This month's survey explores the popularity of user groups and the reasons for joining them. Among readers responding to our inquiries, 26.1 percent say that they belong to a Mac-related user group.
Among respondents who belong to a Macintosh user group 75 percent say that they attend to get information on new products. The second most frequent reason for attending is to learn new ways of using applications, which is cited by 63 percent of readers. Fifty percent of the user-group members say that they go to find support for existing applications. (The figures add up to more than 100 percent because multiple answers were allowed.) Ninety percent of Macintosh user-group members say that companies visit the group to demonstrate their products.
Most of the user-group members (59.8 percent) belong to groups with more than 100 members. The majority of user-group members (78.3 percent) say their group has special interest groups (SIGs). Among those readers, 50 percent claim to attend one or more SIGs. Most groups meet monthly (71.7 percent), with 10.9 percent meeting weekly. Of readers belonging to a user group, 30.4 percent say they go sometimes, 29.3 percent say they go often, and 14.1 percent say they always attend meetings.
