My First JUG

One of the things I was looking for from participating in the FJUG, was to meet a bunch of people with different backgrounds willing to share their experience and views. I got that and more at the first FJUG meeting and I'd like to tell you why I think that is.

There are two important elements to getting the most out of a geek meet. The first is to be exposed to people who are not like you. The second is to meet face to face.

A lot of corporate environments end up building cocooned teams that don't interact with other teams in the same company, never mind outside the company. This leads to developers who do things the way they've always been done in the company or team. They also learn from the same small set of individuals year in and year out. And while EJB 1.3 and custom web frameworks may have been a good idea at some point [at least some people think so ;)], eventually you've got to try something new. Sticking to outdated technology is not good for the professional growth of the individual or effective development and maintenance of systems for the company they're part of. So in order to foster creativity and spread new ideas, you've got to reach out to people who are different from you.

There's only so far you can go in the online space. Scribbling on the Scrooge tablecloth with crayon and waving your hands about while keeping your beer safe make for a more engaging and richer experience. It's also a lot easier to explain yourself face to face or break off into side discussion about a topic that is of particular interest to you. Try that in a forum.

The first FJUG meet had all the elements described above. We had a wonderfully diverse bunch of people that came willing to share ideas. Covering the whole spectrum of experience, we had guys who had been in the industry for decades as well as one who was learning about Java for the first time in high school. Once the evening got into full swing, we had plenty of crayon scribbling and beer drinking that made the evening rich and rewarding.

All in all I'm really happy with my first JUG experience and I'm looking forward to next one.