Reevaluating the PTC/USER Member Portal

By Evan Caille, PTC/USER President 

Recently a number of users on the pro-user exploder list participated in a discussion thread that centered on the need for a common repository for documents of interest to PTC/USER members. This resource could include such information as technical tips and best practices. Our response to this question is repeated below for the benefit of those who don’t subscribe to the pro-user list.   

One important point that should be emphasized is that PTC/USER’s member portal already provides the structure for sharing files and is in fact is a source for sample Pro/TOOLKIT applications and NC post-processors. The challenge has been finding volunteers who want to contribute submissions and/or act as librarian. Jeff Zemsky, one of the recent additions to the PTC/USER Board of Directors, has now agreed to champion our web portal evaluation project. I am sure he would welcome the input, and even more, the assistance, of other PTC/USER members in this effort. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Jeff at jeff@ptcuser.org,   

A Brief Look Back

There have been some very good questions raised recently on the exploder about enhanced collaboration tools for the PTC/USER community, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share some information with you. 

First, some history would be helpful:

• In 1991 PTC/USER provided the email exploder (http://www.ptcuser.org/exploder) to the user community.
• In 1994 PTC/USER launched its website (http://www.ptcuser.org) to share user group information with its members.
• In 2002 PTC/USER Technical Committee members began using ProjectLink to share documents and communicate using online forums.
• In 2004 PTC/USER added a community portal (http://members.ptcuser.org) to its website for the benefit of all PTC/USER members. It is used extensively to schedule meetings and track registration, share files, maintain membership lists, access the email exploder, create and respond to surveys, and more. There is also a repository where members could store files for general member access, although there haven’t been any requests to do this until now. 

Where We Are Now

In 2005 we undertook a review of our current web-based applications to see if there were any alternatives that provided a better user experience and also meet PTC/USER’s functional and budget requirements. What we found was that there are dozens of commercial packages for association management, community development, or both. The challenge is that each package has different strengths and weaknesses. They also span the cost spectrum from affordable to budget-busting. We narrowed the field down to a shortlist and actually performed a preliminary pilot test of a couple of solutions. We have since explored some other potential approaches, including partnering, and are considering these as possible solutions. PTC/USER wants to be sure that any solution it rolls out is an improvement over the current environment in the eyes of as many members as possible. 

As pointed out in one of the exploder postings, PTC/USER and PTC recently issued a survey to the member community to truly understand the community’s needs and desires on a wide range of topics, including web presence. The survey just closed and we are in the process of analyzing all the responses. Interestingly enough, the email exploder question evoked some strong responses from “don’t change what we have” to “how come there isn’t an online forum.” This echoes the sentiment of members in other professional organizations who are often equally split between email-based postings and online postings. We have seen some of the same challenges with the online forums used by our Technical Committees.

PTC/USER recognizes that there are many alternatives to its community. There are communities sponsored by publication firms, VARs, individuals, suppliers, and even PTC. We feel anyone has the right to form a community and every user of PTC products can make the choice of joining one or more communities. Each community has a different underlying mission, whether it is to be a revenue generator by a for-profit enterprise or a member-funded activity of a nonprofit organization. We should all keep in mind that it costs money to have a web presence and the funds need to come from ad revenues, member fees, or donations. Notice that lately even Wikipedia has been swamped by its success and is in urgent need of donations in order to upgrade its servers. 

All communities have something to offer and PTC/USER is no exception. Based on the feedback of our members, we are rated very highly in terms of the service we provide. However, the credit for success has to go to the active participation of PTC/USER members, PTC employees, and partner companies that contribute to the exploder, the conference, and the various other PTC/USER-sponsored activities.

It is true that we are a volunteer organization funded by its members and industry partners. Part of the funding goes to PTC/USER part-time and full-time staff to provide a range of business services, including support of our web portal. I should also mention that any frequent user of the PTC/USER email exploder is familiar with Rick Snider who, among other duties, oversaw the development and operation of our web infrastructure. Rick has done an outstanding job supporting this effort for a number of years. Since he has recently decided to focus his energies on the conference, we are in the process of evaluating a number of options for maintaining our web operation.

In closing, I would like to express PTC/USER’s commitment to serving its membership. We believe we have a functional web portal in place that is available for its members to use. At the same time, we will continue to seek improvements that enhance the functionality of the portal.

Evan Caille works at HP in Houston, TX. He can be reached via e-mail at evan@ptcuser.org.