Q: Are there requirements to being a partner user group organizer? Can I start a group if I'm a new partner?
A: The only requirement is that you have a passion for building community. Experience level is not a requirement. You will find that if you're a new partner it may be easier for you to recruit a veteran partner to help you with some of the meetings, however some groups can be focused on new and emerging partners.

Q: Challenges? What challenges?
A: The biggest challenge for any user group organizer is time! Running a user group is a great way to connect with your community and can be very rewarding, but it does take time away from other pursuits. As your group forms, we suggest you recruit a co-organizer. This will help you balance the load of securing speakers, meeting locations, etc. and give you a backup should real life step in and take you away from the user group activities.

Q: Do I have to hold a meeting every month?
A: We don't require monthly meetings, but you'll find that having a consistent meeting schedule is the best way to keep your group members excited and engaged. In order for us to consider your group active, you must meet at least once a quarter.

Q: What do people do at partner user group meetings? What do they talk about?
A: Typically groups follow a networking - presentation - Q&A - networking format. Most groups meet in the evening during the week. Topics cover building a cloud (SaaS) business, leveraging platform services, mobile app development, managing a subscription based revenue stream, etc. Ultimately it's up to you as the community leader to identify what your members want to hear about, and who wants to share! We'll never tell you that you must meet about a certain topic; though we do ask that you keep the topics partner-centric.