Usergroup Page one Xtra CD

[Rodney]

It may be a good thing.. or it may be a bad thing.

 

We'd like to identify Users Groups on the Extra CD so that people can easily find other folks in their area with the common interest of Animation:Master.

 

I have several good write ups on users groups and activities that we could add but I have a feeling it might be best to create a page from scratch for each group. Each Usersgroup can put whatever they want on their page (HTML) and we can discuss additional content based on space available.

 

Before putting personal information on a CD that might bring people to your door I would suggest you might want to consider some alternatives.

 

I know some of you have published maps to your houses etc. and if that is what you wish to do that's fine. It might be more appropriate just to identify your Usergroup and the area of the country (or world!) you meet in and direct everyone to this Users Group forum for the latest information.

 

As far as email accounts for Usersgroups... If anyone wants to set up an email address specifically for their usersgroup there are still people that have a lot of gmail accounts to give away.

 

What say you all to a little publicity for your Usersgroup on the Xtra CD?

 

Rodney

[ddavis]

Hey Rodney,

(Happy belated birthday, by the way)

Getting the info about the user groups out there would be a great thing.

Trouble is... I never know where or when the next meeting will be. We don't have a regular meeting place or date. The only thing I could suggest is that anyone interested in meeting in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware area keep an eye out for announcements from the Mid-Atlantic Animation Master users Group (MAAM).

I would be willing to have people contact me through the forum and I will notify them when and where a meeting will be held.

Do you think that will be enough??

Maybe I should talk to Hubukai (John) he has been hosting the web site where we have been posting info. Let me check with him.

No matter what, the idea is great. It would be nice to have a directory of user groups with a little contact info.

[KenH]

Some ideas for info you might include:

 

Link to a website/email(should be a hotmail/gmail account that can be terminated easily)

 

Info on what you do at meetings

 

A small picture and brief outline of people who attend the meetings (obviously nothing too personal like phone numbers)

 

A small picture of the place you meet if applicable

 

Maybe a description of some problems you might have solved/work you've done as a result of these meetings.

 

Etc etc

[Paul Forwood]

This is a good idea for getting greater exposure but the problem that I have with the BA:M site is bandwidth. I would like to go all public with the site but as soon as I attract attention I run out of bandwidth. I have a current limit of 750 Mb per day I think. This makes it necessary to look at paying for a dedicated account for something which may only be updated sporadically.

 

I guess a webpage on the Extra CD with an introduction and email link for people to request details of group meetings would be okay though.

[Rodney]

Thanks for the interest thus far.

Some good info and concerns all around. It's not easy starting, fostering and maintaining a usergroup is it?

 

Thanks to everyone that has made such groups possible.

 

We'll press ahead and plan to have a page for each geographic location with a usergroup.

 

I'm not sure how Macs are with imagemaps but it would be nice to be able to click on a map of the world and go to the usergroup(s) of interest to find out basic information and (at a minimum) a link to here: A:M Forum User Groups.

 

Rodney

[ddavis]

Thanks Rodney, for giving this some thought.

Before we started I had asked several times about a user group and never got an answer. Something like what you propose would be a big help for new users and getting other interested in attending. Just give me an ides of what you need, I'll be happy to help in any way I can.

Maybe a post to the general forum asking for the location of all user groups in the world might be a start.

[Rodney]

Thanks Don.

I'll try to post something tonight with a link back to this discussion or new post designed to identify all user groups. We could make a clickable map right here in the forum too. Wouldn't be too difficult to put together especially if someone has a cool map o' the world.

 

It looks like the term is "User Groups" so I'll try to stick with that I guess.

[Hubukai]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks to Don for waking me up out of my Holiday sleep. It seems very necessary for Users to have a user group page and sub pages that they can modify. I would imagine that putting a link or links on the second CD that point to the user groups main page would be the way to go.

 

Speaking with Don before about this, and with the ok from Hash, I registered AMUG.us , unfortunately the .com was taken. I am a web developer of 10 years and defiantly saw the need for such a site, not only for MAAM, our user group, but also for the rest of the users.

 

It would also probably be logical to have www.AnimationMasterUserGroups.com or something like that, (although it is a little long) that also links to the same spot. Currently I am hosting this site on my server and don’t think Bandwidth will be a problem.

 

Now. For the site it self. It obviously needs to be a multi-level site.

The main site for information.

Sub Sites for each user group.

The sub sites should have one or two administrators to take care of there own user group sub site.

 

This site would be complicated to build. There ARE pre built solutions for such a situation such as Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Services. A Microsoft solution would be out of the question because it would be tough to get any $ for putting a site together. I am working on secondary “Free” Solutions for the manager system of this site.

 

For all of my web sites tha I build I use www.xigla.com components for the back ends and managers. These components are top notch and would be very useful. Please look at them when you get a chance.

 

Since this would be a “Big” Job, I am wondering if there could be any assistance from AM users.

 

Well, With the AMUG.us Domain setup, I will begin to assemble a template page. I do not want to ask for help from the community Just Yet because there would just be a flood in questions and thoughts.

 

So, I am sorry I have Been Missing in the Void.

I am back and ready to be creative in 2005.

 

 

John Hubickey

[Rodney]

John,

Glad to see you awake at last!

 

I can't speak much to the central webpage for A:M User Groups except to say I agree... We need one.

 

For my part, I'm not really trying to create a website at this point even though it seems a worthy goal. I'm just hoping to organize a few HTML tags and create a little buzz for A:M User Groups via the 2nd CD that Hash Inc plans to ship out with the main CD.

 

One of the reasons I thought it might be best to link to this area (A:M Forum's User Group area) is because by default it will probably have the most up to date information concerning User Groups. Unless designed really well I'm not sure even a web site devoted to the subject can keep up with what's new. It definitely would take a lot of effort on someone's part I'd think.

 

Even if there is a generic "Welcome" page that points people back to this forum that will be better than what we currently have. With talent like what I've seen come out of the User Groups I'm sure even more can be accomplished. Sustaining it is an entirely different matter of course.

 

There is another important element of the equation that we haven't scratched the surface of and that is the activity and support of Hash Inc's 'mirror' companies in Japan and Germany. They maintain an important interest in all things A:M and more than likely have already established an interface with User Groups on the international scene. It would be nice to ---eventually--- coordinate some of our efforts.

 

Regardless, I'm at your service in whatever capacity you need me.

Hope 2005 sees much success for User Groups!

 

Rodney