Over the past year, Revolution Analytics has sponsored a number of local R user groups, and we've been thrilled to see the enthusiasm with which R users are coming together. This year, we decided to expand and formalize our sponsorship program, so that any local R user group, whether just starting up or already established, can benefit from additional support from Revolution. We're inviting the leaders of R user groups from around the world to apply for an annual cash grant to provide refreshments, support speakers, organize events … whatever the group decides.

If you haven't yet joined a local R user group, take a look at the local R user group directory to find one in your area. And if there's not one in your area, why not start one up yourself? (In addition to sponsorship for new groups, we've provided some tips to help get you started.) To get a sense of what goes on at an R user group meeting, we asked the leaders of three of the largest US-based R user groups in the to comment in a press release issued today:

From the Chicago R Users Group:

“R user groups are a great learning channel for analytics professionals and we intend to use Revolution Analytics’ support to continue having user groups that are enjoyable and educational,” said James Long of the Chicago R Users Group. “Over the last year alone, the Chicago user group has been able to share ideas on topics like integrating R with C++, nonlinear optimization, using R to devise spread trading strategies and running R in parallel on Amazon Web Services. There is a gamut of topics we would love to cover with Revolution’s support, and we look forward to other great presentations in 2011.”

From the Los Angeles R Users Group:

“The Los Angeles R user group started in 2009 when we saw a clear need for greater networking opportunities between data analysis professionals,” said Dr. Szilard Pafka, co-founder of the Los Angeles R User Group. “Today, we have over 350 online members and a very active community of 50 professionals who convene monthly. We are thrilled to be among the first participants in Revolution Analytics’ program and anticipate that their support will enable us to attract more data analysts and scientists who want to promote increased collaboration and innovation around R.” 

From the New York R User Group:

“Revolution’s user groups sponsorship can open up a lot of collaboration options, which is a huge benefit to us, as well as other groups,” said Drew Conway of the New York R User Group. “We consistently uncover new ways to solve problems with R and we’re very grateful to see a commercial company care about working with data scientists who are ’at the wheel’ of advanced analytics.”

By the way, the next New York user group meeting on February 15 will feature Amanda Cox from the New York Times’ Graphics Department to present how R is used in the news cycle to crunch data and prepare graphics before they go to print or online, which is an excellent example of some of the awesome applications of R that get presented and discussed at R user group meetings. What could your R group be meeting about next? Follow the link below for more details on the Revolution Analytics R User Group sponsorships available.

Revolution Analytics: R User Group Sponsorship Program