WOW!
So that is about the only word I can use to sum up how I feel about last night’s meeting.
We had about 45 of #BIHappyHour in the hotel lobby, it was a little cramped but we were not moving into the open spaces very well. In the future will will do a better job of herding folks into more open space. It warmed my heart to see so many people chatting and introducing themselves. Our food was delivered, special thanks to my Dad and my husband for going to pick it up! I thought the food was awesome and I didn’t get to eat any of it until after 9pm when we got home. We spent 10-15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting doing introductions, thanking sponsors, thanking the Sharepoint UG and the Excel UG and reviewing the PASS February Chapter Deck. Then it was off to discussing what to do with this new group, how to grow it into a community. We got a lot of great feedback, here are a few of the suggestions
- Host guest blog post on the nashbi.sqlpass.org site to help people get started.
- WE LOVED this idea and will work on getting it implemented ASAP!
- Yammer, as a way to communicate with others and get help/answers to questions.
- Meeting locations
- South of Nashville was the general consensus
- Places like Brentwood Library, Vaco, Microsoft, ComData, HCA, Tractor Supply and a few others were suggested.
- Topic ideas were across the board
- Kimball Architecture, ETL, Automation (UT, automating testing), a lot of start to finish suggestions, big data and other technologies
After this we let Craig Utley take the stage. He did an amazing job and the feedback on his session was overwhelming positive! What a great way to start a new user group.
My food for thought and take away items from this first meeting.
I am glad that I was prepared! When I ordered the food I was told I would receive exactly 50 plates, 50 sets of silverware, napkins and serving utensils. What we got was NO napkins, no serving utensils and I packaged up the left over silverware to find we have 170 pieces left. Many think I am a pack rat, always toting along too much stuff where ever I go and always checking a bag when traveling no matter how long I am gone. Well last night it paid off. I had in a giant plastic tote every thing that was needed; 2 packages of paper plates (50~ish), a box of silverware, napkins, roll of paper towel and an entire set of serving utensils. WHEW! Incase you are wondering in the other tote I had emergency batteries and cords to charge phones, display dongle, backup batteries for mice, power strip, and everything else I take when I travel.
Things that we will be doing over the next couple of weeks
- Reviewing all of the feedback forms
- Figuring out a way to track some of this data
- Compiling a list of future topic ideas
- Making sure everyone is signed up to receive meeting notices
- Getting the guest blog spot rolling
- Updating the website with a community blog roll and other useful resources
- Following up with
- Folks who offered to inquire about venues
- Folks who offered to guest blog
- Folks who are interested in speaking
I think personally I will create a check list to follow in prep for each meeting. I need to include things like packing food service supplies and having back up plans. I will also make a venue check list so that we’ll know earlier that the microphone isn’t installed/working. And I think I will just generally leave a reminder for all those helping that sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
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