1. Part of the issues resides in the fact that most current MMUG managers are simply not well versed enough in the MaD arena to add mobile to part of their current groups makeup. Most MMUG managers tend to "stick to what they know" and end up being the presenter at a lot of their own meetings, since speakers are always tough to come by (for any topic.) This is particularly challenging in the mobile space though since the vast majority of MMUG managers are not yet capable of delivering presos on mobile topics. Further complicating matters is the simple fact that there just is not a wealth of mobile speakers out there currently who are available for delivering MMUG presentations.

Concerning the MMUG/CFUG point, that distinction has been blurring increasingly more and more as Macromedia's products become easier and easier to integrate. Very few CFUGs focus solely on ColdFusion anymore...most also cover Dreamweaver, Flash, Flex etc... CFUG managers began to feel that the naming convention "CFUG" was too restrictive and may actually even frighten off some non-server folks. So in an effort to appeal to a broader audience and strengthen their groups/memberships, many CFUGs took on the MMUG moniker as they felt it was more representative of their current group's focus.

Ed Sullivan
User Group Program Manager
Macromedia, Inc.
275 Grove St, Newton, MA 02466 USA
tel 617.219.2194 | fax 617.219.2008

Posted at 5:48PM on Oct 10th 2005 by Ed Sullivan

2. Ciao

just wanted to add something to your post.
Flash on Mobile Phones is a relative new concept to western markets. In Japan is already a lucrative market. The issue is that Flash developers need to learn a great ammount of mobile related concepts which are not straight forward for some. Developing for mobile phones is not the same as doing a webpage particularly on the usability side. I am a Telecommunication engineer so I come from a different state of mind!!
Alessandro

Posted at 7:22PM on Oct 10th 2005 by Alessandro

3. Ed and Alessandro-- Thanks for your posts. Both nice additions to the discussion.

Ed, I understand your point about MMUG managers as the primary content providers (jacks-of-all-trades that they are, they still can't know everything), but if you have folks who are strong enough in the mobile field, then why not have them become active in the regular MMUGs? Seems like those folks could only add to the breadth of the offerings. Instead, by sectioning off mobile, it puts more burden on both groups to supply content to their members.

Of course Alessandro's point perhaps answers my question. Mobile is *such* a different field than web, that it perhaps demands the attention of a specific group. Just to play devil's advocate though: there was a time then the concern was how different web is from CD-ROM development...perhaps sooner than later the worlds of print and web will have to rehash some of this discussion as Adobe and Macromedia find their way together as well.

Posted at 7:53PM on Oct 10th 2005 by David Robinson

4. Merging flash lite developers into a general MMUG would make them minority and give em less space for presos and other activities.

Posted at 7:02AM on Oct 11th 2005 by Luciano Ayres