But if you're not careful, these groups can waste your time. To join a worthwhile group, you must do your homework and find out how often it meets, how well its members participate, whether the members are homogenous, and how they stay connected. Sun Microsystems Inc. Java software-development user group. Regardless of the technology, members must meet often enough to disperse important support information shortly before, during, and after a major update to the technology. Y ou don't want to learn about bugs and workarounds in forthcoming technology the day before you plan to deploy it.
Most groups find that meeting monthly is sufficient.
You need to be willing to share in these groups. Oleson advises against novices attending meetings, unless an experienced person who can contribute comes along. They can drain the productivity out of meetings. Beware of canned, sanitized presentations from vendors and consultants. The goal should be learning from the trenches, finding out what works, what's broken, and how to fix it.