Portal:Joomla User Groups

What is a Joomla User Group?

A Joomla User Group (JUG) is a local meeting of people, that regularly share Joomla knowledge, experience and connect with other members of our community. It is a great place to meet new people, and is perfect for all skill levels ranging from newbies, expert Joomla developers, web designers, web managers and anyone wanting to learn more about Joomla.

At the moment there are 168 Registered Joomla User Groups around the world!

How do I start a Joomla User Group?

There are some basic requirements to start a Joomla User Group which include:

1. At least two people to run the group as leaders (minimum)
2. A place to meet in your town - for example a meeting room, a bar, restaurant, office space etc.
3. A name which represents a town or city (not a country or large region)
4. An online place to promote your group and allow people to find out about the group (e.g. website, Facebook group, LinkedIn group, Google+ Community, etc)

How do I find someone else to lead my group with?

There are many ways to find other Joomla users in your local area:

• Joomla User Group Forum
• Localised forums (e.g. Afuj, JoomlaCommunity.eu, Joomla.it)
• Local networking
• Approach other website designers who want to learn about Joomla

How do I find a venue?

It is best to try and find a venue which can be used free of charge, or at low cost, so that you do not have high expenses in starting your group.

Some ideas for places to meet could be:

• Company meeting rooms or showrooms
• Bars, restaurants and cafes
• Community meeting rooms/Village Halls

Should we charge a fee?

As a Joomla User group organiser you may wonder whether you should ask visitors for a financial contribution. A contribution can be useful to get the facilities like a beamer (data projector) or to pay for the drinks during the meeting. If there are speakers invited, funds could be used for a present or travel expenses.

Some groups are completely free and funded by sponsorship. Other groups are free to attend, but have an optional fee for food and beverages (e.g. pizza and beer!). Some JUG groups charge a fixed fee per meeting.

When there is money involved is good to have a treasurer and be transparent with your financial records.

How can I find/attract new members?

Some JUG groups have found that meetup.com is a good way to attract new members from outside the Joomla Community. The main disadvantage of meetup.com is that it is a paid service, however it does handle meeting announcements, RSVPs etc very well.

You can also work on developing your own website, and you can list events if you are a registered Joomla User Group you can list them on events.joomla.org.

Other sites you might want to use include Lanyrd and Plancast.

Running a Joomla User Group

Should we accept corporate sponsors for our group?

Yes it is ok to allow corporate sponsorship of meetings to fund food, beverages, venue costs, and other expenses. That's not to say that every sponsorship offer should be accepted, the JUG organiser should use their discretion to ensure that the companies values are aligned with our open source community.

Some sponsors also wish to attend the meeting and present to the group, but you should ensure that this is not just a sales pitch for their product or service and is related to a topic of interest to your members.

How do we find speakers for our group?

Just ask local proffesionals, they often are happy to share their Joomla! knowledge.

Ask your regular atendees, one of the topics most requested in the Netherlands is 'Docter Joomla' where the atendee's that have a problem or question can share their problem. Often that problem is solved on the spot.

How do we keep our meetings interesting for all levels of experience?

The skill level of attendees can vary from absolute beginner, through to experienced Joomla user or developer. To keep everyone interested, it can be useful to have multiple presentations at each JUG, with one beginner focused talk and one advanced talk, and well as a general discussion where all sorts of issues can be discussed.

How often should we meet?

Many JUG groups meet on a monthly basis, but you could also meet less frequently, such as bi-monthly or quarterly. It is often helpful to set a regular meeting schedule, such as the second Tuesday of each month, so that regular members will know when to expect the next meeting.

What equipment do I need and how can I provide that equipment?

The main requirement is to have a data projector and screen or wall to project on to be used for your presentations. Many venues will be able to provide this equipment, however if not there are various ways you can obtain this equipment. One option may be to borrow the equipment from a member or business. If not, it may be possible to rent a projector for a small fee. Depending on the funding structure of the JUG group, it may be possible to purchase a projector with surplus funds collected.

An Internet connection is often required by presenters, or to show sites during group discussions. Some venues can provide an Internet connection, or you could potentially use a mobile broadband connection or mobile phone tethering to provide Internet access.

How do I manage people booking to attend my meetings?

If you are using meetup.com, this handles all the RSVPs and allows you to easily see who is coming and who cannot make it.

How do I communicate with my members?

Meetings should be announced on appropriate social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus.

If you are using meetup.com, it has inbuilt meeting announcement that will notify members when the meeting is scheduled, as well as an automatic reminder one week prior to the event and the day before the event.

Some JUG groups use an email mailing list to communicate with their members.

Adding your meeting to events.joomla.org is another communication channel, which has the added benefit of giving visibility to our PR Team.

Where are the official JUG lists?

Reporting a User Group

Resources for User Group Organisers

Communication

There is a popular Skype chat which includes JUG Organisers from around the world - if you would like to join it please get in touch with one of the Joomla User Group Team.

We also have a Google Doc which we hope to convert over to be hosted here, this is at http://bit.ly/JUGSmaster.

Speakers

Are you willing to speak at JUG meetings either geographically near you or via Skype/Google+? If so, please add your details to the JUG Speakers List. Be sure to leave a means for JUG Organisers to contact you.

Resources

Have you got slide decks and resources that you would like to make available to others? If so, please add these to the JUG Resources page.