BoF: How Can We Build Stronger User Support Groups?
summary
Local Kubernetes meetups hit 200–250 monthly attendees pre‑COVID and collapse during the pandemic while some cities (Atlanta, London) grow online; Zoom fatigue and loss of venue sponsors kill attendance, hiring boards and ad hoc networking. Experiments include live coding sessions, mandatory discussion segments, cross‑promotion between specialized and general groups, and moving meetup infrastructure from meetup.com to the Bevy platform; one cloud‑provider charter reaches 45 online attendees but physical meetups at KubeCon draw 450 in a city takeover, showing in‑person demand despite remote tools and timezone logistics.
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chapters (19)
- 0:00User support groups BoF intro
- 1:05Kubernetes user groups today
- 3:15Why join local meetups
- 5:02Reviving in-person meetups
- 8:23Portland group challenges
- 11:36Online meetup experiences
- 13:23Zoom burnout vs in-person
- 15:28Job networking in meetups
- 17:01Legal and venue hurdles
- 18:28Measuring user group success
- 19:31Niche vs broad topics
- 20:12Building meetup identity
- 22:00Cross-promoting groups
- 24:54CNCF support for groups
- 27:21CNCF resources and gaps
- 29:32Meetups and Community Days
- 31:47Global meetup time zones
- 33:53Global meetup scheduling mistakes
- 36:44Closing remarks
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