How JAWS UG Nagoya thrives ~ Secret tips tips of monthly meetups since 2010

JAWS UG Nagoya is the one of 5 oldest AWS user groups that launched in Japan. Since then, JAWS UG was able to keep meetups going every month. However, it was not easy from the beginning.

The long time member, Kawaji-san, came up with the nice & sustainable idea of running a community group.

Tip 1: Don't reply on a single leader. Try to distribute the workload as much as possible by assigning as many leaders as possible.

Tip 2: Every staff needs to opt-in to continue to be a staff in the following year, so that the UG member can keep up with a good motivation.

Tip 3: The after party is must-do for meetup to grow, get feedback, brainstorm next meetup topics and recruit staff.

Transcript

1. © 2023, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. © 2023, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. Katz Ueno One of JAWS UG Nagoya organizers Chief Communications Officer, Macareux Digital, Inc. October 18, 2023 How JAWS UG Nagoya Thrives. Secret Tips of Monthly Meetups since 2010
2. How we’ve been growing our user group for 13 years. JAWS UG Nagoya
3. Quick Overview
4. This talk is for • User group organizers • Who’re already organizing your user group • Who wants to know how to sustain and keep motivating your user groups • BTW, there are already great on- demand videos at this APJ Community Leaders Summit
5. learned by running a user group for 13 years 3 tips
6. Elastic user group leaders every staff is a UG leader MaSa Kachi #1
7. Annual opt-in staff Quit without a guilt #2 image created by DALLE 3
8. After party is must-do Feedback, brainstorm & recruit #3 Photos by Takaki, Katz and Mitsuhiro Yamashita
9. Katz (he/him) Katsuyuki Ueno Sakurai ্໺উ೭ Chief Communications O ff i cer & Solutions Architect Who I am
10. Katz (he/him) Katsuyuki Ueno Sakurai ্໺উ೭ Open source robust CMS Japan UG leader Who I am
11. Katz (he/him) Katsuyuki Ueno Sakurai ্໺উ೭ ❤ Open Source & Community Who I am so that I’ve met my wife at WordPress meetup. I cannot say anything bad about WordPress anymore 😛
12. Japanese Curry Rice 🍛 Marathon🏃(400km/mo), Roadtrip via our camper van, live streaming 
 Ham radio , AWS SAA / SAP CloudFront, S3, CloudWatch, CDK 12 Katz Ueno (Katsuyuki Ueno Sakurai , ্໺উ೭) JAWS UG Nagoya (since 2016), Concrete CMS Japan UG Lead, & Chief Communications Officer & Solution Architect @ Macareux Digital, Inc. Other communities: CoderDojo Owari, Web Marketing Meetup Nagoya, Cloudflare Meetup Nagoya & more SNS: X (Twitter) @katz515 / LinkedIn @katz515 / Instagram @katzueno & @katzcurry Blog: katzueno.com Fav Food: Hobbies: 
 Certificate: Fav AWS Services:
13. Let’s talk about -
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    "-- 4UPSBHF Map of Chapters throughout Japan https://jaws-ug.jp/ #jawsug 60+ chapters Aug 2023 https://github.com/jaws-ug/JAWSUG_Map We are here !!
15. #0 JAWS UG Nagoya Nov 9, 2010 Kawaji-san started Nagoya UG
16. It was around 10-20 attendees
17. Kawaji-san Tsutsui-san For 5-6 years, two core members helped grow JAWS UG Nagoya like any other UGs.
18. JAWS UG Nagoya Meetup around 2014 (by Kawaji-san)
19. It was not smooth ride at all! We’ve been though many challenges
20. The burden of a UG organizer We had the typical user group challenges image created by DALLE 3
21. A few staff need to do the most of work • The next meet-up topics • Booking speakers • Securing the venue • Set-up RSVP (meetup.com etc) • Set-up projector and screen etc • Running out of ideas & time • Getting burned out or bored image created by DALLE 3
22. Let’s make our UG redundant & distribute our workload. In 2016, Kawaji-san said
23. Elastic user group leaders every staff is a UG leader MaSa Kachi #1
