Lessons Learned - How to Organize a LabVIEW User Group Event

[m.a.r.c.o]

How we considered, designed and organized the Swiss LabVIEW User Group event with over 100 participants in March 2024

The Idea:
WHO: Before we designed the event, we envisioned the visitor’s persona: engineers and decision makers with a technical background.
HOW: That’s why we put the focus on technical content rather than marketing. We included a multitrack session format with an exhibition area and networking corner because we experienced that this worked well in earlier NIDays.

Considerations:

1. COMMON START with 3 plenum sessions:
   - OPENING:      Welcome (Daniel Roth)
   - KEYNOTE:     Current topic: “AI and BIG DATA” Marco Schmid
   - NI-VISIBLITY: “NI/Emerson Strategy” Luca Pretto
   NI offered later also a sneak peek into NI R&D by talking about Nigel and this built on earlier successes when NI let R&D on stage to chat out of the box.
2. FOCUS: We banned marketing & sales presentations from the beginning. We wanted to have technical sessions. This was highly appreciated by the visitors. They were hungry for technology and news about NI and LabVIEW.
3. FLEXIBILITY: We included NI into the sessions to talk about their current strategy, now that NI has become part of EMERSON. This provided many unanswered questions and regained trust of the community into NI and LabVIEW.
4. DIVE INTO: Track that included only LabVIEW-Trainings delivered by CLAS (No PPT, just the LV Diagram & Frontpanel allowed), the registrations went up immediately. Obviously, LabVIEW users were hungry to learn.
5. SOFT SKILLS: To address also the decision makers, we added a "non-LabVIEW-Track" in the form of leadership training and Strategy / Innovation planning. 
6. STRUCTURE: We tried to avoid those sessions or even tracks cannibalize themselves by balancing which persona would visit which session in which track.
7. WEB ADVERTISING: LinkedIn proved to be the ideal info channel to attract visitors
8. E-MAIL: Mailing of the NI Distributor dataTec to customer helped to win visitors.
9. COST: The event was free of charge for visitors – easy for employee to participate
10. DOCUMENTATION: The visitors appreciated that they were given a programm with abstracts before the evant and handouts afterwards.
11. CATERING: We have attached great importance on a high-quality lunch because from experience we know this is something that will always be remembered
12. NETWORKING: To foster networking, we allowed the lunch a time slot of 1.5hours.Standing tables proved to be perfect for uncomplicated networking among the visitors between the sessions. We provided a meeting room with a spreadsheet in which visitors could register and reserve the room for 30 minutes.

Organization & Tools:
Two months before the event, we created a digital share-point that allowed for easy collaboration.We used Google Docs to track different workstreams and tasks. They included:

• The tracks and session program
• Managing the visitors
• Managing the supporters (Timeline & Checklist)
• Managing the exhibitors (Timeline & Checklist)
• Managing the speakers (Timeline & Checklist)
• Decisions taken and learnings from those decisions
• Following an exact schedule of the day of strict 30-minute slots
• Organizing complementary topics such as parking, name plate, welcome coffee, closing apero, …
• Review of event 3 weeks after
• Planning next event
  
  

Information Flow Concept
Our main goal was a “self-organizing” system for the visitors, exhibitors and speakers.
The day x had to become a self-runner thanks to a properly planned schedule that was sent out to everybody (visitors, exhibitors and speakers) prior to the event.

The visitors received the complete program enhanced with each session’s abstract one week in advance, together with travelling directions and emergency information (email address, phone, emergency mustering point and defib location. A "geographic event map” helped the visitors to navigate among the five session rooms. The outcome: no confusion when changing between the rooms Everybody was on time for the next session. All this was supported by the 30-minute schedule scheme throughout the day.

A small team get good results as fast as possible:
Daniel and Marco did the full organization part time and parallel to their daily work and without a dedicated marketing department. A big and heartfelt thank you to our supporters NI (National Instruments), dataTec, Helbling Technik und Sotronik.
 

We hope we were able to encourage you to organise a local user group event as well. It's inspiring and the participants really appreciated it.

Marco Schmid                                               Daniel Roth

LinkedIn-Profile                                              LinkedIn-Profile

marco.schmid@schmid-elektronik.ch            daniel.roth@pie.ch

Schmid Elektronik AG                                 PI Electronics AG
Mezikonerstrasse 13                                      Segelhofstrasse 1
CH-9542 Münchwilen                                    CH-5405 Baden
www.schmid-elektronik.ch                             www.pie.ch

[Intaris]

Just a single user feedback:

I was at this meeting and it was organised very well and went very smoothly. In my opinion, the addition of a "non-LabVIEW" track was a nice addition and I think should be retained.

While I know how intense the organisation was (specifically once the number of attendees rapidly grew beyond what was projected) I really hope that it can be repeated in the not-too-distant future. If NI/Emerson is serious in re-engaging with the community, they will offer up some support in getting these meetings established as a regular thing. Let's see.

Edit: I see the next meeting date is already established. Very happy about that.

[m.a.r.c.o]

Hi Intaris,

Thank you so much for your much appreciated feedback on the Swiss LabVIEW User Group! I think this is exactly what the Swiss LabVIEW community has been waiting for: coming together as a ‘family’, meeting great people and exchanging inspiring ideas. Yes, the date for next year has already been set:
20 March 2025. Same place. Same format.

Warmest regards

Marco