GP User Group Ramping Up 2010 Efforts With Outreach, Development

Program development is at the forefront of GP User Group's (GPUG) plans for the future, according to representatives at their year in review webinar that took place on Wednesday.

"The upcoming year will bring significant expansions for GPUG," commented Andy Hafer, CEO of Dynamic Communities Inc., the organization behind GPUG. "Up to now, all of the group's programs have been developed by a shared resource [from] the User Group staff. We've had great programs in the past, heavily relying on the leadership of many GPUG members. The first order of business is to hire a dedicated program director with deep roots in the Great Plains community to take the GPUG to the next level. A dedicated resource ... will help bring great returns and great experiences to members."

Membership has grown steadily at GPUG since its founding, and the current tally includes approximately 1,000 member companies. Still, initiatives are underway to increase that number while adding more resources for current constituents. To increase exposure, GPUG will be expanding involvement in conferences throughout the year, which will include the perennial highlight for the group, GPUG Summit 2010 in Chicago, Ill., as well as Microsoft's Convergence 2010 in Atlanta.

"Awareness continues to be the biggest concern for GPUG," asserted Hafer. "Microsoft recognizes GPUG as the ‘go-to' independent user group. The strong channel of partners is a great asset to the community, yet makes communicating consistent messages to customer companies a challenge."

To remedy this, member collaboration and outreach is going to be stressed in the future, according to Hafer. Meetings - formal and informal, face-to-face and virtual - will be encouraged to increase opportunities for members to network locally and worldwide.

GPUG's plans will extend to a number ...