Starting your own user group community

Sometimes, you may be located somewhere where there is no existing user group covering your area of expertise. The following are some steps you can take as best practices to start your own user group when this is the case. Consider partnering with an existing user group before you decide to undertake this initiative, but there are times when a new user group is warranted, depending on your area.

Here’s how to go about it:

• Register a domain name with your user group initials.
• Set up a collaborative website, preferably a wiki. Available options to consider include Confluence, GitHub, Eventbrite, Meetup, XWiki, or Drupal, among others.
• Set up a newsletter that people can easily subscribe to.
• Make sure to send out the newsletter on a regular basis.
• Reach out to potential sponsors in your area, making sure to include the visitor stats of your website to encourage them to sponsor your site.
• Run events on a regular...