There often are a few thankless jobs within a user group, helping setup and
takedown a meeting, being a club officer (sometimes) and being a moderator of
specific groups. While attending a user group meeting as a guest, I was
especially interested in the topics brought forward by the members during their
question and answer session. The group was well attended with a wide range of
knowledge from novice (I disdain the word "Newbie") to expert as well as a
couple of members who themselves made their living working with computers. The
inevitable question popped up, "my computer isn't working properly, who do you
recommend that I get to repair it?" One of the members jumped up reached into
his wallet producing a business card and handed it to the member. Other members
became very silent until the moderator politely said to the member "There are a
number of people that I could recommend and if you see me after the session, I
would be glad to help you out." Needless to say, I was impressed with the
moderators' tact and after the meeting over coffee, I commented to him as to how
well he handled the situation. He laughed a little then told me the story of
this one member. It seems that he was always looking for a free plug of his
business and that most of the members overlooked the interruption. I commented
that it didn't seem fair that he be allowed to continue but the moderator said
that he'd been doing it so long it became a "way of the club". A little later in
our discussion, we got to talking about newsletters. I had not seen any of their
newsletters so I didn't know what they contained. As we compared notes, I
mentioned that we devote one page of our newsletter strictly for member
advertising at no cost to the member. Sort of a benefit of membership, I stated.
He looked as though the light bulb lit and said, "Maybe that's the answer to our
problem." Two issues later I noticed a page of advertising for member services.
Later on I received an email from him and he said that the interruptions had
ceased and that when those types of questions came from the floor, he referred
the person to that page. Problem solved.
A successful moderator, I have found, should practice two qualities:
The ruse of "Dazzle them with brilliance or Baffle them with bull" very
seldom works. If anything it complicates the problem because the person doesn't
get the right answers to solve the problem and
If you are hit with a question you or anyone in the audience doesn't have
the answer for, politely ask the person to see you after the question and answer
session so you can get the question written down for research. Then, follow up.
Nothing will turn a member against the club faster than not having their needs
met. Be careful not to get bogged down on one question. Time is short and you
may miss someone else's need to have an important question addressed.
The moderator should make it a habit of repeating the question for two reasons:
It assures that the question is correctly stated and
It helps those who are hard of hearing know what the question is and the
resulting answer. Utilize a microphone if need be, otherwise talk clearly and
slowly. We often rush to get our answers and people miss the point. If there is
more than one "expert" in the group, utilize their talents to help solve
questions. Be aware of sideline discussions within the audience, they hamper
others from hearing what's going on thus create a need to repeat the question
and its answer. There is a wealth of knowledge in our groups, even from the
novices. Above all, learn that patience is a virtue. When you show patience,
more people will ask questions and the session will flow evenly, sometimes past
the time to close discussions.
This article may be used in its entirety provided credit is given the author
There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long
as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial
Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an
international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article
to you.
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