“We have always wanted space on the NAB show floor, but could never find the resources or money to afford it,” said Michael Horton, founder of the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group and co-producer of the SuperMeets. “But this year we have gotten tremendous support from the community who are donating their time and expertise to make this booth happen. Our plan is to make the SuperBooth a social gathering spot for all Final Cut Studio users and Digital moviemakers who find themselves in need of learning and connecting.”

“With Apple not on the show floor this year it is our hope that the SuperBooth will fill part of the void,” added Daniel Berube, founder of the Boston Final Cut Pro User Group and co-producer of the SuperMeets. “We will have something different going on every hour for all four days of the NAB SHOW. There will be daily “Guru Hour” where you can get all your Final Cut Studio problems solved by some of the top FCS experts in the world. Sit or stand awhile to view presentations of workflow ideas, show and tells, new products, and much much more. We are just getting started on what to do with this booth. We are very excited.”

The SuperBooth, (#SL10129) will be located near the Blackmagic Design booth in the lower-lower South Hall. Agenda for the SuperBooth is expected to be posted on the SuperMeet web page on April 1, 2009.
The Eighth Annual FCPUG SuperMeet is looking to be another sell out according to the producers.

“Despite the economy ticket sales are tracking about the same as they did last year and last year was the largest attendance we have ever had at any SuperMeet,” stated Michael Horton. “Historically every SuperMeet has always sold out.”

Added Berube, “Creative people need these types of events, not only for the networking opportunities which are vitally important during these times, but to add to their skill by taking advantage of events such as the SuperMeet and now the SuperBooth.”

The SuperMeet will feature user driven presentations from Blackmagic Design, JVC, Adobe and many others. There will be presentations on revolutionary new Final Cut Studio workflow ideas, show and tells, tips and tricks and a Raffle where tens of thousands of dollars worth of prizes will be handed out to dozens of lucky winners.

Final agenda for SuperMeet is expected to be posted in early April. Tickets are on sale now online only for $10.99 (USD) each. Daily updates as well as a link to purchase tickets can be found on the SuperMeet web page.

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.

The User Group Lounge will be in Room 250, West Mezzanine in Moscone South. Check out all of the sessions to be presented there on our User Group Lounge page, or better yet, subscribe to the Macworld MUG Event Calendar in iCal and have updates synched right to your calendar.

Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times, Macworld, MacNotables, and long-time user group advocate, provides some valuable input into the subject in a new posting to his personal blog, Andy Ihnatko’s Celestial Waste of Bandwidth.

In BCS BAT, Andy talks about his time as an enthusiastic volunteer with the now-defunt Boston Computer Society, then one of the world’s largest Mac User Groups. Andy discusses what made the group special and how changes in the group’s management not only spoiled the party, but also eventually led to the group’s downfall.

There are lessons aplenty in this article from Andy’s archives, and is essential reading for anyone who is reviewing their group’s leadership structure.

The audio of the third User Groups 2.0 Leadership Conference, held on February 19th, 2008, features keynote speaker Russ Conte of The Rest of Us in Chicago. Russ discusses in depth how his group operates, sharing their philosophy of servicing their members, how their membership has changed and how the group has evolved to address their capabilities, interests and needs. The use of Web 2.0 technologies, share work, and an approach that leaves nothing sacred, even their name are all part of Russ’s presentation and the interaction with the other attendees that followed.

Russ also provided samples of many of the resources he mentioned during the conference, and they can be downloaded for your group’s use.

A global panel of user group leaders and activists participated in the conference, and included:

Russ Conte (Keynote Speaker) The Rest of Us	Allen Emory Triangle Macintosh Users Group	Pat Fauquet (co-host) Washington Apple Pi
Peter Fitchett Apple User Group of Canterbury	Yvonne Fried Macintosh Asheville Computer Society	Dave Greenbaum Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0
Bill Medlow Long Island Macintosh Users Group	Michael Potter Thumb Macintosh Users Goup	Nicholas Pyers Australian User Group Activist
Warren Williams AppleWorks Users Group and iWork Users Group	Chuck Joiner (host) Editor The MUG Center

The User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conferences, created by The MUG Center, are a series of online/virtual gatherings of individuals who are ambitious about taking the Mac User Group community into the future, addressing the needs of today’s Mac enthusiast and continuing the tradition of being an important channel of information and influence for Mac users.

TROU has developed a reputation for excellence in many areas. Growing in membership, TROU books outstanding topics and guest speakers for their meetings six months in advance and have developed financial resources adequate to raffle off an iMac without having to charge for individual tickets.

Russ will talk about how they do all this, how to run meetings efficiently and effectively, how to do some really exciting things with your club’s web site (including getting it hosted for free!) and how to find press contacts in your area to whom you can distribute press releases. Russ will also cover where the new members are coming from, why they are coming, and what The Rest of Us is doing to keep them coming back.

