AuTechHeads doesn't fit well to the 'usual' user group mould. It never has.
The group has always been as much - or perhaps is more - an idea as anything else. How do you sell an idea to people? I still don't think we know a good answer to that question.
I recall that some time back, someone on Twitter suggested that we were a Microsoft website. It was patently absurd, but I couldn't help but ask why. Far from what I expected - the roots of the group's name would be obvious - the response was that our (then) website used so much blue.
Blue. Because Microsoft sites used a lot of blue. Being the person who shovelled the site together, I honestly can't recall the branding colours of any other company being a consideration at any point. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't get involved in such a ludicrous conversation nowadays. The site, and the group, is what it is. We're not owned by any vendor or company. Site costs come from our own pockets, and site ideas come from our own brains.
Content, though, comes from members. There's an understandably implicit question that arises from this. What is the value of contributing to such a site, and such a group?
There are, of necessity, multiple layers to that question - all of which come down to the underlying ideas behind AuTechHeads. We can talk about the value of an Australian group for sharing knowledge and ideas between technology professionals. We can talk about how a group like this can positively influence the community and industry. We can talk about young folk who want to get into an IT or developer career, and the value that can be had from dialog between them and professionals who are already working in the industry.
On another level, we can talk about events like the AuTechHeads Party. It's always been our most visible achievement, and this third year is a matter of pride for us. The first year was about whether we could accomplish an idea as wild as a free party for members, sponsored by various industry vendors. The second year was about the success of the first party, and whether we could repeat it. Now, the third year is about whether we could sustain it.
The nature of AuTechHeads comes into play here. We don't try to make anyone to do anything - whether to our benefit or detriment. I'm not even going to be at the party this year, but I had been pushing the party agenda nonetheless. There was some real concern for me about sponsorships, with a number of past sponsors having changed contacts and circumstances, and not responding. But then others in the Core Team, and several sponsors, stepped in and reminded me of just what the group really is about.
We contribute to the group because we believe in it. There is much to be said about what a group full of technology professionals from all manner of disciplines and technological expertise can achieve. We do have a lot of people who work with Microsoft technology - that's a symptom of the prevalence of Microsoft software in our industry. Hell, I'm a Microsoft MVP, so there's bound to be some Microsoft stuff from me. But we also have people who work exclusively with Apple. With any number of Linux distro's. With VMware. With Oracle. With whatever their job requires, and wherever their passion leads. I don't exclusively work with Microsoft stuff, either.
We contribute to the group because we know that, when it works, we can accomplish amazing things. The AuTechHeads Party is pretty amazing. 300 people attended last year. We funded it with sponsors - there's absolutely a value to getting your brand in front of such a concentrated group, and we're open about the fact that it could only happen with their support. All the work behind the scenes, though, was voluntary, unpaid, and in our spare time. It was a great party.
Here, then, is the real reason to participate in and contribute to the group (and, by extension, the site). The more involvement and engagement we have, the more we can do things like this. We currently tie the party to the TechEd Australia conference, because it's such a large gathering of our current and prospective members. Imagine if we could attract enough interest to hold our own event, totally separately, in your own city. Just an idea, but the more we can tell prospective sponsors about the membership and engagement levels that we have, the more these ideas become a possibility.
We can flow those benefits down to other groups, too. The events calendar is a great example of this idea. It's there to add industry events, user group meetings, meetups, conferences, and more. They don't have to be AuTechHeads related. Just technology based.
There are limits, though. We've had prospective sponsors ask to be given a list of member names and emails. The answer is no, always. It's not something we'd ever feel comfortable with. That probably hurts the volume of sponsorship we could attract - but we feel better for it. We mean it when we say that we don't give out your information.
So - struggling with an issue? Found a cool solution? Developed an awesome app? Looking for someone with specific expertise? Pop it in the forums. We don't have a forum for it? Suggest it! Written a cool blog post? We're happy for you to cross post it to reach a wider audience - so long as it's yours, of course! Or write original posts here - the choice is yours.
We provide a place for this all to happen .. we don't nag or try to force anyone to do it. We don't tolerate spam - vendors wanting to have an open and honest discussion with tech pros are perfectly welcome, but purely promotional pieces receive an instaban reward. Equally, we don't want flame wars or explicit content - there's better places for that. What we want is to build a community with its own reiterative development and improvement. The more you contribute, the more we can give back. That's the nature of this particular beast.
