MicrosoftThanks to all of you for what you have done and what you plan to do in 2023. I am thankful and appreciate your voluntary contribution.
I am involved with two user groups. One is entirely virtual, and the other went fully in-person starting September 2022. We have had three in-person meetings so far. Excluding the month for PASS Summit. I'm not too fond of hybrid meetings as we depend on somebody else's technology.
The number one challenge is attendance.
I think ( I have no data to back it up) there are too many virtual training going on, and people are saturated with options. Recording the session can be a double edge sword too! The virtual group started with 80% RSVP attendance and dropped to 35~40% in two years.
The in-person group is at 25% of pre-pandemic numbers. This is tricky and it will take a long time to get to the new norm. I do not think anyone knows what that new norm is. Securing speakers for in-person meetings is difficult compared to virtual meetings. You cannot get Randal's or Ozar's every month. 
I would love to see 'Azure Data Community Council' facilitate discussion to share ideas among group leaders about what is working and what is not. For example, the virtual group meets twice a week; should we cut it down to one? Should we not record the session? What can we do to bring people back?
