You may have noticed CRMUG pops up quite a bit in the world of CRM.
I often see things on twitter pop up CRMUG related.
Recently I saw CRM MVP Gus Gonzales giving out some CRM black belt armbands
Don’t forget to wear your belt ribbon! If you are wearing one let’s get a picture! #CRMBlackBelt #CRMUGSummit #CRMUG pic.twitter.com/pZTrtGFPCe
— Gus Gonzalez (@GusGonzalez2) October 12, 2014
CRM MVP/Guru Adam Vero publicisng the next UK meeting.
Why is Hosk blogging about CRMUG
I have often wondered what is CRMUG and what are the benefits of CRMUG are, what CRMUG does and why would people join.
For a company to join it costs you an annual fee (I think based on your size).
You can go to the CRMUG website and it will sell you some benefits
There is some also some information on the CRMUG site
about us
FAQ
Forum question
Then today this forum question popped up on the CRM Forum.
CRMUG worth joining?
Wanted to know if anyone could give me some input on whether or not a membership to CRMUG would be beneficial to someone just getting started. I tend to ask a lot of questions, which you can tell if you view my profile. Basically what would I get that I can’t get on these forums?
This forum post prompted some very good responses, which I thought would be useful to highlight the forum post on the Hosk blog because I’m sure if I have wondered about it, then many other users who read the blog will have and one answer from Adam Vero was really good
Selected Forum Answers
Before you read the answers you should know CRM MVP’s get free membership to CRMUG and Adam Vero is a chapter lead.
I am not a member of CRMUG
First an answer from CRM MVP Scott Durow
Hi Nick,
I’d highly recommend joining CRMUG for many reasons, but if I had to pick one that differentiates from the forums it would be that you get to meet fact-to-face people that are in similar positions to yourself and learn from each other. Forming these kind of networks face to face is invaluable.
For more info see http://www.crmug.com/join
CRMUG has several things going for it, even as a free “associate” (rather than a paid up member):
– access to their own forums which a whole bunch of people collaborate in, who may not visit other web forum sites
– in particular, their forums often get great answers to questions which are more opinion based, ask for people’s experience with different approaches, or looking for insider knowledge of using CRM for the business needs of particular vertical markets
– you will find out about in-person meetings in your area (although depending on the particular “chapter” these may or may not be free to non-members), where you will be able to join in discussions, technical sessions, round tables and more generally network with your local peers. Chapter size varies widely from a dozen or so people who get to know each other very well to 60, 70+ where things are not so intimate but you may get more content (since most content is member-generated, a larger group has more people to draw on).
– find out about free online webinars where other members deliver great content and/or “ask the experts” sessions where the main point is to have an interactive audience discussion.
Paid up members get more benefits:
– free attendance at local chapter meetings, and discounts for larger events such as the annual Summit (attended by over 650 people this year, with 180 sessions to choose from across 3 days)
– access to all online events (only selected webinars are free to non-members)
– access to the library of recorded online sessions, so you have a huge back catalog of learning to work through straight away
Lots of online and in-person events are presented by MVPs – there were 21 of us at CRMUG Summit in St. Louis two weeks ago. As well as presenting content, there were various panel sessions for audience questions on specific topics, as well as very general “Ask the MVPs”. There was also a “medic desk” for anyone to bring their CRM questions and get answers from a range of MVPs and other expert peers. If you have questions, there are plenty of opportunities to get them answered!
You can join CRMUG at http://www.crmug.com/join – if you fill in your email address and complete a user profile and password at the first stage you will be signed up as a free “associate” member.
If you proceed to paid membership you will need to provide more details and choose a payment option. Membership costs vary according to size of your organization, but it is a single membership per company for as many named individuals as you need.
I think your nearest chapter at the moment could be Atlanta, Georgia:
www.crmug.com/…/community-home
There are several chapters in Florida which might be as easy to travel to (eg flights at better times), as well as in Philadelphia (for any colleagues based out of your Pennsylvania offices)
Disclaimer: as chapter lead for CRMUG UK I may be slightly biased, but 13,000+ member users can’t be wrong!
Finally
So I hope that gives a bit of information about CRMUG, I think the main benefit is the face to face meetings with fellow CRM enthusiasts and CRM experts like Adam and Scott.
Hosk's Dynamic Blog 
Ben
Thanks for spreading the word about the biggest dedicated CRM User Group on the planet!
You are correct that MVPs do get free membership because CRMUG of course welcome input from this group of people who do so much for the community. Individuals such as freelancers and contractors can apply for a reduced rate since the full partner rate could be a bit steep for a one-man operation (such as me).
I would like to point out that I have been a paid up member of CRMUG since December 2012 and renewed for a second year before I became an MVP, so everything I have said about the value I think it gives is from this point of view, not a biased one of “it seems like good value, but I would not know since I don’t have to pay”.
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Thanks for the comment Adam. As usual you provide some great points.
CRM MVP’s deserve any/all benefits they get because for their contribution to the community. I added it as an interesting point (which people might not know). It would of course benefit CRMUG and the other members if CRM MVP’s were members and it would be another reason for people to join CRMUG. I didn’t add the point to suggest this would alter your opinion of CRMUG.
The reason I mentioned you were members just so the readers would understand the point of view was being written from an existing CRMUG member.
The activity on your blog and twitter account highlights the work you do with CRMUG.
The reason I created the blog post is because I didn’t really understand why people would join CRMUG because when I read the blog, I couldn’t really see why it would be benefitcal to join. This could just be my experience because I haven’t worked for any companies who have a CRMUG membership and I haven’t heard of many people in the UK who are members. I personally found the CRMUG website particularly confusing.
I thought if I didn’t know why the benefits of CRMUG, maybe some of my blog readers would also wonder about CRMUG benefits. The forum post was the first time I had seen a good explanation of the benefits of joing CRMUG.
If you would like me to remove this blog post I would be happy to do so.
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Ben – please keep the post here, it is very useful to give people more information abut CRMUG. I think my comments may have been misinterpreted a little, the old problem of lack of nuance in the written word. I meant no more or less than what I said, there was no hidden meaning or agenda.
I also think it is absolutely right for you to point out that MVPs get free membership of CRMUG. I myself would do so from a point of view of full disclosure – if I am giving an opinion about something it is only right that people can see any bias that I might have in that opinion.
I assumed that most people would read my promotion of CRMUG with a pinch of salt – “well as chapter lead he would say that, wouldn’t he?” so I wanted to offset this thought.
I was pointing out my paid membership (started before I joined the committee) to address this in the minds of your readers, not to correct you in any way. I did not mention this in my original forum post since there was no mention of free membership for MVPs in that thread so this would only have confused matters.
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Little late to this party, but I saw this on LinkedIn the other day. Another benefit of CRMUG, it is where I met my wife 🙂
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It can act as a CRM dating site, a place to meet someone who is interested in CRM.
I did miss that from the potential benefits!
Thanks for sharing
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