Back to User Groups

I had previously mentioned the benefit of User groups to help build a network and expand business and contacts. Well I like to practice what I preach, and I stepped from the virtual world back into the real world. I heard about a Facilities Management trade show in the Greenville, SC area that was partnering with the premier facilities manager user group, the Association for Facilities Engineering. This blended well with the hype being stirred up in the engineering and land surveyors world's right now about BIM or Building Information Management. Where better to go and see if building management is really a concern than a Facilities Management trade show?

Well, after viewing several presentations and hearing the general questions and feedback from other attendees, it seems that Facility Managers have a definite concern with knowing where things are within their facilities. Things of concern can be anything from chilling towers and their associated pipelines and valves to where are fire sensors and fire extinguishers located throughout the corporate campus. Knowing where things are can greatly reduce stress and cost at critical moments! Hearing this information helped to reinforce what I had just read in POB magazine concerning BIM(that's another thing, subscribe or regularly acquire your industry's trade magazines to keep abreast of industry buzz!) Another person that I met at the show was Randi Handshoe with Penrod Services. His company does outsourcing for CAD work, but he also does building documentation. He had a great seminar session where he discussed why having your building documented can be so important. After which we spoke and exchanged some great business ideas about how we could benefit each others businesses.

From just this one event, I was able to gain considerable knowledge on a subject that I did not know much about (BIM) and network with some people in my area in order to help our businesses. This is one example of how User groups benefited me, so go out and regularly attend or participate in real world and virtual User group sessions. That may be the thing that keeps your business alive the next time the economy takes a downward turn.