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After Effects New York
Run by Aharon Rabinowitz, Jim Geduldick and Dennis Radeke, This is probably one of the more popular AE user groups out there and usually have some big name speakers, an awesome turnout, and some killer giveaways!
Location: New York City, New York
Next Meeting: June 24th
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Digital Media Artists Los Angeles
DMALA is a huge user group specializing in all kinds of stuff including 3D, compositing apps, as well as After Effects. They usually hold meetings on the third Tuesday of the month, so mark it on your calendars!
Location: Los Angeles, California
Next Meeting: June 15th
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Chicago Motion Artists Group
Now, this group is still in its infancy, and doesn’t really have its own site yet, so I linked it over to Mike Petrik’s page on The Motion Exchange. He seems to be the one in charge. If you want to participate, join the group, and help get some stuff going!
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Next Meeting: TBA
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Dallas After Effects User Group
With meetings held on every fourth Thursday of the month, this seems like the place to be if you are an AE user. They have been around for a while, so make sure you check them out!
Location: Dallas, Texas
Next Meeting: June 24th
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AE/EC – After Effects Ecuador
Now, I hate that I can’t tell you any more than this is an AE Group based in Ecuador. The site is in Spanish… so check it out and hit it up when there are some new events! Sorry for the language barrier guys…
Location: Ecuador, South America
Next Meeting: TBA
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After Effects Abuser Group
This is a group of pros that love visual effects, that focus mainly on AE, Photoshop and Premiere. More VFX than anything, check it out.. they have a meeting coming up on the 22nd!
Location: Anaheim, California
Next Meeting: June 22nd
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AETO After Effects Toronto
The only Canada group we have on here, they have a ton of sponsors and have had four meetings so far with some great speakers! Make sure to sign up for their mailing list to find out when the next meeting is!
Location: Toronto, Canada
Next Meeting: TBA
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Creative Crew Singapore
Based around Photoshop and After Effects, this group just had a meeting in March, but doesn’t have anything new planned yet. Make sure to stay tuned though for when something else is scheduled!
Location: Singapore
Next Meeting: TBA
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NYC Motion Graphics
This is a cool group of mograph artists that get together every once in a while, have some drinks and talk shop. Mainly made as a social event it is a cool event to hang out at in NY.
Location: New York City, New York
Next Meeting: June 8th
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CAVEMODE
CAVEMODE stands for Charlotte Animation Visual Effects Motion Design. I don’t think I could have thought a better name. These guys are the only group I have found in NC, and they deal with everything, not just After Effects.
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Next Meeting: TBA July Sometime
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MNAEUG Minnesota After Effects
Good ol’ Minnesota dontcha know? Haha… they have a cool out of the norm type of meetup going on… a rush competition, and the best animations win prizes… very cool stuff.
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Next Meeting: June 8th
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AEPDX After Effects Portland
This is getting to be a popular group in Portland… they have some great sponsors, and some really good speakers. I think we can expect big things from AEPDX.
Location: Portland, Oregon
Next Meeting: June 9th
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Orange County Digital Arts
This is another all around user group… from AE all the way to InDesign… you might not be getting just motion graphics or visual effects, but you will get a lot of information on digital arts as a whole.
Location: Anaheim, California
Next Meeting: June 9th
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Orange County Multimedia Association
Yet another multi-faceted group, you get a little bit of everything here. Make sure you check the site to make sure you are going to the event for what you want to learn though.
Location: Varies but in Orange County, California
Next Meeting: TBA
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Houston After Effects and 3D
If you are looking to mix a little 3D into your AE life, and live close to Houston, well its a match made in heaven. Learn how to use both platform to create some amazing work!
Location: Houston, Texas
Next Meeting: TBA
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Motion North
Ahh… a UK Group! I am sorry, being on the west coast of the US in Seattle, its hard for me to know of much across the pond. This group though is all about connecting motion designers, animators, filmmakers and vfx artists in the region together!
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Next Meeting: TBA
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Online Media Gurus
More based in learning about producing video for the web, there is probably some great information at these meetings about marketing, web apps, and you can always share info and knowledge on creating that content! Great networking event!
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Next Meeting: TBA
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MGPHX Motion Graphics Phoenix
A buddy of mine, Justin Katz that I met at NAB started up MGPHX. It is another still in its infancy, but if you are in Phoenix, make sure you start following the group and help build it up!
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Next Meeting: TBA
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AESeattle After Effects Seattle
Now, AESeattle is a project I have been kind of working on for the past couple years with Chad Perkins from Lynda.com. We had our first meeting right after NAB with the AE crew, and we had probably 60 people! We are shooting for a July meetup (making it quarterly right now) and possibly doing some video conferencing with other user groups across the country in between those events!
Location: Seattle, Washington
Next Meeting: July sometime
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Tri-State After Effects User Group
If you are around New Jersey, here is a great group to network with AE artists, share some knowledge and get to know your fellow creatives in the area.
Location: East Rutherford, New Jersey
Next Meeting: TBA
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San Diego Motion Graphic Artists
Don’t let the logo fool you, this group is all about integrating any application to create some killer motion graphics, come to the next meeting and share your knowledge!
Location: San Diego, California
Next Meeting: TBA
This is probably going to be an incomplete list, and I will say right up front that this can just be the beginning! There are groups everywhere discussing our favorite programs, places where we can geek out on animations, software, and technique, but a lot of us don’t know about them even if they are right in our backyard. Today I am going to identify some of the user groups and meetups that I know about personally, as well as leave the comments open for you to add your own links to the groups I might not have mentioned!
If you know of another group in your city, or a city close to you, ANYWHERE in the world, post it in the comments below… and if you enjoyed this post, please give it a vote on Digg or a stumble to say thanks!