May 17 2010
ASUG Membership Free for Business Objects Members Through 2011
ASUG CEO Bridgette Chambers just announced (in her keynote) that BusinessObjects users who are not SAP ERP users can receive a complimentary membership through 2011. 5,000 members can join under the Valueship program. We played with this idea for a while during the GBN days, but the GBN folks never really got to see the full breadth of services offered at asug.com. By opening the site up for the next year and a half BusinessObjects only customers (the target for GBN) will now be able to see the real flavor and benefits from membership.
That membership will include full access to the online community at asug.com, the ability to attend all regional chapter meetings throughout the U.S. and Canada, and access to education and Influence activities specific to the non-ERP BusinessObjects customer. These are the primary services available via paid memberships, and the test drive through the end of 2011 should help prove what the true value is. I am guessing the reason they went to the end of 2011 was to show a full cycle of Influence Council meetings. The free membership is only for legacy BusinessObjects customers; it will not be offered to SAP ERP customers. That makes sense.
What happens for existing BusinessObjects customers that have already joined and paid for their membership? Bridgette covered that too. Those members will be recognized as “founding members” and will receive special benefits, including credit towards the upcoming BusinessObjects User Conference. There will be more details later, but I am very encouraged by this development. This is what we (the former GBN steering committee) and others were asking for. Obviously ASUG listened.
This is good news. Just yesterday i was contemplating paying the fees to join (as my employer would most likely not). I don’t see the announcement reflected on the ASUG site. i guess that’s coming up soon. Thanks for the info Dave!
I don’t know when the ASUG site will be updated; the announcement was almost a footnote in Bridgette’s speech here. Most of the folks here are likely to be SAP customers (and perhaps using BusinessObjects as well) so they would not qualify. The free “Valueship” is – from my understanding, subject to being clarified or corrected later – targeted to the former GBN folks, those that use BusinessObjects without SAP ERP.
As I get more information, I will be sure to post it. Thanks for your comment.