In typical fashion, the meeting provided those 3 key elements to the success of everything: food, folks, and fun. But in the midst of all of this frivolity, a lot of information was shared, too.

Debbie Wolff started the meeting out with a discussion on budget-saving/cost-cutting measures which can be realized through business process optimizations. This discussion led to some ideas about ways the group could discuss this topic regularly, including through our established user group Website.

We then moved on to a permitting demonstration by Jonathan Kim, a Presales Engineer with Laserfiche. His Web demonstration consisted of walking us through the process of applying for a permit to install a new water heater, from citizen, to government, and back again, using Laserfiche Workflow to automate the process. What a great advantage it was for both Laserfiche and our User Group to have someone on the west coast do a demonstration for us on the east coast without having to go through airport security!

We wrapped the meeting up with some updates from one of our local value-added resellers, Unity Business Systems, as well as some updates on what was “going on” at Laserfiche by way of Melissa Henley, lead marketing writer at Laserfiche as well as one of our user group’s strongest cheerleaders.

The great attendance and positive response at the meeting, as well as an exciting agenda for our next gathering have all signs pointing towards a bright future.

All aboard!

Better still, I continue to get a steady stream of new requests from individuals interested in joining in next time, guaranteeing an even bigger affair when we meet again on May 7th at the same location.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank those who made this first event a successful one:

• Debbie Wolff from City of Hampton, who is serving as the co-chair of our group.
• Jan Stringer from International Cooperating Ministries in Hampton, who helped provide the goodies.
• John Lane from Unity Business Systems, our Value Added Reseller, who provided some of our freebies.
• Cameron Waite from the City of Norfolk, who helped with the minutes and note-taking.
• Rosalind Collins from the City of Charlottesville, who lent ideas about our possible group structure and logistics.
• Melissa Henley and Brian Lim from Laserfiche, who provided support and helped create our logo.

These are exciting times for us in Hampton Roads, and we look forward to these meetings as a cost-effective and beneficial way for us to share ideas, talk about best practices, and train each other.