Your Members Involved
Present the results of your survey at a meeting, or every meeting, if you make your questions a monthly activity. Your membership stays involved in the process, and will help you develop future questions. (Hint: People are much more willing to provide questions than answers.)

Take the participation concept a step farther by making the creation of a new survey or survey question a demo at an upcoming meeting. Reinforce the importance of responding, walk through the process to demonstrate the ease of answering, and introduce your members to a new service they might benefit from at their work or in other activities. Truly a win, win, win scenario.

The Bottom Line
Like any business, a successful user group will only benefit from information on what the “customers” want. Finding ways to involve your members can start with something as simple as an online survey.

User Group Ambassador. That is a term you will see used here on The MUG Center, on the user group section of the Apple web site, and many other places. What you don’t see often a definition of the term, how one achieves that lofty status, and what the responsibilities are that go with the position. We’re going to change that with this entry in our User Group Best Practices series.

What and How
Your group’s ambassador is someone you select as the “point person” to interact with Apple’s user group program for at least some if not all of the benefits offered. It can be an officer or someone you specifically designate as a separate position.

Ambassador status is confirmed with Apple when you either register or update your group’s listing in the Apple User Group Locator. It can be changed at any time by your group’s leadership simply by editing your information.

Some groups designate Ambassadors for different responsibilities such as vendor interaction, special events, etc.

Responsibilities
Apple doesn’t specifically designate the duties of the ambassador, other than being the primary point of contact if/when necessary. That doesn’t mean there are not responsibilities that every ambassador should accept and embrace.

The Ambassador should be responsible for keeping the listing in the Locator up-to-date. That includes the information the public sees when they look for a MUG in the Locator, such as name, location, web site URL (and it is amazing how many of those go out of date quickly), and the information that isn’t included in the public listings, such as the three primary contacts for your group and their email addresses, etc. As a best practice, your ambassador should surf the Locator at least two times each year to check your listing and update any information. Of course, if there is a change in the information, that should be updated immediately.

The Ambassador is also usually the one designated to have access to your group’s Apple Sales Web account and Apple Sales Training Online. The former gives access to presentation materials and scripts for Apple products and services, the ability to order the Maibox DVD, special user group copies of such items as the current version of the Mac OS, select products (both for group demos and use only), and more. The latter delivers online training about Apple hardware, software and services, to help prepare presenters for your Apple-product focused meetings.

At the very least, the Ambassador should subscribe to the Apple User Group Bulletin (AUGB), Apple’s official communication method to user group leaders. There’s a common misundertanding that, by being designated as one of your group’s three contacts, or even as the Ambassador, that you are automatically subscribed to that list. Apple’s policy (one we wholeheartedly agree with, and that has become industry standard) is to not subscribe anyone to any email list without a specific request.

Contained in each month’s Bulletin is news for user group leaders, a members news section with information that is suitable for newsletter publication, and special vendor offers available to user group members only. The Ambassador should either pass this information along to the group’s publication editor, or better yet, have them sign up for the Bulletin themselves, to be sure this valuable resource is not overlooked.

The Ambassador should also subscribe to the Apple User Group Discussion email list. Open to any user group member, officer or activist, this is the forum Apple provides for discussion of topics of interest to those who lead Mac user groups around the world. Like any specific-topic list the traffic waxes and wanes, but it can be a great place to get new ideas or ask for help with challenges your group faces.
Other types of ambassadorship
Ambassadors can be designated for other special activities as the need dictates. For example, not every group can attend Macworld Conference & Expo, but it can be beneficial to have a member who is attending act as an Ambassador to user group events at Expo, such as the Adobe User Group Breakfasts. If your group designates this type of one-time ambassador, be sure you provide your ambassador with all the information about your group, copies of newsletters to share, and a clear understanding of who gets to keep the give-aways and/or raffle prices. That last might sound a little strange, but we’ve seen it become a point of contention after the fact. Better to have it spelled out right up front.

The Bottom Line
The position of User Group Ambassador can be an essential to your user group if performed properly. Taking advantage of Apple resources, keeping your group’s information up-to-date so you can be found, representing your group at industry functions and more are all hallmarks of an ambassador’s job well done.

This is a simple tip, but it will help distinguish your user group as a competent, modern organization, aware of its responsibilities to its members and itself: draft and adopt a privacy policy.

Is that really necessary? At the moment, from a legal standpoint, no. But with the focus on personal information confidentiality brought about by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) running rampant and identity theft a very real concern, the standards of handling such information have changed. Have you noticed the disclosure statements you receive annually from your bank, broker, insurance agent, credit card companies and every other financial institution? Those are required by law.

What is not required by law are the notices you see on all sorts of web sites, email list sign-up pages and message boards allowing you to opt in or out of receiving certain types of information, and promising to share or not share your information with various classifications of partner or associate entities. The fact that they are there (assuming they are followed) is an indication that someone thinks they are important enough to include.

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More than almost anything other than interesting meetings, your group needs to produce and maintain an effective web site. More than any other single point of contact, your web site is the identity of your group. It keeps your members informed of what the group is doing, (hopefully) attracts new members, helps vendors make decisions about visiting or supporting your group, and delivers information about your group and what it offers to the world at large, including media outlets who might be interested in giving you coverage.

We surf *a lot* of MUG web sites each week as part of gathering news for the MUG Event Calendar more. We’ve also had discussions with mainstream Mac journalists who cover user group news and events. Their frustrations are ours, so that’s where we start.
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by Warren Williams and Cathleen Merritt of The AppleWorks Users Group
One of the important challenges faced by user group leaders is finding ways to attract new members to your organization.
Of course, the key to expanding your membership is to offer exciting, interesting programs at your meeting. If your meetings are boring, your efforts at attracting members will be wasted. But assuming that you are running interesting meetings, here are some techniques used by successful user groups to attract and retain their members:
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