Re: TUG shutting down...

[Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx>]

I served on the board of STATUS in Fort Wayne Indiana.
Back in the day we also had an annual joint meeting with BDPA (Black Data
Processing (or Professional, I can't remember) Association) and DPMA (Data
Processing Management Association, all from Fort Wayne.  The big meeting
fizzled first.  STATUS hung on for years but it was dying before COVID.
Attendees were dropping down to just those on the board.
In person stuff was just starting to fade, professionally and personally.
Fraternal and service organizations also have a tough time recruiting new
people and getting people to stand up and serve on the board.

On Thu, May 28, 2026 at 11:31 PM Eric Lehti via MIDRANGE-L <
midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I appreciate everyone’s comments to the TUG thread.
>
> Likewise, User group Computer Professionals Unlimited Association of
> Kansas City (abandoned website cpukc.org <http://cpukc.org/>) ceased
> operation about 24 years ago in 2002.
> It was vibrant for about 30 years with frequent in-person events and
> workshops, but user interest dwindled in its final years.
> Eric Lehti
>
> I agree with Steve M list of several reasons why local user groups have
> been shutting down:
> <Steve M>
> I see several reasons why LUGS are going away:
> - Less developers in a given area
> - Meetings had presentations - now mostly done on-line (presenters don't
> travel to a LUG)
> - Overall availability of current content on-line
> - Cost overhead vs benefit (based upon the other reasons)
> - Covid taught everyone that you can pretty much do anything
> virtual/web-based meetings
> - Developers are getting older - older ones grew up meeting in person -
> younger ones were raised in the virtual world
> - Companies are cracking down on expenses - LUG memberships become
> individual and not sponsored
>
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