The Oxford English Dictionary defines community as “a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society.”
Middle Ages
The first instance of a “User Group” or community was created by craftsmen from like occupations, who formed professional “guilds.” This enabled them to teach one another the knowledge and skills essential for their occupation, which in turn helped them become better craftsmen. It also served to improve their craft as they learned together, new and better ways to do things.
Digital Age
Users of IBM mainframes in 1955 formed a User Group called SHARE. This was the first large, organized User Group designed for the new computer age. Like today’s User Group communities, they shared ideas, examples, code, and helped answer questions.
1997
The inaugural conference, aptly named “Convergence,” attended by Great Plains users, was held in Orlando, Florida at the BoardWalk Disney World Beach Club with a total of 167 attendees. I am proud to say I was one of those original attendees. This was in essence the birth of the Great Plains Community – Created by Doug Burgum. We all shared a common goal; to develop knowledge and proficiency in the Great Plains product. As the years passed, the three or four rooms that we all shuffled between in the first few years, and enjoying ice cream treats at the opening of the final session, grew into the prestigious conference we now all know as Community Summit, held annually in large convention centers, with over 5,000 attendees in 2023!
2007
GPUG was founded by Andy Hafer and they attended the 2007 Microsoft Convergence conference in San Diego. That same year, they held the first GPUG Summit in Redmond, WA, in September.
2008
In a small room in the basement of the Orlando Peabody Hotel during Convergence, we gathered for the first inaugural meeting of GPUG. Again, I was proud to be there along with 26 others. This year was also the birth of Dynamic Communities which added NAV, AX, and SL alongside GPUG.
2020
Around the world, COVID changed the way we do things, including Dynamics Communities, which is now under new leadership, adapting to the new way of life.
Why Am I Walking Down Memory Lane?
History helps to illustrate to you how the power of community originates, and how it positively drives the development of the Dynamics Communities. It is derived from individuals, with a common goal, who strive to reach those goals together. Most important is understanding that when we contribute to the community personally, the entire community benefits.
It is the power of community itself that GPUG harnesses to drive excellence in the products and skills within the community.
Who Is the Community?
We all are.
This includes customers, Partners, ISVs, consultants, and any others, as the definition states, who “share the common interest.” In our case, the interest is in Microsoft Dynamics and the Power Platform.
The mantra “Customers helping customers” is at the core of these communities, though it is everyone, not just the customers who are involved.
Everyone brings something valuable to the table – knowledge, experience, and a unique perspective to all aspects of the product.
By listening, examining, and sharing each other’s experience, we gain not only a better understanding of other’s abilities, needs and wants, but also a different perspective into the world as we know it.
It is this collective, unmatched knowledge possessed by the community, that just needs to be understood and interpreted so we can utilize the information we are hearing to drive our products forward.
Attending events like Community Summit North America or belonging to different community blog sites for the product helps you cultivate a garden of contacts within your community. These contacts can be lifelines when navigating a perplexing issue, developing a new idea, or just wanting to shoot the breeze with someone who understands your situation.
I enjoy the good fortune that many of my contacts have evolved into cherished friendships; our Dynamics family. These valuable contacts are an enormous benefit to being part of a community.
Development of the Community
Most User Communities in the digital world were started by the product companies themselves. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
User Communities drive user adoption, assist users in their hour of need, help identify and correct product glitches, and overall result in a better product. Think of Microsoft Experience.
But to be a true User Community, there needs to be a free and open exchange of information and ideas, and it must be transparent. This can be a sticking point for a company-driven User Community. The company that develops a product may only be transparent for select information it wants to release, depending on how information affects the company’s bottom line. It’s just business, but this can affect the Community Users and their free and open exchange of information and ideas.
As long as the User Community is transparent within itself, it will succeed and thrive. This is where the community needs to be active in monitoring itself.
Getting Involved
GPUG and other communities only happen because of individual contributions. Remember that we all have unique perspectives, talents, and knowledge. It does not matter if you are new to the product or have been around since the beginning of time, your input is valued, wanted, and needed.
An easy way to start is by simply joining one of the many community sites, such as this one, and reading the messages/discussions. If you have a problem or issue, ask questions. If you have a suggestion on how to remedy someone else’s situation, add your thoughts. There are many approaches to remedy a situation, and your idea, although it may be different from others, does not make it wrong. You may have just discovered the best new approach!
If you want to get more involved, look for opportunities to participate on panels, create content, or submit sessions to speak at a conference, such as Community Summit 2024.
Why Do We Do This?
If you ask anyone who participates in the User Groups, they will tell you that it’s not for recognition. Rather, they are rewarded with a great sense of fulfillment by sharing knowledge with other users. The product may be advanced, but you may have made other Users’ lives easier because of something you said or thought of.
The best part for me… is meeting all of you.
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