INETA Community Speakers- I Signed Up!

Did you notice the pretty new badge over there?  To the right?  Right under my picture?  I have just signed myself up as a speaker in the INETA Community Speaker program.  Click, request me, I might be able to come visit your groups!  The cool things about this program?  I just happen to have a list (click the link below for all the official details, you just get my favorites here).  I’m not sure I can place my list in any particular order, so assume all these are equally awesome reasons.

  • The reach of speakers will be further than before.  Let me explain.  I’m not talking so much about geographic reach, but people reach.  More user group members/attendees will be able to learn from more speakers and more speakers will be able to present to more groups.
  • A side-effect that is worthy of its own program, grooming the next generation of speakers.
  • More speakers, and YOU decide if they’re meant to be in the program or not.  In the past the INETA speaker program has had a reputation for being somewhat elitist, weather real or perceived is moot at this point.  The speakers can enter themselves and the community reports back on the experience.  As a user group leader you will see a summary and can decide if they would be a good fit for you.
  • No hard limits.  I guess the only limit would be some bank account somewhere.  With that said, the program has no defined limits, as long as a group only has a single pending speaker engaged at a time, then you’re gold.  As a group leader, you report back after the event and that triggers behind the scenes processes to get speakers their payments.  But since the payments available are set based on distance traveled, with some basic limits, the costs are much more controllable and then we can have more events.  If there seems to be some abuse of the program, that will be handled on a case by case basis.
  • And it’s not totally set in stone.  When your group is in Billings Montana 250 miles doesn’t get you too far to increase your speaker pool too much, right?  So if that’s your situation, get in touch with us (INETA) and we’ll work with you to make an event work.

So your call to action?  User group leader?  Go look, see what’s there, maybe request a speaker?  You want to speak?  Make a profile, get a badge, do a blog post, book some events.  And tell people Smile.

A huge (like HUGE) shout-out of thanks to Chris Williams and Lori McKinney from the INETA board for planning this program and making the needed technical changes to our website and behind the scenes processes that were needed to get this going.

INETA NorAm - Community Speakers

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