The following My View, My Voice column was authored by Taylor Weathers, Director of Community Operations at ASUG.
2023 marked a shift in momentum for the ASUG community. For the first time since the pandemic, in-person events came roaring back to life, and our membership experienced the transformational energy of face-to-face connection.
Between the return of in-person Chapter meetings and our first in-person ASUG Annual Conference since 2019, not to mention the launch of ASUG Tech Connect, 2023 was a banner year for ASUG members, volunteers, and communities.
As high as the highs were last year, I am even more excited for 2024. As ASUG’s Director of Community Operations, I’m proud to be leading our ASUG Communities team in envisioning and executing stronger, more consistent educational experiences and events, focused on providing our members with more opportunities to foster meaningful connections.
For me, 2024 is all about being intentional and connecting our ASUG Communities to the breadth of ASUG’s organization-wide commitment to learning, connection, and growth. Our team is excited to collaborate with various departments internally to ensure that we are truly defining the member journey at every level. As we kick off the new year, here are the ASUG Communities programs and initiatives I am most excited about.
ASUG Chapters
Our Chapters are a vital part of the ASUG experience, bringing networking and learning opportunities to members across all regions of the United States and Canada. These in-person meetings are a great way for ASUG members–new and old–to get involved, expand their skill sets, and expand their professional networks.
Additionally, ASUG Chapters provide a platform for SAP customers to share their stories and pursue learning that is relevant and timely to their personal and professional goals. The value of ASUG is truly in the connections its members are empowered to make, so we hope to continue growing Chapter meeting attendance in 2024 and showing how meaningful the Chapters can be for attendees.
This year, we will offer ASUG Chapter meetings with more content presented in partnership with SAP and developed in direct collaboration with our members. While networking is one fundamental benefit of Chapter meetings, education is also a key focus, and we want to ensure that we are providing the most up-to-date and accurate information on the topics our members are interested in.
To this end, ASUG Communities will grow our partnership with ASUG’s research and content teams, collaborating with them as well as SAP on an ongoing basis.
ASUG Volunteer Opportunities
In 2024, ASUG Volunteers can look forward to gaining more insights directly from ASUG HQ and staying more informed about ASUG Communities overall. We intend to connect the dots when it comes to member benefits, programming, and research; this will allow the ASUG Communities team to present volunteers with more visibility and influence over the content to be presented at Chapter and Community Alliance meetings.
As we expand our connections to ASUG’s research and content divisions, ASUG Communities will develop meeting agendas earlier and more easily, allowing the volunteers to focus on making the most of every opportunity to connect.
Right off the bat, we have some exciting opportunities for ASUG Volunteers. Our annual, in-person Volunteer Meeting is taking place in Chicago, later this month (Jan. 26-28). Our entire ASUG team is incredibly excited to host our amazing volunteers and set the tempo for 2024.
Additionally, ASUG Chapter and Community Alliance meetings will kick off in February. I would encourage every member to start the year off by attending the first Chapter meeting in their area or the first town hall for the ASUG Community Alliance of their choice.
ASUG Community Alliances
Another great resource for ASUG members, our Community Alliances are set to resume in February. Currently, we host 10 alliances focused on different topics that ASUG members have identified as being top priorities for their learning and growth:
- SAP Business Technology Platform Community Alliance
- Consumer Industries and Customer Experience (CX) Community Alliance
- Energy and Natural Resources Community Alliance
- Human Capital Management (HCM) Community Alliance
- Intelligent Spend Management & Business Networks Community Alliance
- IT Operations Community Alliance
- Public Services Community Alliance
- SAP S/4HANA (ERP) Community Alliance
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Community Alliance
- Sustainability Community Alliance
Composed of three different kinds of virtual events – Town Halls, Task Forces, and Influence Councils – the Community Alliance events not only enable members to further connect with one another but also emphasize collaborative learning opportunities.
Hosted quarterly, Town Halls focus on keeping attendees updated and in the know about the latest research developments, key challenges, and top-of-mind topics for their community at large. These events provide an opportunity for members to discuss challenges, share success stories, and learn tips and tricks from peers.
Task Forces are peer-to-peer interactive discussions that help our members create professional connections and find solutions to real-world problems. Our goal for 2024 is to create a content journey for our members, based on their needs and interests, utilizing ASUG research and working one-on-one with the ASUG content team to ensure our discussions address our members’ top-of-mind concerns.
Influence Councils, finally, are virtual events focused on empowering ASUG members to directly drive enhancements to SAP products and offer feedback on the SAP product roadmap. Members meet to determine what feedback to share with SAP, ensuring the ASUG community’s voice is heard in a consistent, meaningful way. We look forward to sharing more information on Influence Councils shortly.
Stay Connected
As 2024 kicks off, the best way any ASUG member can take advantage of ASUG Communities offerings and grow their knowledge base, alongside their network, is by completing their member profile on asug.com.
This will not only help you connect with the right Chapters and Alliances but also ensure you are seeing the most relevant ASUG content and receiving notifications for the events that interest you the most. We are so excited about all the great opportunities planned for ASUG Communities in 2024, and our team looks forward to helping our members learn, connect, and grow.
Be sure to complete your ASUG profile here.
Taylor Weathers is Director of Community Operations at ASUG.