Laserfiche User Groups: Have Food, Have Focus, Have Fun
April 14th, 2009 Comment on this article
Laserfiche user groups have become DIY workshops for users inspired to maximize the value of their organization’s Laserfiche investment.
“It’s all about the ROI,” says Laserfiche Luminary Alondo McClees, co-chairperson of the newly-formed Hampton Roads Laserfiche User Group (HRLUG) and Technology Systems Coordinator, City of Norfolk Commissioner of the Revenue.
The HRLUG hosted its first quarterly meeting in February, which inspired McClees’ co-chairperson Debbie Wolff, Records Manager for the City of Hampton, to share her tips for little efficiencies. “My goal for this year is to continue to help people change the way that they work by changing how they think about their work,” Wolff explains. “Laserfiche is fundamental in that.”
Alondo McClees, co-chairperson of the Hampton Roads Laserfiche User Group (HRLUG)
McClees, who offered his own recap of the HRLUG’s first quarterly meeting in the Laserfiche Luminaries Blog, says user groups are as much a chance to give back to the user community as to learn from it.
“There’s a lot of expertise in the room when you get 60 people together,” he says. “It can actually be very humbling. I think, ‘Wow, we’ve really done a lot [using Laserfiche] in four years and there are people here who rolled it out last week. The efficiencies back then apply even more now.”
He credits the user group with focusing his time management– even when he doesn’t think he has the time. “It forces me to make it a priority.” He’s looking forward to next month’s Q2 meeting and an RME demo from reseller UBS. “I’m not an expert at all [at RME] but having it at the meeting makes me spend that time doing the research.”
Keeping Up the Conversation
Users aren’t the only ones benefiting from user groups; resellers learn as well. “The meeting before last we spent a lot of time covering best practices in a PowerPoint,” says Bob Cody of Datanet Solutions, which hosted the San Bernardino Laserfiche User Group last month. “We had the audience fill out a questionnaire and they told us they wanted more demonstrations, so this time we only had 13 slides – then three hours of live software demos.”
For Cody and his clients, user group meetings are a way to address individual concerns in a group setting. “We can answer specific questions without getting into the deep weeds. Even if people are relatively new to using Laserfiche, they still appreciate that the question was asked. They can all learn something.”
One such user is Patrick Sanchez, Business System Support Analyst for the City of San Bernardino Water Department. He left the March meeting with a fresh understanding of how to set up his HR folders. “We had the folders listed by each employee. Then I saw how you could just do it by the letter of the alphabet. So instead of 266 folders, you have 26. It keeps a much clearer folder structure.”
He found the group atmosphere inspiring, he says. “It gives me a perspective to how other people are using their system. Your creativity’s really your limit.”
When asked why users should attend user groups, Sanchez offers two reasons.
“First, if you want your system to do something and you don’t quite know how, just ask. Even though you might be able to figure it out on your own, you’ll get the best possible answer,” he says. “The second reason to go is just to see the advances in the next version [of Laserfiche]. I know with 8.0 people were like ‘Ooooh,’ but it’s been out for a year, it’s stable and it works.”
He adds, “I’ve been going to different workshops for about four years and I get as much out of four or five hours of a Laserfiche meeting than I do from a couple of days at other kinds of seminars.”
Laserfiche-User-Group-In-A-Presentation Inspires Laserfiche-User-Group-In-A-Bag
So, how do you start a user group? Laserfiche Luminary Rosalind Collins, Laserfiche Administrator for the City of Charlottesville, VA, offered an ad hoc how-to manual with her “City of Charlottesville: Forming and Leading a Laserfiche User Group” presentation at this year’s Conference (which is available, along with all the other conference presentations, on the Laserfiche Support Site). The message: have food, have focus and have fun. Adds Collins, “Especially at your first meeting, keep a record of who attended and be sure you get new people’s names and e-mail addresses.”
Rosalind Collins is the Laserfiche Administrator for the City of Charlottesville and the leader of the Charlottesville User Group.
She’s especially looking forward to “lunch-n-learns” about Laserfiche 8 that reseller UBS has planned, as well as a “Searching Tips & Tricks” presentation at her next user group meeting next month. “Everybody wants to know more about searching – from template to text, easy to advanced, so I’m working with UBS to put that together.”
Collins was a shining light in the formation of her Charlottesville User Group, and has been a major inspiration behind the forthcoming Laserfiche-User-Group-in-a-Bag for new user groups. So far the idea is to fill a snazzy Laserfiche laptop backpack with templates for meeting agendas, flyers and presentations, include nametags and other giveaways, and also provide a leader’s guide with tips, tricks and best practices for running your own user group. Keep reading the UserNews for information on when the User-Group-in-a-Bag will be available.
If you’re interested in contributing, or would like to get on the list to receive the User-Group-in-a-Bag when it’s released, please e-mail your contact information, ideas or suggestions to melissa.henley@laserfiche.com or hobey.echlin@laserfiche.com.
We’d also love to hear from you and so would the rest of the Laserfiche user community. You can share ideas, network with other User Group leaders or ask questions on the User Group Forum, located on the Support Site.
In spirit of the Laserfiche community, if you have something to offer, please do, and if you need anything from us, please ask.
Tags: user groups