Upon reflecting on my recent experiences in user groups I am really very fascinated at some of the dynamics I see. I guess this holds true for all types of communities on-line of off. I have been looking into different communities and user groups and I am amazed at how many there are out there. Not only websites with forums and the like but special interest groups, technology groups such as the CNUG I wrote about yesterday. Basically if you can think of it there is a group for it. Granted not all of them are big, and not all of them are extremely active but great deals of them are.

All this is true across the globe too. There have been a lot of people spending time starting up, and managing these groups and even more people taking time to attend and participate in the discussion. It really is a fascinating dynamic, when you think about it.

I am really very curious as to what different motivations there are out there that get people to get involved in user groups. I know why I have done it in the past, and I know what I have read but I would love to hear other people's real reasons for it. When you choose to go out there and get involved what are you hoping to get, how does it benefit you? What is your motivation? It boils down to the old give get scenario, I give time and effort and in return I feel I get…….

Not only that but there are so many and most likely some of them overlap at least a little? How do you find them? How do you pick which one adds the most value to you? Perhaps you don't choose, perhaps you go to several different ones. This is certainly possible and maybe even common. I know that I saw several people at CNUG that I also saw at some SharePoint user groups in past.

If you feel comfortable I would love to learn more about this, let me know why you are involved.