Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

This forum is for all Flare issues not related to any of the other categories.
Post Reply
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

(Cross-posted in LinkedIn's "Users of MadCap Flare" group)

In a collaboration between MadCap Software and the many organizers and managers of local Flare user groups around the world, a Slack community dedicated to Flare user groups is being launched. Our hope is that Flare users seeking other Flare users will gravitate to each other there. (And I will no longer need to be matchmaker with my sundry "Flare users seeking other Flare users" Google sheets!)

We believe the Slack community can serve several purposes. Obviously, we hope to help Flare users find other users in their local communities and to help established and emerging groups to easily communicate within and across groups. We also hope it can facilitate those who want to take the leap of organizing a group in their local communities. If you've ever thought of starting a local user group, you can pick the entire collective brain of organizers and managers to learn about best practices for starting and maintaining a group.

If you're interested in checking out the Slack community, please get in touch with me privately to share the email address to which I should send you the invitation. (Rest assured that I do not harvest or sell my Flare friends' email addresses. I have only ever sought to facilitate Flare users finding each other.)

p.s. We are finalizing the Slack community's Code of Conduct. Be forewarned that we won't tolerate spam.)
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

Hmmm, I'm such a Slack newbie that I didn't realize that folks could self-join.

Try this link: https://madcapflareusergroups.slack.com.

Anyone care to test this?

EDIT: Or try this: https://madcapflareusergroups.slack.com/signup

Please let me know if you tried this and it worked!

EDIT EDIT!! No, that link does not work. You will need to PM me with your email address and your locale.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
TR Lisa
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:09 am

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by TR Lisa »

Who is my Team Administrator?
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

TR Lisa wrote:Who is my Team Administrator?
No one...

Someone else tested the links and, sorry to say, they don't get the result I was hoping. Sorry for the inconvenience.

For the time being, I'm handling the signup.

Please send me a PM with your email address and with your location so I know which "locale" channel to put you in.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

I am thrilled by the response we've gotten. A week ago, we had all of 24 members in the Slack community, those being the other managers and myself, as well as a few MadCap employees who have helped to set the community up. One week later, and we are at 160! You all are AWESOME!

Remember, if you're interested in Flare user groups and would like to join the Slack community, PM me your email address and geographic location so I know which "locale" channel to put you in.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

Our Slack community grows! Tomorrow will be our third week anniversary, and we are 208 members and counting. That's almost 10x the number we started with (those being the organizers of established local user groups, as well as a couple of MadCap employees).

If you are interested in joining, send me a PM with your email address and your location so I know what "locale" channel(s) to put you in.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
debbiedocs
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:32 am

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by debbiedocs »

Hi,

I don't seem to be able to PM you to get an invite to the Flare Slack channel. How can I be added?
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

Welcome to the forums! :)

It might be because you are a new forum user. New forum users go through a brief probationary period, a condition that MadCap instituted a few years back when the forums were victimized over a weekend by a bot-fueled spam attack of fake new users.

As an alternative to sending me a PM here on the forums, you can go to my wee little website (link is in my signature) and use the form on the Contact page. I absolutely do not harvest, sell, or abuse the email addresses my site "collects" (and "collects" is in quotation marks because nothing is collected).
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

The MadCap Flare User Groups Slack community is growing almost daily. As of today (Jan 29 2018), we are about to go over the 300-member threshold.

If you're interested in joining the Slack community, send me a PM here on the forums. I'll need your email address and your location.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

Bumping this discussion.

As of May 15, 2018, we’re up to 360 members in the official MadCap Flare User Groups Slack community, dedicated to MadCap Flare and its companion products and — more importantly — to the user group community. It’s a terrific complement to these user forums.

The Slack community is by invitation only. If you’re interested in joining, send me a PM here. I need two things: your email address and your location (so that I know which “locale” channel to put you in so you can find local Flare pals).

Let me repeat (because, regretfully, it seems that a lot of tech writers don’t follow instructions as well as they should): Send me a PM here, giving me your email address and your location.

