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One can imagine a group of say, less than a dozen, with one sharing his knowledge, then after a cocktail (with non alcoholic beverages as well of course), a dinner as both an occasion for informal contacts and networking. Something much lighter, with more limited ambitions, centered on a friendly gathering, is a much easier goal. It is exhausting for volunteers to organize, often frustrating, expensive, and sometimes such a burden people walk out because they no longer want such an involvement. I guess the biggest pitfall a lot of user groups fall into is to try to hold big events. Through the years, I have attended many such occasions, since I was moderator for the French network equivalent of Compuserve, CalvaCom, back in the late seventies. Sure, the presence of Xojo people is a plus, but I feel it is more important to simply have people meet. Given the level of technical information already available, among other things, through this forum, and the possibility to try before you buy most of the products we use, I am not so sure presentations are that of interest. Smaller, regional events can be organized on a shoe string, really.
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But as pointed out it costs a lot to participants and Xojo alike. XDC is the big event that is both a show for Xojo, an occasion for often isolated developers to congregate, and to get a lot of inspiration. What do you want in a Xojo Event? Do you like the big worldwide event like XDC or would you prefer that they be smaller, more regional events? Is recording them necessary or why bother? What is the value to you? I figure it’s a business event so I’m not looking for ‘family’ events but wives and kids were welcome to tag along for meals. That’s okay because it’s very intimate at that point. My own personal belief is that small regional events will attract < 30 people. I still keep in touch with many of the developers I met at those conferences. In Atlanta we pretty much stayed at the hotel, but I felt it was decent experience and we had fun. After the conference in Boulder a group of us went to Estes Park and saw the sights. These events were small and we all got to know each other fairly well in the 2 or 3 nights we were there. I know for many that XDC is prohibitively expensive but part of that is because Xojo wants a nice hotel and good food, entertainment, etc. I felt that the local regional people attended because it was cheap enough to make it an easy decision.
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If memory served ARBP paid for lunches and one evening meal at both. In Atlanta, we held it at a Holiday Inn near the airport and I think we had around 25 attendees. In Boulder we were all on our own for lodging. In both cases we went for the cheapest event possible and in both cases we recorded sessions and offered them to members. The first in 2009 in Boulder, Colorado at the offices of a local Xojo developers group. When I was El Presidente of the Association of REALbasic Professionals we held two conferences. On the XDC video thread a conversation was started about what we’re looking for in official Xojo events.