Joe Bertnick
TechShare in Reno, Nevada began as a simple idea: Our local NetWare user group wanted to host a large educational event to teach our members about Novell products and to attract new members. However, we didn't know if such an event would be successful in Reno, which is a fairly small city with less than 300,000 people. We decided that we would have to find a solution that would fit Reno's size.
We soon discovered that the Novell sales office in San Francisco, California had the answer to our dilemma. Novell employees in the San Francisco sales office had recently conducted a series of two-day seminars called TechShare in cities throughout Northern California. These seminars were modeled after BrainShare, Novell's annual technical conference.
Some of our user group members, who had attended TechShare in Northern California, suggested that we ask the Novell employees in the San Francisco sales office to bring TechShare to Reno. After we promised to make TechShare in Reno worthwhile by providing at least 125 attendees, the Novell employees in this sales office agreed to include Reno in the summer 1997 TechShare tour.
Convincing Novell to hold TechShare in Reno was only the beginning of the hard work involved in hosting a TechShare. For example, our local user group had to determine a date and time, find a suitable location, and publicize TechShare.
Shortly after we started planning TechShare, we discovered that NetWare Users International, North America (NUI, NA) would not be sponsoring regional meetings for user group presidents this year. I talked to Chuck Kluko, our NUI, NA regional representative, about this problem, and we decided to raise money for a regional meeting by hosting a fund-raising party, called TechNight, in conjunction with TechShare. We planned to sell tickets to TechNight, which would give TechShare attendees and vendors the opportunity to discuss networking products and issues in an informal setting.
As we continued to organize and publicize both TechShare and TechNight, we realized that these events would depend on all of the participants working together. For example, our local NetWare user group couldn't have brought TechShare to Reno without Novell, and Novell, in turn, relied on our user group members to plan TechShare and to ensure that plenty of people would attend.
In addition, we needed vendors to support TechNight so we could sell tickets, and these vendors needed each other because they could attract more TechShare attendees together than they could on their own. All in all, each participant was critical to the success of TechShare and TechNight.
When everything was said and done, TechShare exceeded our expectations. More than 170 people attended TechShare, a few attendees traveled to Reno from as far away as Florida and Washington, D.C. In fact, we had more attendees than several larger cities that were part of the summer 1997 TechShare tour.
Because so many people attended TechShare, Novell, NUI, and our local NetWare user group have enjoyed significant benefits. For example, the people who attended TechShare received a lot of useful information about Novell products. As a result, many of these people have since convinced their companies that Novell products will continue to meet their needs.
In addition, the vendors who participated in TechNight developed an appreciation for NetWare user groups, and many of these vendors have decided to become more involved with NUI. Finally, our local NetWare user group increased its membership as a result of TechShare and TechNight.
TechShare in Reno helped everyone involved because it followed the same paradigm that Novell itself has always followed: to build a better networking environment for us--the users--by working with customers, partners, and competitors alike. As with the past, the future of Novell is teamwork. It's no secret that Novell creates some of the best technology in the industry, and Novell will continue to develop the products that we need to improve our networks, our intranets, and the Internet. However, Novell needs NetWare user groups to educate users about Novell products, and Novell needs vendors to add value to these products.
As you can see, TechShare in Reno is a model of what can happen when NetWare user groups become an active part of the Novell team: NetWare user groups can make a difference.
Joe Bertnick is president of the local NetWare user group in Reno, Nevada.
NetWare Connection, October 1997, p.46