Cheers!
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
BedfordWriter
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 217
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:13 am
Location: Nova Scotia

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by BedfordWriter »

I think I'm missing the point. Why can't they all just come here? I'm all in favour of user-groups and having us all share information, but now we've got these forums, and the Linked-In group, and now the Slack group, and who-knows what else? Why can't we just meet in one place?
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

BedfordWriter wrote:I think I'm missing the point. Why can't they all just come here? I'm all in favour of user-groups and having us all share information, but now we've got these forums, and the Linked-In group, and now the Slack group, and who-knows what else? Why can't we just meet in one place?
The Slack community has a unique objective over LinkedIn or the forums: We are trying to promote the formation and health of local users groups. Slack is a terrific medium for promoting local Flare user groups, to give them a means for keeping in touch, announcing their meetings, and such. (I personally am trying to help Flare users find friends in their local communities, and here on the forums, many (most?) don't identify where they are located or even what their names are, so kind of hard for folks to find each other.) In the Slack community, there is also a channel dedicated to the organizers/managers of local Flare user groups, so that we can share ideas for how to organize and manage the groups. As I wrote in my original post last year:
Nita Beck wrote:We believe the Slack community can serve several purposes. Obviously, we hope to help Flare users find other users in their local communities and to help established and emerging groups to easily communicate within and across groups. We also hope it can facilitate those who want to take the leap of organizing a group in their local communities. If you've ever thought of starting a local user group, you can pick the entire collective brain of organizers and managers to learn about best practices for starting and maintaining a group.
No single thing is everyone's cup of tea. Everyone is welcome to join -- or not join -- the Slack community.

p.s. When we were originally conceiving of our Slack community, we actually considered using the forums as the platform. I can't readily recall now why most didn't prefer to gather here but instead to gather in Slack.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
dandam
Propeller Head
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 11:36 am
Location: Overland Park, KS

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by dandam »

Not sure why I feel compelled to reply, but here are one person's thoughts:

Thoughts on Slack
(+1) It is nice to get some exposure to a tool that the cool kids on the coasts apparently are using. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise, because I'm getting old :lol:
(-1) A primary member and co-founder of our local user group cannot access Slack at work due to network restrictions. As a result, we can't use it without leaving her out of the discussions, which is not acceptable.
(-1) I forget that Slack exists, so I forget to check it. See earlier comment about getting old.
(-1) Is there an app for Slack? Well, I'm not going to install yet another app. I'm getting cranky as well. Old and cranky.

Thoughts on LinkedIn
(-1) The posts are stored and managed by a third party (I believe Microsoft owns LinkedIn now?) and who knows what will happen to them.
(-1) I am VERY careful about what I post on LinkedIn. V-E-R-Y.

Thoughts on Forums
(+1) MadCap (presumably) maintains full control of the content shared on the Forums and they will keep it available (presumably) forever.
(+1) The only people who visit this Forum are propeller-heads like myself, so I don't need to be as paranoid about recruiters, potential employers, or even spear-phishing hackers (!) reviewing my comments (like they can and do on LinkedIn). So I'm paranoid, too. Old, cranky, and paranoid.
Matt Danda
MadCap Advanced Developer (MAD)
Overland Park, KS
NorthEast
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 6359
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:33 am

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by NorthEast »

I find Slack is better for general chit-chat, or more direct 1-2-1 communication.

The main problem with Slack is that the older posts get deleted, so I always focus on answering questions here on the forums rather than Slack.
At least if you answer something on the forums, someone else can find it in 6 months.
pcalnan
Propeller Head
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:30 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Contact:

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by pcalnan »

The biggest differentiator for me is that the Slack page is a user group in an online format. A digital version of the various UG's scattered around the globe. I know that the OFUG hasn't met in person in some time so Slack is a good way for Flare users to communicate with fellow Flare users. The forums are more for getting technical issues solved and can sometimes involve Madcap technical support.
Patrick Calnan
Shopify
http://www.shopify.com
MadFlapCare
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 3:32 am

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by MadFlapCare »

I'd like to join this, but can't pm you :(
Nita Beck
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 3667
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:57 am
Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by Nita Beck »

MadFlapCare wrote:I'd like to join this, but can't pm you :(
Yeah, because you've a brand new forum user and you're still subject to moderation.

Please fill out the contact form on my website (link is in my signature). I need your email address, your location, and your name.
Nita
Image
RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
teknikulriter
Propeller Head
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:15 pm

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by teknikulriter »

Is this still a valid string? I'm trying to join the Flare Slack channel (or contact an Administrator), and can't seem to figure out how to do that.
sarrantsvt
Propeller Head
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2021 8:02 am

Re: Slack community dedicated to local Flare user groups

Post by sarrantsvt »

Is this still a valid string? I'm trying to join the Flare Slack channel (or contact an Administrator), and can't seem to figure out how to do that.
Send me a PM with your email address and locale and I'll send you and invitation.
Doing Online Help since 1990. I remember "dots" .........
Got a bug? https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback/bugs/
Got a suggestion? https://www.madcapsoftware.com/feedback ... quest.aspx
Post Reply