SydneyPLUS SNUG 2009 goes virtual

Press Release:

SydneyPLUS SNUG 2009 goes virtual (Vancouver, Canada - September 17, 2009). This year's SNUG (SydneyPLUS National Users Group) meeting, held on September 15, 2009, was an unqualified success - perhaps the best so far. Surprisingly, this meeting almost didn't happen. With the economic downturn, many companies had reduced their travel budgets, making it hard for users to get to the proposed annual SNUG meeting in Chicago. Undaunted, this year's SNUG client committee decided to turn the situation into an opportunity and host a virtual meeting over the internet. Originally aimed at SydneyPLUS clients in North America, SNUG 2009 would now be open to the world.

Being new to a venture on this scale, client committee members, with the assistance of SydneyPLUS, worked over the summer to plan, organize and test the technology necessary to make it all happen. In the end, the careful planning paid off and the meeting went smoothly. The topics were timely and the sessions were packed to a "virtual" capacity. This year's sessions focused on best practices in managing e-journals, SharePoint integration and new product development - such as the SydneyPLUS cost Recovery Module. All sessions were well-attended and enthusiastically received. So much so, that the SNUG09 Twitter page, provided to ensure clients could post feedback during the sessions, hummed with comments like, "Wow, we just finished the first session. This was an awesome experience. Thanks to all who presented and participated." and "We just completed a very successful meeting. It was EXCELLENT!"

This year's SNUG had a number of firsts:

• Due to its online nature, SNUG 2009 was open to clients around the world.
• Best practices sessions were recorded, allowing clients unable to attend to learn from other clients.
• The use of Twitter to post feedback about the conference helped ensure the meeting kept on track.
• Special effort was focused toward making clients from the diverse industries SydneyPLUS supports, feel represented. To that end, presentations were kept short, providing opportunity for interests to be heard from all industries.

With such a positive reception, it's likely the client committee will consider continuing this approach in future SNUG meetings. In the meantime, SydneyPLUS clients can further network by visiting the client supported SNUG wiki at https://snug.pbworks.com. They are also welcome to follow SydneyPLUS at http://twitter.com/sydneyplus.