24. Elastic UG organizers Rotating organizer each month • Organize meetup once a month • One sta ff lead the month of the meetup (We draw the dice to pick the month) • He/She gets to pick the theme whatever he or she wants • Sub leaders help the month’s leader You only organize meetup once or twice a year. You get tired less. image created by DALLE 3
25. Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Who led JAWS UG Nagoya Meetups in 2023 so far Lead Sub MaSa Kachi Kachi Beginner Demo Grandprix Image AI Workshop Observability AVA+Re:Inforce Certi fi cate Serverless
26. “I got to work overtime” “The production containers went down” “My kid got sick!” Of course, you will face some unexpected events
27. We cannot avoid the unavoidable events. We need to accommodate schedule
28. Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct JAWS UG Nagoya Meetups in 2023 Lead Sub MaSa Kachi Kachi Beginner Demo Granpx Image AI Workshop Observerbility AVA+Re:Inforce Certi fi cate Serverless I’m busy
29. Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct JAWS UG Nagoya Meetups in 2023 Lead Sub MaSa Kachi Kachi Beginner Demo Granpx Image AI Workshop Observerbility AVA+Re:Inforce Certi fi cate Serverless I’m busy I can switch
30. Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct JAWS UG Nagoya Meetups in 2023 Lead Sub MaSa Kachi Kachi Beginner Demo Granpx Image AI Workshop Observerbility AVA+Re:Inforce Certi fi cate Serverless In this system, we can help each other to cover other member!!
31. Yaay. Problem solved? image created by DALLE 3
32. Not yet… image created by DALLE 3
33. “I’ve got promoted! I won’t have more time” “I now have a new-born. Won’t be able to commit!” “I got a job at AWS. Now I need to move to Tokyo” based on the true story
34. Then, Kawaji-san got the second idea!! How can we solve member’s life changing event?”
35. Annual opt-in staff Quit without a guilt, and can come back later #2 image created by DALLE 3
36. Anual opt-in system Every year, sta ff needs to sign up • Once a year, we asked the sta ff if they want to continue to be a sta ff via Discord. • Only those, who replied yes, will proceed to be next year’s sta ff . We add new discord sta ff role. • People who didn’t respond automatically withdraw from being a sta f image created by DALLE 3
37. Anual opt-in system Every year, sta ff needs to sign up • The only motivated sta ff members remain in the UG. • The UG can keep up with good vibes. image created by DALLE 3
38. But more staff leave every year We need to recruit staff every year to cover the people who have to leave!
39. During COVID-19 pandemic We couldn’t recruit enough people back BTW, the side story…. Why…? Maybe because we were only meeting online
40. After party is must-do Feedback, brainstorm & recruit #3 Photos by Takaki, Katz and Mitsuhiro Yamashita
41. After party! The key place to success • Some people are too shy to give feedback unless you talk to them. • Party & alcohol helps 😁 • Encourage beginners to give a talk • Encourage young people to join the meetups. • The meetup after party is the place to brainstorm for next meetup. (We also care Non-drinker, too) (Specially Japanese people!)
42. That’s the 3 tips
43. The keys to a successful long-lived UG • The user group which • doesn’t rely on one leader • can join and leave casually • provides friendly environment JAWS Meat (Lightening Talk & BBQ Party)
44. We ❤ AWS and We ❤ hanging out & have fun.
45. If you happened to be in Nagoya, come & join our meetup! We won’t let you sleep all night 😁 (Even if you cannot drink, we know how to entertain you in Nagoya.)
46. © 2023, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. © 2023, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. Thank you! Katz Ueno X (Twitter): LinkedIn: Web & Bluesky: @katz515 @katz515 katzueno.com