CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Real world case studies are good way to bridge the experience gap. Newbies and experts alike are usually interested in seeing how a site implemented donations and what problems they ran into. Or how they customized a directory.

You get the demo component and the expert component in the same package.

When I've done these in the past, I usually use an open space approach... let the group self-organize into what they want... demos, discussions, code sprints, whatever. If you need a "headliner" to draw participants, get a case study in place.

Hope that inspires you!

Thought I would share my experiences on this topic after a (really successful) usergroup meeting in Manchester.  I'll also write start a little report on the wiki.

In the end, the distinction was between CiviCRM developers/power users and people interested in finding out if they could use CiviCRM as their organisational database.

About 25 people attended.  Five or so developers and the rest organisations interested in getting started.  Having these two types of people together is a great way to answer questions from people considering using CiviCRM.  More developers means more knowledge, and sometimes healthy differences of opinion.  It helps potential users understand the nature and strength of the support community and how they it would be available to them.  Hearing beginner questions also helps developers understand client needs and common questions.

There were some great questions from organisations that hopefully we will record on the wiki.  It was a shame not to have a more systematic way of recording them - microphone, maybe?

We were very lucky to have Francesco Moretto (who came over from Milan!) to give a presentation on his experiences of implementing and using CiviCRM and also a tour of his installation for his university alumni association.  A real world case study, narrated by the person that uses the solution works really well.

We had a half hour break in the middle (it was 2.5 hours in total) where people errupted into conversation amongst themselves.  As is often the case, it was a real shame to stop this and go back to the formalities of one-at-a-time speaking - a lot of connections were being made and experience shared in arguably a much more efficient and self organised way.  I would recommend setting aside time for this kind of networking during the meeting (rather that afterwards when inevitably people have to leave) especially as meetings get bigger.

One thing we missed out on was a discussion of how to best collaborate as developers This was fair enough given the balance between developers and potential users.  But it means the group may well split now into something like:

* Introduction to CiviCRM roadshow (where people ask questions and meet developers)
* Developer meet ups (where people talk about how best to deliver CiviCRM services)

It would be be good to know peoples thoughts on this way of organising ourselves.