10 - Salesforce.com helps organize User Groups all over the world. Search for a meeting near you.
9 - If there is no User Group near you, Salesforce.com will help you start one by providing resources and training to help you get started. Check out this ButtonClick Admin post and podcast for great additional information about leading a Salesforce.com User Group.
8 - User Groups are an excellent free way to develop your Salesforce.com knowledge and skills in an engaging, structured, and social environment.
7 - They are a great place to meet smart and enthusiastic Salesforce.com users. The next time you want to brainstorm, you might have a new friend to call.
6 - User Groups are an excellent resource to find out about job openings and career opportunities in other organizations that are using Salesforce.com.
5 - Speaking of other organizations, there is tremendous value to be found in building your professional network among other businesses that are using similar technology tools. You will learn how other businesses are leveraging the cloud to enhance all their business processes, from Marketing, to Sales, to Customer Support.
4 - If you have trouble keeping up with the seasonal releases and new features of Salesforce, User Groups can be a place to get these updates in an easy format.
3 - While most User Groups attendees are regular users and admins, Salesforce.com Partner Consultants are often in attendance as well. There are rules that make sure they don't use the opportunity to try to sell you anything, so it can be a great opportunity to get novel ideas and best practices advice from the experts.
2 - Salesforce.com AppExchange vendors are enthusiastic to demonstrate their products at User Groups, whether via a virtual presentation or by sending a representative to your group. This is a great way to learn about powerful and interesting apps, and to learn how other businesses are using them.
1 - User Groups are run by other users on a volunteer basis, so they are likely to be very responsive if you would like to help or add your own ideas to the mix. If you are interested in leadership opportunity to enhance your resume and grow your own Salesforce.com knowledge and skills, consider offering to do a presentation at your user group, or joining the leadership team.
Cloudy and the team at Redpath Consulting Group are involved in several Salesforce User Groups in the Twin Cities, MN area, including the general area user group, as well as smaller groups for nonprofit users and for Salesforce.com developers. Contact us if you would like to find out when the next meetings of these groups will be held, or if you would like to get in touch with Twin Cities area group leaders.