Russ will talk about how they are carving a path to the future, by starting to see if they can integrate some of the social networking sites (MySpace, YouTube, FaceBook, Meetup, and more) along with some of the new Web 2.0 technologies, (such as DIGG, Slashdot, Reddit, and Technorati, among many others that they are just starting to explore), into their club to draw people in and have them join. Participants will receive free copies of the files that they use for their web site and their printed materials. The files will be blank, so you may modify them as you need to do so. You and your group can do virtually everything that The Rest of Us is doing, on a very small budget, and you’ll walk away excited by the possibilities that await you as you begin to implement these ideas for a 21st century user group, and be the best you can be for your membership. So whether your role is financial, membership, meetings, raffle items, publicity, or web administration, this is an event not to be missed!

There is no charge for attendance, a limited number of participants will be involved due to the nature of efficient virtual communications. To participate, you will need a telephone or Skype Out (with headset), iChat, a desire to learn to think different, and a willingness to participate in discussions of pro-active MUG leadership. Bring your ideas and bring your enthusiasm!

To apply to attend, please email your name, user group name and leadership position and group URL to The MUG Center. Once confirmed, you’ll receive the details for attending and participating.

The third User Group 2.0 Virtual Conference will be held on Tuesday, February 19 from 6 PM until 7:30 PM PT (9 PM – 10:30 PM ET). While there is no charge for attendance, a limited number of participants will be involved due to the nature of efficient virtual communications. To participate, you will need a telephone or Skype Out (with headset), iChat, a desire to learn to think different, and a willingness to participate in discussions of pro-active MUG leadership. Bring your ideas and bring your enthusiasm!

The event’s keynote speaker, to be announced soon, will deliver information on their group’s successes and details on how they achieved those successes..

To apply to attend, please email your name, user group name and leadership position and group URL to The MUG Center. Once confirmed, you’ll receive the details for attending and participating.

The audio from the first User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conference is available for online listening and download here on The MUG Center, and also in the MacVoices podcast feed.

Audio of the First User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conference Available
featuring a keynote by James Lee of Tropical Software.

Audio of the Second User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conference Available featuring a keynote by Michael Horton of the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group.

The session will be held in Room 250 on the Mezzanine level in Moscone South. Visit our User Group Lounge 2008 page for the complete schedule of presenters and events in the User Group Lounge, and subscribe to our Macworld Expo MUG Events iCal to integrate all the Mac User Group events at Expo into your schedule.

Diane Cohn, the former Apple User Group Program Manager and member several of Apple’s web team has a unique perspective on the social networking phenomenon and wants to know what you think of the current options and the desirability of a social networking option just for the users of Apple products. In the newest edition of MacVoices, Diane shares her experiences since leaving Apple and explains how involvement in social networks has been instrumental to her success in her new occupation. She talks about how social networks represent a natural evolution of Apple enthusiast interaction, the benefits, and the differences between traditional user group models, online forums and the new interactive options.

If you’re interested in The MUG Center’s ongoing discussions of User Groups 2.0, this is an interview you’ll find thought-provoking.

New ideas for Mac User Group leaders and enthusiasts are the focus of The User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conferences, organized by The MUG Center. The second of these conferences was held on November 27 and featured keynote speaker Michael Horton of the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group. Mike discussed many of the differences between the traditional UG models vs. those adopted by the Final Cut Pro groups. Mike shared some ideas that he would like to see community groups consider and fielded questions about his group’s structure and operations from an enthusiastic audience. Looking for some new ideas fro your group’s evolution? Then listen online or download this edition of MacVoices to hear what Mike and the attendees had to say.

The attendees and the groups represented included:

Curt Blanchard Tucson Macintosh Users Group	Pat Fauquet (co-host) Washington Apple Pi	Peter Fitchett Apple User Group of Canterbury
Travis Good Washington Apple Pi	Dave Greenbaum Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0	Michael Horton (Keynote Speaker) Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group
Bill Medlow Long Island Macintosh Users Group	Michael Potter Thumb Macintosh Users Goup	Warren Williams AppleWorks Users Group and iWork Users Group
	Chuck Joiner (host) Editor The MUG Center

The User Groups 2.0 Virtual Conferences, initiated by The MUG Center, are a series of online/virtual gatherings of individuals who are ambitious about taking the Mac User Group community into the future, addressing the needs of today’s Mac enthusiast and continuing the tradition of being an important channel of information and influence for Mac users.

The successes of the FCP groups are undeniable. As a founder of the Final Cut Pro User Group Network and one of the chief organizers of the Final Cut Pro User Group SuperMeets in addition to the leadership of his own group, Mike has tried many new things and learned valuable lessons along the way. He will share both experiences and wisdom when he addresses the attendees of UG2.0VC on November 27.

The second User Group 2.0 Virtual Conference will be held on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 from 7 PM until 8:30 PM PT (10 PM – 11:30 PM ET). While there is no charge for attendance, a limited number of participants will be involved due to the nature of virtual communications. To participate, you will need a telephone or Skype Out (with headset), iChat, a desire to learn to think different, and a willingness to participate in discussions of pro-active MUG leadership.

To apply to attend, please email your name, user group name and leadership position and group URL to The MUG Center. Once confirmed, you’ll receive the details for attending and participating.