ISUG is launching its new PowerBuilder Coaching Team on October 1st. The ISUG PowerBuilder Coaches will be responsible for nurturing new and existing PowerBuilder user groups by assisting and inspiring user group leaders with fresh and exciting new content to be presented at their user group meetings.
"Over time we have had user groups meeting regularly, irregularly, periodically, occasionally, and all of the above," commented Anne Walker, ISUG President. "In almost all cases though, the main reason for meetings not being held or being canceled was a lack of compelling content to present to user group members. Anyone who has been involved with a user group will tell you that getting someone to volunteer and give a presentation can be difficult primarily because they haven’t had the opportunity or the guidance needed to crystallize their knowledge into something that other users would find valuable."
ISUG has formed a team of experts in SAP Sybase PowerBuilder that will be creating content for user group meetings. These sessions are not open to the general membership but instead will be attended by delegates of user groups around the world. Those people will in turn present the content back to their own user groups.
Unlike regular sessions, the coaching sessions will go beyond the basic presentation, delving into pre-presentation material such as the set-up needed for a demo presentation, full presentation details, Q&A so the attendees can fully understand what is being presented, and post-presentation materials such as reference materials.
"Some of our coaches also hold the role of user group leader in their own locale, and they will be sharing presentations that they have given so that other user group leaders can benefit from them as well," said ISUG Executive Director, Mike Harrold. "In fact, our first session will be presented by Matt Balent of the North Carolina group in Charlotte who will be stepping up and leading by example."
The first coaching session will be on October 1st. User group leaders are encouraged to attend or delegate another member of their team to attend in their place. All sessions will occur online, and will also be recorded for future reference. Interested parties should contact ISUG for more details.
The ISUG PowerBuilder Coaches is the first team in this new initiative from ISUG. Coaching teams for other SAP Sybase products will follow shortly.