The group has always been as much - or perhaps is more - an idea as anything else. How do you sell an idea to people? I still don't think we know a good answer to that question.
I recall that some time back, someone on Twitter suggested that we were a Microsoft website. It was patently absurd, but I couldn't help but ask why. Far from what I expected - the roots of the group's name would be obvious - the response was that our (then) website used so much blue.
Blue. Because Microsoft sites used a lot of blue. Being the person who shovelled the site together, I honestly can't recall the branding colours of any other company being a consideration at any point. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't get involved in such a ludicrous conversation nowadays. The site, and the group, is what it is. We're not owned by any vendor or company. Site costs come from our own pockets, and site ideas come from our own brains.
Content, though, comes from members. There's an understandably implicit question that arises from this. What is the value of contributing to such a site, and such a group?
There are, of necessity, multiple layers to that question - all of which come down to the underlying ideas behind AuTechHeads. We can talk about the value of an Australian group for sharing knowledge and ideas between technology professionals. We can talk about how a group like this can positively influence the community and industry. We can talk about young folk who want to get into an IT or developer career, and the value that can be had from dialog between them and professionals who are already working in the industry.
On another level, we can talk about events like the AuTechHeads Party. It's always been our most visible achievement, and this third year is a matter of pride for us. The first year was about whether we could accomplish an idea as wild as a free party for members, sponsored by various industry vendors. The second year was about the success of the first party, and whether we could repeat it. Now, the third year is about whether we could sustain it.
The nature of AuTechHeads comes into play here. We don't try to make anyone to do anything - whether to our benefit or detriment. I'm not even going to be at the party this year, but I had been pushing the party agenda nonetheless. There was some real concern for me about sponsorships, with a number of past sponsors having changed contacts and circumstances, and not responding. But then others in the Core Team, and several sponsors, stepped in and reminded me of just what the group really is about.
We contribute to the group because we believe in it. There is much to be said about what a group full of technology professionals from all manner of disciplines and technological expertise can achieve. We do have a lot of people who work with Microsoft technology - that's a symptom of the prevalence of Microsoft software in our industry. Hell, I'm a Microsoft MVP, so there's bound to be some Microsoft stuff from me. But we also have people who work exclusively with Apple. With any number of Linux distro's. With VMware. With Oracle. With whatever their job requires, and wherever their passion leads. I don't exclusively work with Microsoft stuff, either.
We contribute to the group because we know that, when it works, we can accomplish amazing things. The AuTechHeads Party is pretty amazing. 300 people attended last year. We funded it with sponsors - there's absolutely a value to getting your brand in front of such a concentrated group, and we're open about the fact that it could only happen with their support. All the work behind the scenes, though, was voluntary, unpaid, and in our spare time. It was a great party.
Here, then, is the real reason to participate in and contribute to the group (and, by extension, the site). The more involvement and engagement we have, the more we can do things like this. We currently tie the party to the TechEd Australia conference, because it's such a large gathering of our current and prospective members. Imagine if we could attract enough interest to hold our own event, totally separately, in your own city. Just an idea, but the more we can tell prospective sponsors about the membership and engagement levels that we have, the more these ideas become a possibility.
We can flow those benefits down to other groups, too. The events calendar is a great example of this idea. It's there to add industry events, user group meetings, meetups, conferences, and more. They don't have to be AuTechHeads related. Just technology based.
There are limits, though. We've had prospective sponsors ask to be given a list of member names and emails. The answer is no, always. It's not something we'd ever feel comfortable with. That probably hurts the volume of sponsorship we could attract - but we feel better for it. We mean it when we say that we don't give out your information.
So - struggling with an issue? Found a cool solution? Developed an awesome app? Looking for someone with specific expertise? Pop it in the forums. We don't have a forum for it? Suggest it! Written a cool blog post? We're happy for you to cross post it to reach a wider audience - so long as it's yours, of course! Or write original posts here - the choice is yours.
We provide a place for this all to happen .. we don't nag or try to force anyone to do it. We don't tolerate spam - vendors wanting to have an open and honest discussion with tech pros are perfectly welcome, but purely promotional pieces receive an instaban reward. Equally, we don't want flame wars or explicit content - there's better places for that. What we want is to build a community with its own reiterative development and improvement. The more you contribute, the more we can give back. That's the nature of this particular beast.
