It is through much deliberation, thought, and consideration that I announce that I am stepping down as the organizer of the Capital DotNetNuke User Group.

This decision was not made in haste; it has been on my mind for a while now. It also hasn’t been easy to finally let go of something that I created and nurtured for almost 7 years! This decision was a tough one to make.

Truth be told we have been having a tough time increasing awareness and growing the user group’s membership and meeting attendance. It has also been difficult to raise sponsorship funds, and we recently lost our meeting location sponsor. Asking speakers to fly in/drive/commute to speak at our user group knowing full well that we could not guarantee a barely double digit attendance was yet another sign that perhaps it was time to find other ways to help the community at large.

I would like to thank Hal Hayes, Nik Kalyani, Jonathan Sheely and Joe Craig for all the help, time and support that they put into this user group. A big thank you goes to our sponsors, and in particular Microsoft User Group Support Services. I would also like to thank Quentin Gilbert and AT&T for giving us a place to call “home” and host our meetings at for many years. And finally, to all our members whose company we enjoyed month in and month out, THANK YOU, for you continued support through the years.

What’s next for CDUG?

The user group does not just die because of my decision, it simply takes a pause.

I have extended the offer to continue running the user group to our other officers, Joe and Jonathan. They are in the process of deliberating their options and I am sure you will hear from them should they decided to take over the baton.

Meanwhile, I also extend this offer to YOU, if you think you might be up for the challenge. Running a user group is one the most rewarding experiences that your will ever have. You will be responsible for a group that inspires, teaches, and mentors those that go on to do great things! I was honored and humbled to be part of that experience, and perhaps this is your moment to seize.

What’s next for me?

First, let me say that this change will not affect my current involvement in the DotNetNuke Open Source community. For instance, I am, and will continue to be, the Project Leader of the popular and free Blog Module; I will continue to blog tips, tricks, and how tos as well as tutorials, and will continue to promote the platform in any way that I can. I also plan on continuing to speak at events on DotNetNuke topics (as well as others) – heck, who knows, I might end up speaking a CDUG again someday!

In addition I am happy to announce that I have joined the leadership team of the Capital Area .Net User Group. I will be helping this already thriving .NET User Group to grow its membership in any way I can.

Wait, there is more. In collaboration with Microsoft, and several DC-based user groups we are putting together the TechGate Conference 2011, which will be packed with cutting-edge content from industry experts, and great networking opportunities. I will be blogging about this event in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Finally, I will continue to blog on CTO20.com and will be speaking more often at user groups, and code camps around the country so I am pretty sure we’ll meet again shortly.