How Do I Start a LabVIEW User Group?

Starting your own user group requires time, leadership, dedication, and vision. It is not just a single step but a continued commitment to the LabVIEW community in your area. However, this investment reaps many benefits, and countless resources are available to help you get started. Below are seven steps you can follow to create a successful LabVIEW user group.

1. Organize Your Colleagues -- Select a group of LabVIEW users who you already know. They can be colleagues, friends, or even neighbors who already develop in LabVIEW or are interested in learning more about the technology. Have these individuals help you start your user group, then build from this initial foundation of members.

2. Contact Your Local Sales Office -- National Instruments has Field Engineers located across the globe who would be more than willing to help you get started. Your local Field Engineer can recommend other users who are at your same level of experience and expertise with LabVIEW and who would be interested in participating in your user group. You can locate your Local Sales Office from the NI Web site. After you establish a group of approximately 10 to 15 users, it is time to hold your first user group meeting.

3. Find a Meeting Place -- Before you can hold the meetings, you must secure a place to meet. This could be a consistent room at a single facility or rotate between various resources. Possible locations include the following:

• NI regional office
• Alliance member office
• Onsite at a company
• Regional training facility (contact local Sales Office)
• University
• Hotel

4. Select LabVIEW Presentation Topics -- Each meeting will involve at least one LabVIEW presentation. With so many topics to discuss, it might be difficult to decide what topic you should discuss first. The following are a few ideas to get you started:

• New features in LabVIEW
• Design patterns in LabVIEW
• Leveraging the power of control references
• Messaging in your applications
• Optimizing VI performance
• Managing memory
• Calibration
• Advanced data acquisition development

You also can visit LabVIEW Zone for a set of pre-built presentations on frequently requested topics. We also encourage you to visit other user group Web sites to see which topics they have presented recently.

5. Find Presenters -- When starting a new user group, you might want to present the first one or two topics. After that, get others involved by letting them present. Additionally, you can always contact your local NI Field Engineer or an NI Alliance member to present. Instead of giving a full presentation, it is also common for multiple members to bring code snippets related to a certain topic and share them with the group. This will trigger a good, healthy discussion.

6. Join the LabVIEW User Group Directory - As soon as you start your User Group, be sure to register with the LabVIEW User Group Directory. Other users can now locate you and join your User Group.

7. Use Other Resources and Contacts

• Contact one of your local NI Alliance members. They are often willing to lend you their facilities and even present at meetings.
• Contact other user groups to get advice on starting your own. They often are more than willing to share their experiences with you.
• Use the Discussion Forums to get advice from the larger LabVIEW Community. There are countless other engineers and scientists ready to discuss these topics with you.
• LabVIEW Advanced Virtual Architects (LAVA)
• EPFL User Group
• LabVIEW User Group Directory
• Contact us! If you ever have questions about User Groups or need help getting started, use our feedback form to ask any questions.
• Download the User Group Start-Up Kit (attached below). It includes invitation flyers, feedback forms, and two LabVIEW presentations with example VIs to get you started.

You are now fully prepared to start your own LabVIEW user group. However, the process will not end here. Successful user groups require continual fostering in order to grow with time. As you become more experienced with user groups, you will find that you are able to help others with their groups. Return frequently to LabVIEW Zone to share your experiences with other users and help them make their user groups just as successful as yours.

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