How to destroy a user group...

Warning, this is my opinion and of course nobody has to be agree.

<rant>

Two years ago when I founded this new Irish community, INDA, I did it with the unique objective to help my fellow .Net developers in Ireland. Having a space where in a true sense of community, we can share ideas, resources, etc...

Recently I had to step down from that and for me now it's back to square one, where I started two years ago when I was ranting about the lack of .Net community in this country.

So why really I moved away?. Well if I was a diplomat, maybe I could use some twisted ways to say I was tired or I wanted to let other to do the stuff. But I am not a diplomat, and when things goes wrong I like to express myself, even if I have to lose some friends on the way.

This whole idea of community is flawed (I am talking for what I know in Ireland, no idea if this is the same in other countries!).

A lot of people have used INDA as a platform to launch their own career and they are doing too much noise around that. I helped some of them and now they are destroying what I was trying to build in two years time.

It's a sad situation but behind the doors a lot of nasty things happens which I regret because they are unfair and include a deep lack of respect for me but also for the few I know who are really committed to this user group.

Next week the INDC will be a failure. Asking at the last minute to people who don't really care about this conference to join in is wrong. Only people who want to help and promote the event long time before it happens should be part of the gig. Sadly I heard too much double language even from some people I trust.

Yes I am proud to say I was the one to have this idea of an Irish PDC and I started to talk about it last year. Nobody really took that seriously at the time. Now suddenly INDC is now a matter of urgency for both parties, Microsoft and the communities. It means that this is prepared in the total confusion without any thoughts on the ideas behind, just to be sure that it's done.

No matter who will be there it has to be done, event if I believe at the end registrations will be free to fill the huge conference room.

This is not the Ireland National Developers Conference I was dreaming about. At the end of the day because it's so badly done, I know for a fact that no more than 60 to 70 people will have pay 50 euros for something that doesn't worth a penny.

The only positive note is the quality of one or two speakers including Scott Guthrie of course. The objective was also to open the sessions to new speakers with fresh subjects and a broader audience. Now you will find again the same bunch of speakers talking about (almost) the same subjects, and with only one thing in mind, to satisfy their ego.

Sorry you won't see me there because no way I will associate with this non event.

Back to square one...

</rant>