User Group Starter Kit

kalina_bryant · November 2017

User Groups are a valuable resource to all members of the Anaplan community and provide a forum for sharing information and real-world experiences that help make us all more productive.
The Anaplan User Group Hub Starter Kit has been designed to provide more information to new group meetup hosts.

Our “Getting Started” section will help guide you through your first meetup and provide ideas and samples for meeting topics, marketing your meetup, and the steps required to get your meetup started on the right track. We have also included sections that cover the Anaplan User Group program developed to help your group grow and thrive.

The Community User Group Portal

The Anaplan User Group Portal was formed by the community and content department with the purpose of establishing more User Groups, to become a central voice for local user groups, and to develop tools and materials that can be used to help get your group started and to grow. The Hub is comprised of community program managers that will assist with running user groups in your region. The portal also consists of customer success client directors around the globe who have experience leading an Anaplan user group. The customer success client directors will be the main point of contact for running the user group, and the community program managers are responsible for managing the user group request, updating the community user group portal, and assisting with user group invitations (if necessary).

Note: The portal is open to additional ideas regarding user group layout and how we can further serve your needs at the strategic level.

Client Directors

If you are a client director looking to launch your first user group in your region, please submit your request by completing the user group request form and submitting a request to usergroups@anaplan.com. A community program manager will provide you with the user group starter kit and will assist you in launching your first user group.

Anaplan Customers

If you are a customer looking to lead a user group in your region, please apply here. Once your request is reviewed by the Community team, we will notify you within two business days with next steps.

Getting Started

The following pages provide some steps you can take to get your group started and get that first meeting scheduled. The community user group portal offers many tools for your group, and this information is regularly updated. Use this document as a guide to get started, and visit the Anaplan Community website at community.anaplan.com for more information.

Submit user group request

Getting your group started is as easy as scheduling the first meeting. First, you should complete the User group request form and select a date, time and location. Submit the user group request form to usergroups@anaplan.com 5-6 weeks in advance. If you do not have a facility to host a User Group meeting, we can help you select one. Anaplan customer success department will cover reasonable costs for meeting space, audiovisual equipment if needed, and light food and beverage for your meeting.

Agenda

Next, you want to define an agenda that will be engaging to your members. This could be a specific topic of discussion, a member case study, tips & tricks or a hands-on session. The community user group portal can also provide a representative to discuss certain topics and to meet with your users around specific topics. To schedule a representative, you should notify us at least six weeks in advance.
If you need assistance in sending out an invitation, the Community and Content managers can help. Submit your user group request form to usergroups@anaplan.com, along with the proposed agenda. The community external program manager will arrange to have an email sent to all the Anaplan users within your area. Users interested in attending will respond directly to the user group leader contact so that you can keep track of all those who register. Note as users register for a user group they will have the option to join their city user group community board. We encourage user group members to join their board this will be another way to track members for future user groups

The community and Content Department can also provide a limited amount of giveaway items. Please include this in the user group request form if needed.

Remember to submit your user group request form 5-6 weeks in advance. See user group request form below:

User group request form - Submit six weeks in advance

These key items below will help your User Group be a successful one! The form can also be found here

User group details	Insert details
1. Select a date & time (give yourself at least six weeks)
2. Select a location
3. Do you need swag items for the user group
4. Do you need a customer host gift?
5. Will you need assistance with email invitations?
6. Do you want to have a blog written to highlight the user group?

Kick-off call

If this is your first user group, a kick-off call will be scheduled by external community engagement manager four weeks before user group. Documents that need to be completed before user group kick-off call can be found below

User Group Templates

Additional user group templates can also be found in the user group portal

If you have additional question, please email UserGroups@anaplan.com