This is a sad announcement, but we are closing down NCUG. As of today, we are no more.
Update: The original blog posting appeared as if I was criticising HCL and their efforts. That was not my intention. I was simply trying to say that even with HCL’s efforts, the membership and support of NCUG went down the drain, and to show exactly what the members we had left expressed to us that they wanted us to keep them up to date about. Sorry for giving anyone the wrong impression.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that we are ceasing all activities organised by the Nordic Collaboration User Group. The group has been going under various different names for over 20 years. The name changes were necessary because IBM, who owned these products at the time, kept changing the name of the brand.
We started as LSBG (Lotus Software Brukergruppe/Lotus Software User Group), continued as ISBG (IBM Software User Group) and finally NCUG (Nordic Collaboration User Group) after HCL took over the portfolio from IBM.
What we in the NCUG have experienced is that the interest for our activities are at an all time low. The trend has been going on for almost ten years. And when we arranged a webinar before Christmas, over 70% of the registrants came from other countries than the Nordics. And we are running a Nordic user group, not an international one.
In addition, more and more of our member organisations (members of Common Norge, which we are a part of) have stopped using Notes/Domino and that has been the main interest for our members. But even when we have put up events only concentrating on that, the turnup from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland has been way below what it used to be back in the day.
For the past three years, NCUG has been run by me, Hogne B. Pettersen, with support from Arne Nielsen from Brainworker and a few Danes who have given me help. And I’ve reached a point where I simply don’t have the energy or inspiration to continue anymore.
If anybody else wants to pick up the mantle for a Nordic user group, please feel free to do so. But it can’t be NCUG, as that would involve a lot of legal technicalities with Common Norge. A job I’m not prepared to take on.
I want to thank the previous board members and people whom I had the pleasure to work with in LSBG, ISBG and NCUG. And especially to those who started it all, before I became involved.
I want to thank HCL and IBM Norway, the IBM in the Nordics and IBM in general for all the help and support through the years. You know who you are, No one mentioned and no one forgotten.
Also: A huge thanks to everyone who came to our events, to all the presenters, to everybody who kept turning up when we thought no one would come.
It’s a time and place for everything, and now is the time to let go of this user group.
I will of course continue to blog about HCL Digital, Notes, Connections and everything else in my blog. Some of the news that used to pop up here will most likely be posted there from now on. I will also take over the NCUG Twitter account and run it as the account for my one man firm doing collaboration, development, photography and writing.
Goodbye, and thanks from NCUG.
From “gokk” with Love;
Hogne
Sad to see this group go, but I guess i have been part of the problem too with diminishing interest since my company has choosen the Mordor$oft way and I still cling on notes and domino here on the company, but for how long, noone knows. Best fo luck in your further projects.
Thank you
Sad day….but thanks for all your work!
Thanks
Thank you Hogne for your effort 🙂
I’m retiring, so I’ll soon say goodbye to this beautiful product after 30+ years !!
New opportunities. 😀 I will still be blogging in my personal blog
Takk for innsatsen! Noen ganger forandrer verden seg til noe vi ikke ønsket, men likevel må akseptere..
Lykke til videre med prosjektene dine!
Takk. Og du har rett
Hi Hogne and thank you for your great effort and commitment, over a long period of time. We who love the applications endure, not least after HCL took over. We look forward to the continued use of Domino / Notes / Nomad / Connections / Sametime Chat / Meeting and Volt as the most secure collaboration tool available. We need some renewals / rewrites and improvements that HCL and consultants can contribute, but would prefer standardized solutions, right out of the box. Good luck with further work and commitment. I am sure you will continue to follow the environment.
Thank you!
Dear Hogne and NCUG followers, I’m sad that Hogne is “leaving”, thx for your contributions to #dominoforever – and for NCUG, consider this …
“So long, and thanks for all the fish… ” quote from volume 4 of “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” by Douglas Adams …
“On planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons.”
Do consider some of the other user groups around, both having live face-to-face events coming up:
May 2022 – https://engage.ug/
June 2022 – https://dnug.de/dachnug49/
will be worth your while! … U
Thank you, Uffe. And you’re right. I should have included a link to the other groups.
However, I’m not personally leaving. My blog will still be used to write about all HCL Digital products
Sad to hear that Hogne, but I will continue to follow your blog!
Well you beat IBM by 2 days, this weekend they move all users to Outlook , So Notes Mail is no longer,.Domino apps will still live, but for how long, no one knows
Thanks Hogne!
I wish we would have done more to help you out!
Domino is still a unique, secure cost efficient flexible app platform. It is also better than ever and with so many business process relying on it. Still, I understand more than well your situation. Good luck in the future!