Intro from Tim: My good friend Arline Welty (Twitter :: LinkedIn) is the first person to submit a guest blog post here since I begged for more guest posts (click here) back in October. I met Arline at Acumatica Summit 2019 in Houston and she’s awesome. She even sent me a copy of Deep Work by Cal Newport (click here) which is now my favorite book about work. Arline did some interviews with local Acumatica User Group leaders and turned them into the following post in which she even includes a self-interview. I like Arline’s correlation between remote offices and in-person community (you’re onto something Arline). And don’t miss the upcoming Midwest Acumatica User Group ribbon cutting webinar! You can sign-up below.
Take it away Arline!
Midwest Acumatica User Group
Interview with Arline Welty
To get involved:
https://acumaticausergroup.com/aug-midwest
Upcoming Event: “Ribbon Cutting Webinar”
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 @ 12:00pm Central Time Click here to sign up
What has surprised and delighted you about the Midwest User Group?
I’ve been delighted by the willingness of people to share their experiences and help each other learn and grow. It’s encouraging to be around people who aren’t trying to hoard information. Instead, there’s a culture of sharing knowledge and mutual encouragement.
What are the typical roles/titles of people who attend the Midwest User Group?
We see Business Owners, CFOs, and Technical People who want to make sure they are getting the most from their investment. It’s always fun to work with people who want to get under the hood and become proficient in the software.
Why do people attend the Midwest User Group events?
I sometimes wonder if it’s the snacks. But part of me also suspects that with an increasing trend toward remote offices, the user groups help build in-person community and help people better identify with one another as Acumatica users.
What else should a prospective member know?
A prospective member should know that they may walk away from one of our meetups with a head way too full of good ideas.
Pacific Northwest Acumatica User Group
Interview with Patricia Bennett
To get involved:
https://www.pcbennett.com/pacwest-acumatica-users-group
Upcoming Event: Inaugural Meeting
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 @ 10:30am Pacific Time
What has surprised and delighted you about the PNW User Group?
Customers are already getting excited about attending the initial PNW user group meetup on February 26 – we’re getting a lot of interest. Click here to sign up
What are the typical roles/titles of people who attend the PNW User Group?
Mostly these are Owners, CFOs, and Controllers who get interested in this. The management team usually attends.
Why do people attend the PNW User Group events?
They will attend to learn how they can further utilize Acumatica to streamline their processes. They want to become more efficient in their business.
What else should a prospective member know?
You will receive insight from other users about ways to utilize Acumatica that you may not have even thought of.
Southeast Acumatica User Group
Interview with Joel Gress
To get involved:
https://acumaticausergroup.com/aug-southeast
Upcoming Event: Automation Examples
Tuesday, March 10, 2020 @ 1:00pm Eastern Time
What is the geographic scope of the Southeast User Group?
The Acumatica User Group is available to any user regardless of geography. If a user wishes, they can join multiple regional user groups. To help guide users, we have put together an interactive map on the AUG Web site showing regional groups and their proposed coverage area (subject to change). Regardless of your geography and/or proximity to events, every member has an opportunity to benefit from the Acumatica User Group and can join whichever regional groups they identify with.
What has surprised and delighted you about the Southeast User Group?
The response from Acumatica Users has been amazing. They are excited to participate, learn and share their own experiences. People are coming together to help one another and have begun to connect outside of the AUGSE events and then bring their experiences into the next event. We now have multiple customer locations that will be hosting our events throughout 2020. The green pins on the interactive AUG map shows the Customer Host Locations. We are excited to add more host locations across the country as we move into 2020.
What are the typical roles/titles of people who attend the Southeast User Group?
The participation at the AUGSE events include everyone from Office Staff to CEOs and many roles in between. The majority of participants have been C and VP level executives along with technical staff. They are looking for guidance on best practices and how to automate their business. The C levels want to understand the big picture of possibilities with Acumatica while the technical staff or the people that will make the gears turn in their specific instance of Acumatica want to understand the steps they need to take to automate their business processes.
Why do people attend the Southeast User Group events?
Users attend AUGSE events to connect with other users, learn how to better utilize Acumatica, and share their experiences with others. The predominant request from users is how to automate more of their processes. Automation with Acumatica is the theme of the AUGSE events for 2020. We will have some great events designed to help users understand the steps that lead to automation and the tools available.
What else should a prospective member know?
You are not alone. There are thousands of Acumatica Users looking to connect with you, share their knowledge with you, and learn from you. Membership is free. Make the most of your Acumatica subscription by joining the Acumatica User Group.
Rocky Mountain Acumatica User Group
Interview with Doug Hollenback
To get involved:
https://www.intuitive-s.com/rocky-mountain-acumatica-users-group
Upcoming Event: Quarterly Meeting
Tuesday, March 10, 2020 @ 11:00am Mountain Time
What has surprised and delighted you about the Rocky Mountain User Group?
We were officially the very first Acumatica User Group founded in the entire world! There was tremendous customer effort and input into presentations at the user group meetings (specifically Habitat for Humanity, and Ray Allen Manufacturing). I was also pleased with how the ISV community wanted to do anything and everything to help make these meetings a success.
What are the typical roles/titles of people who attend the Rocky Mountain User Group?
Roughly 1/3 is C-level management for sure (CFO, COO, CEO). About 1/3 is VP level management … mainly around finance and operations. Remaining 1/3 is represented by mainly operations and accounting users.
Why do people attend the Rocky Mountain User Group events?
End users definitely want to hear and see what is new in the latest and greatest releases. They also want to hear and see how other organizations use their Acumatica instance. There have been many cases where an end user told me that they “did not know they could do that” when talking with another user or seeing a presentation by another organization. All that said, those who attend the user group are those who have a vested interest in the continued success of their Acumatica installation and want to make the best (or better) use of it by learning and being “in the know”.
What else should a prospective member know?
Our user group, albeit the first founded Acumatica user group, is still very young. A few of our users are volunteering their time to assist in events, promotion, and organization of the Rocky Mountain Acumatica User Group. However, we are a clean slate, meaning, we have a format which seems to work and is accepted, but we are always open to suggestions and new ideas!
Getting Involved
To get involved in any of the user groups, visit the main Acumatica User Group website @ https://acumaticausergroup.com and click on your preferred region to learn more and register as a member. You will automatically be added to the private AUG Forum and your Regional AUG Forum where you can get relevant updates.