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Syed inquired >Does anyone else do something like this? This is the
first company where I've seen something like this, and I find it
fascinating how much research you can get done in a two-day timeframe,
by providing users with a place to discuss new ideas, and talk through
problematic areas of our products. This
event can be quite the headache, in terms of planning and coordinating,
but
luckily for me, Marketing takes care of that :)
My company has an annual user's group meeting (typically in June). I am
responsible (in part) for coordinating this event. Each year an
official planning committee is elected, and a host site volunteers. We
plan three tracks: Technical, Advanced, and Basic. Sessions are often
facilitated by users, although a representative from my company is
present in every session. I think I am facilitating two or three
sessions this year. It gives us a chance to trot out our latest
features, and gives users a chance to suggest enhancements. Many of our
product enhancements are developed as a direct result from user's group.
We give away some freebies (T-shirts and the like), and plan fun events
for the evenings. The users group meeting is very popular with our
clients.
Additionally, in response to the poll question: Since I am a trainer as
well as a tech writer, I go to customer sites two or three times a
month, traveling all over the country. I solicit opinions from clients
about the documentation, and take their suggestions back to improve the
documentation. It's a valuable tool for me. It eliminates _holes_ in
the documentation. It's also an ego booster to see clients using the
application optimally due to the documentation. :-)
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