Last week I had the honor and pleasure of speaking at the NetForum Users Group Conference. I've always been a huge proponent of users groups (both internal and external) and sitting in the sessions prior to mine was a great reminder of their value. Here are just a few things I observed:

• Because it was requested, one user got up, without preparation, and did a short presentation on a new piece of functionality that they had developed for their NetForum install that is now available to all NetForum users. In addition to that, during this discussion, some other functionality was discussed that several of the attendees were unaware of but very excited to learn about.
• Another presenter did a deep dive on API functionality within NetForum and, yet again, several attendees (including one who has used the system for decades!) were surprised and excited to learn that this functionality existed.
• Following the first day of the event, one attendee posted a lengthy explanation of their auto-renew process to the online user community, because this question had been raised by an attendee during the first day.

These are just three of the countless examples of users sharing their experiences with each other, which is where the greatest value lies in these types of user groups.

Your relationship with your AMS vendor is incredibly important, but the reality is, your vendor doesn't use your AMS every day like you and other customers do. So you are far more likely to learn more from other customers than from your vendor, which is why you need to actively participate in your users group.

If you're not participating already, get started. And if your AMS doesn't have a users group, start one yourself! Here's how.