Rocky Mountain Internet Users’ Group (RMIUG) is a group that meets once every other month to learn about the Internet through presentations, information sharing, questions & answers and informal conversations. We typically have about 100 people attend our meetings. It should be noted that RMIUG is not a formal organizations and has no legal status, no money/dues, and the meetings/Email lists are run by volunteers.

Our meetings are scheduled to be held at NCAR auditorium in Boulder. Our usual meeting day is the second Tuesday of odd-numbered months, from 7:00 - 9:00 pm (exact meeting details are posted to the RMIUG-announce mailing list about one week before the meeting). There is an optional half-hour period from 6:30 to 7:00pm for new user questions and informal networking. We try to start at 7:00 sharp with general announcements from us and the audience. Our featured presentation will usually start around 7:15-7:30 and last about an hour. Minutes from the meetings will be posted to the the RMIUG-announce mailing list within a week of the meeting.

There is no cost for attending the meetings or joining the group ... but we may pass the hat at a meeting to cover the room cost if we don't have a sponsor.

Our last meeting was on March 11, 2008, on the "Contactless Payments or CASH 2.0"

The Tuesday, May 13th meeting of the Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group (RMIUG) will discuss "The Power of Collaboration Software"

It has been suggested that Metcalfe's Law - the notion that as more people use something, its value increases exponentially - applies directly to collaborative software. Consider how invaluable some of the Internet's systems such as email, calendaring, text chat, wikis, would be if only you used them to their full potential.

Email, arguably the Internet's "original" collaborative application, is one of the best examples of Metcalfe's Law. Through a simple interface, you have the ability to connect and collaborate with, literally, millions of people regardless of physical place and/or time. While this has enabled collaboration that would have otherwise not existed, it is clear that email has its detriments including (taken from "The Bad in Email (or Why We need Collaboration Software)": . Email is silo'ed, trapping information into personalized, unsharable, unsearchable vacuums . Email is not a secure means of communication . Email is not a document manager . Email communications don't effectively communicate priority Deficiencies in email and other earlier attempts at electronic collaboration have given rise to a massive growth of collaborative software: applications that enable multiple users to work together relatively seamlessly. Applications such as Lotus Notes andBaseCamp enable countless users to share documents and communicate in a very open and structured way that not only benefits the individual users, but the organization as a whole.

Microsoft, in particular, has been growing phenomenally in the area of collaborative software. Besides hiring Ray Ozzie (inventor of Lotus Notes) as itsCTO, its Sharepoint product has seen massive growth recently. In March, Bill Gates noted that Sharepoint licenses have exceeded 100 million surpassing sales of $1 billion and has called Sharepoint the fastest growing software in Microsoft's history.

At the next RMIUG, we will discuss Collaborative Software and its growth with a focus on Microsoft's Sharepoint product. To help us understand this product, we will bring in the following local expert: Mark Richtermeyer (mrichtermeyer@spitfiregroup.com) is President and CEO of the Spitfire Group, a professional consultancy specializing in helping clients achieve alignment between business objectives and technology initiatives. Mark leads the team, ensuring excellence in client delivery and operational efficiency at every level. Mark has over 15 years of leadership experience in enterprise consulting with Hitachi Consulting,iXL and Managed Business Solutions, Mark is firmly placed at the top of his field.

Links: http://www.spitfiregroup.com http://blog.centraldesktop.com/comments.php?y=06&m=05&entry=entry060501-1940 15
(The Bad In Email (or Why We Need Collaboration Software)

The meeting is Tuesday, May 13th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm (with optional 6:30 pm start for refreshments and informal networking). The meeting will be held at The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at 1850 Table Mesa Drive in Boulder. To get to NCAR from the Boulder Turnpike (US 36) or Broadway (US 93), take Table Mesa Drive west towards the mountains for approximately 2.5 miles into the foothills.NCAR is at the top of the hill. For door-to-door driving directions, go to MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/), click on Driving Directions, enter your starting address, NCAR's address, and voila! Park in the NCAR lot, go in the main door, and ask the guard to point you to meeting, which is held in the main auditorium, right off the lobby. The meeting is free and open to the public, but we may pass the hat to help defray expenses.

Our meeting location seats about 120 people. That is usually enough room to accommodate all attendees, but it's impossible for us to predict how many people will show up for any given meeting. Seating is always on a first-come, first serve basis, and in the event of more attendees than seats, we won't be able to admit additional people into the auditorium after all seats are filled.

Thanks to our three sponsors who help make RMIUG meetings happen:
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MicroStaff (www.microstaff.com) which provides Creative and Technical talent for Web, Interactive Media, Marketing Communications and Software Development projects, is the sponsor of food and beverages for RMIUG meetings.
ONEWARE (http://www.ONEWARE.com) -- a Colorado-based software company that provides semi-custom web-based applications, sponsors the RMIUG meeting minutes.
Copy Diva (http://www.copydiva.com) which provides marketing project management, marketing communications consulting, and web content development is the AV sponsor for RMIUG.

Consultants and companies are invited to bring Internet-related Product information, brochures, and business cards which will be displayed on an information table.

There are email mailing lists set up for this group. To subscribe or unsubscribe, see http://www.rmiug.org/maillist.html. You can also reach the RMIUG "Executive" Committee at rmiug-comm@rmiug.org. Our web site is at http://www.rmiug.org/

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Please note that RMIUG is hosted at NCAR and we are their guests. NCAR has security regulations in effect that we must follow in order to use the facility. If any RMIUG attendee is unwilling to follow these simple regulations, I would ask that he or she not attend and instead read the minutes after the meeting.

Here are the NCAR security policies that must be followed:

1. No weapons.
2. Must sign in at front desk and provide name.
3. Cooperate with security folks including providing ID if requested.
4. We are guests of NCAR so cooperation and courtesy are expected when
dealing with NCAR staff.