Why Start a LabVIEW User Group?

Since their inception, LabVIEW User Groups have provided LabVIEW users with the ability to grow their own expertise by interacting with other users. As the needs and interests of LabVIEW users evolve, many members of the LabVIEW Community are starting to create their own User Groups. There are numerous benefits from starting your own User Group, even if other groups close to you already exist:

1. Be the First in Your Area - If you have visited the LabVIEW User Group Directory, and found that there are no User Groups in your area, now is the perfect time to start one. There are most likely other people looking for help in your area, and you can save their day!
2. Gain Recognition Within the Community - If you start a User Group, you will establish yourself as a leader within the LabVIEW Community. Each year at NIWeek, National Instruments presents a LabVIEW VIP Award to the person who has contributed the most to the advancement of the LabVIEW Community. This award typically goes to someone who has helped start a successful User Group.
3. Develop Ties with NI LabVIEW Engineers - Once you have started a User Group and defined yourself as a leader in the LabVIEW Community, LabVIEW developers from National Instruments will consider you a better candidate for product feedback, beta releases, and other information.
4. Meet with a Select Group of Users - Once you reach a certain level of expertise with LabVIEW, you may want to meet with an exclusive subset of the LabVIEW Community. The LAVA (LabVIEW Advanced Virtual Architect) User Groups started with a meeting of advanced users in Northern California and now has branches in Southern California and Ontario. You could event start your own LAVA Group!
5. Define a Specialized User Group - If you start your own User Group, you have the ability to define what topics are discussed. For example, if you work with data acquisition, your User Group could focus on this area of LabVIEW development.
6. Network - Make important contacts with whom you can share ideas, new approaches or just call up with a question. Many User Group attendees have found new clients, jobs, or LabVIEW projects with people they met during a User Group meeting.
7. Be Someone's Hero - There are probably many local LabVIEW users who are looking for help. You can create a forum for helping these people ask their questions and resolve their problems. They will extremely grateful for your leadership and initiative.

Once you decide to start your own LabVIEW User Group, you will realize that there are many people in the LabVIEW Community willing to help. Feel free to contact leaders of other User Groups to ask for advice and to bounce ideas off of. In addition, numerous online resources are available to get you started, such as the "How Do I Start a LabVIEW User Group?" guide. And most importantly, have fun!

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