On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, the New York City Jamf User Group (NYC JUG, or simply “the JUG” to its members) celebrated its 12th anniversary. The date marked exactly 12 years since the group’s first meeting.
Meeting an average of four times a year, NYC JUG has built a long tradition of bringing together the Apple admin community in New York City. In the dozen years since its inception, more than 400 admins have participated in the group. Along the way, the community has helped launch several spin-off groups including Women in Tech, MacAdmins LATAM, and MacAdmins NYC, all started by NYC JUG members.
How It Started
Back in 2014, as a longtime member of the Apple admin community and a Jamf customer, I posted on Jamf Nation to see if there was interest in getting a group together to share ideas and build a sense of community. Apple admins were often the minority at the companies where we worked, so the idea of getting together to help each other was something I felt strongly about.
With encouragement from the Jamf team I worked with at the time, we launched the group after a Jamf event that had taken place earlier that day.
From humble beginnings, the group started with just a handful of Apple admins meeting for the first time in a small Jamf office with a somewhat sketchy elevator. We talked shop over pizza and a cooler of beer. What began as a small gathering has grown into one of the longest running and most well-attended Apple admin user groups in the United States. Attendance has grown from fewer than 20 participants in the early days to a regular crowd of 80 to 100 attendees.
Finding a Home
The group quickly outgrew the original Jamf office space. Fortunately, our friends at Apple offered to host us. Meetings were first held at Apple’s offices at 100 Fifth Avenue, where the group spent many years.
More recently, the meetings moved to Apple’s offices at 11 Penn Plaza. As interest in the group continued to grow, the meetings quickly moved into the largest room available in the office.
One thing has remained constant: there is still pizza and beer. Just a lot more of it now.
A Community Effort
Over the years, NYC JUG has hosted speakers from Jamf, Apple, and partners including Rocketman Tech, Workbrew, Orchard, and Grove (before Orchard and Grove became part of Jamf). We have also welcomed Jamf employees from across the company, including teams from Sales Engineering, Product, Support, and Community teams.
Three Jamf CEOs have attended NYC JUG meetings over the years, and the success of the group has even served as a model for Jamf’s efforts to support community user groups across the United States.
The 12th Anniversary Meeting
As the anniversary meeting kicked off, NYC JUG host Justin Repasky welcomed the crowd. Justin was one of the original members of the group and is widely recognized as one of the earliest Jamf administrators in New York City, dating back to Casper Suite version 4.
For those attending their first NYC JUG meeting, one of the core principles of the group is open discussion. Members are encouraged to talk about everything related to Apple and Jamf, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because of this, the group does not record meetings. Instead, we follow what we jokingly refer to as “Fight Club rules”: what is said in the room stays in the room unless everyone agrees it can be shared, as with this recap.
This approach has helped create a “don’t miss a meeting” mindset and an atmosphere where anything can happen. Over the years, meetings have included surprise demonstrations of new Apple and Jamf products, spirited debates, and excellent sessions presented by group members on nearly every Apple-related topic imaginable.
Looking Back at the Story of NYC JUG
I had the honor of sharing a look back at the history of the group and presented a video featuring people who have played an important role in the NYC JUG story.
The video included messages from Jamf founders Zach Halmstad and Chip Pearson, former CEO Dean Hager, current CEO John Strosahl, Chief Customer Officer Sam Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer Henry Patel, and Jamf Community Manager Jeni Asaba.
It also featured familiar faces from the NYC JUG community, including former host Kevin Friel and longtime speaker Lisa Davies, who was also the first woman to join the group and sent her congratulations all the way from Australia.
The video closed with Jonah Klevesahl, a former Jamf employee who now works at Apple and was present at the very first NYC JUG meeting.
Jamf and Apple Updates
During the meeting, Jamf Vice President of Global Customer Success Jake Bernardy spoke to the group about the importance of community and why groups like NYC JUG continue to matter.
Jamf also announced the return of Jamf Nation Live, a series of events around the world designed for local admins who may not be able to attend the annual Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC). Jamf Nation Live will return to New York City on April 14.
Register here:
https://jamf.it/JNL26NYCRegistration
The always-legendary Christos Drosos shared an Apple update, highlighting new Declarative Device Management (DDM) features and congratulating several longtime members of the Apple community who were recently promoted.
Jamf Sales Engineer Adam Derrick followed with a Jamf update, covering improvements to Platform SSO, Blueprints, and Jamf’s growing Infrastructure as Code initiatives.
Adam also shared updates about the Jamf “Lounge,” a series of live demo sessions where the Jamf team showcases tools, experiments, and sometimes even early previews of upcoming features. After debuting at JNUC 2025, the Lounge began traveling to cities across the U.S., with a stop in Philadelphia earlier this year.
Adam announced that the Jamf Lounge would be coming to New York City on March 11 and 12. The event quickly reached capacity.
He also discussed Jamf’s role at Black Hat, where the team managed and secured every official device used at the conference. You can read more in Adam’s blog:
https://jamf.it/blackhat
Community in Action
The meeting concluded with the always-popular open discussion session. Topics ranged from Platform SSO and Android management to one of the most meaningful moments of the night: hearing how the group helped a member who had recently been laid off find a new job in less than three weeks.
That spirit of community has always been what NYC JUG is about.
Looking Ahead
NYC JUG will return shortly after WWDC for the next meeting. For updates and future events, visit the NYC JUG page on Jamf Nation:
https://jamf.it/NYCJUG
We hope to see you at the next one.
