Posted by Shaun Callahan
Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:24:00 GMT
Wow! Thank you! 2007 will be remembered as the year of the Group Engagement Network. The entire CollectiveX team thanks all of you who were first to realize the power of group engagement.
CollectiveX Groupsite / User Facts
Of the 10,000+ Groupsites currently powered by the CollectiveX platform:
• 80% are private groups (invite only) vs. 20% public groups (anyone can join or request access)
• 70% are used for professional oriented purposes vs. 30% for social purposes
• 30% are informal groups (families, friends, etc.)
• 27% are company groups (intranets, extranets, workgroups, boards, etc.)
• 26% are membership groups (associations, non-profits, clubs, etc.)
• 10% are web communities (interest based social networks, etc)
• 5% are alumni groups (schools, companies and organization alumni)
• 2% are conferences
Average age of a CollectiveX user is 38.5 years of age, in fact, CollectiveX has more users ages 62+ then users between the ages of 18 – 21.
Here are just some of the powerful capabilities that were added to the platform this year:
- Public and Limited Group Visibility (Manager / Group Settings page)
- New & Notable Discussions (Summary page)
The Latest and Highlighted Discussions area displays the most recent and highlighted discussion topics.
The top most discussion in the list is always the most recent discussion.
Other topics in the list are topics that have been highlighted by
a group manager for increased visibility.
-Headlines and Links (Summary page)
The Headlines & Links area provides access to external content via news feeds and shared links. News feeds can be pulled from any external blog or news site via RSS. We even help you create your own feeds simply by entering keywords that are relevant to your group. Links are bookmarks that are shared by group members.
All headlines and links can be rated and discussed via a special toolbar that
appears when headlines and links are visited. Resulting discussions take place in your group’s Headlines & Links Discussion forum.
- Profile Completeness Meter (Summary & Members pages)
The Profile Completeness Meter is located at the top of the right sidebar on the Summary and Members pages. This meter serves as a reminder of what outstanding profile information you need to fill out to complete your profile.
- Group Membership Types (Manager / Group Settings page)
In addition to configuring a group’s visibility option to public or limited visibility, managers are also able to set membership preferences for their group. There are three types of member signup options: 1) By invitation only; 2) By request approval or invitation; and 3) Anyone can join.
These options allow managers to configure groups to cover any and all member signup possibilities.
- Member Profile Customization (Manager / Group Settings page)
Group Managers are now able to ask custom member questions to be displayed in each member’s profile. Questions types include: Short answer, Long answer, Multiple choice, Date, and Website link.
Questions can be set to “Required” so that they must be answered during signup. Members will be reminded to answer non-required questions via the profile completeness meter.
- Member and Pending Member Search (Manager / Pending Member & Members areas)
It is now easy to locate members and pending members from within the manager area. This is very useful for large groups with many members or pending members. You can now search by member name or pending email address.
We look forward to 2008 being a fantastically productive year as we continue to establish CollectiveX as the place where groups go to work.
Posted in News & Updates | no trackbacks
Posted by Clarence Wooten
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:13:00 GMT
The entire CollectiveX team would like to thank the blogging community for their coverage of yesterday’s launch of CollectiveX 2.0—Introducing
Groupsites.
There were many great reviews by popular Web 2.0 blogs and media ranging from TechCrunch to CNET. Each blog review provided a unique perspective into the features, benefits, and general thoughts regarding the CollectiveX platform for Groupsites.
Some of the blog posts included colorful comments from some readers balanced by first hand endorsements from CollectiveX Champions.
The reviews:
Mike Arrington of TechCrunch kicked off our launch coverage with his post. He starts by providing a rundown of CollectiveX’s evolution since our beta test launch in February of last year. Mike explained how the initial focus of CollectiveX was for business-oriented groups such as boards and non-profits that needed private intranets for their members. He then covered our business model and commended us for doing a great deal with a small team and a minimal amount of funding
(especially by Silicon Valley standards ;-)—Thanks Mike.
Kristen Nicole of Mashable followed up with her post which placed primary emphasis on how Groupsites enable members to combine
their professional and social profiles on a single (CollectiveX) platform. The post mentioned the privacy issues that result in “merging these sides of life” but didn’t share how CollectiveX addresses these privacy issues with Groupsites. Perhaps a future post from Mashable will explore CollectiveX in greater depth.
Richard MacManus from Read/WriteWeb wrote a very insightful post that referred to Groupsites as Groupware 2.0 or “Social Groupware.” Although the term “Social Groupware” is new to me, I think his statement has a lot of validity. I can see how CollectiveX fits that mold for the many business users that currently use Groupsites. He further notes that he likes where CollectiveX is
headed with our broader focus that balances consumer and enterprise but thinks it will be interesting to see if Groupsites can successfully
be branded as both. I think we’re off to a good start so far, but time will tell. We’re excited about the ride ahead.
Rafe Needleman of CNET’s Webware blog took time out to interview me, evaluate CollectiveX and post about the launch of Groupsites on Webware. He starts off by saying that the CollectiveX is quite good and that “he would have no problem recommending Groupsites to someone who wants to build a professional or social site.” He mentions that CollectiveX won’t bite or frustrate its users – we are certainly happy to hear that… we work very hard at usability. He goes on to say that the analogy that I gave him when I referred to CollectiveX as a “build your own Facebook” is more aspirational than accurate. He won’t here me disagree with that ;-) CollectiveX is millions of users away from their scale and, unlike Facebook, we are totally group-centric.
Steven Fisher of Startup Spark
started a multi-part post that will cover our launch throughout the week. His posts will be centered around his interview with me regarding my experiences as an entrepreneur. I personally know that Steve is not too shabby of an entrepreneur himself. I look forward to his follow-up posts on our launch. I am also hopeful that others will gain some insight on how crazy one must be to do this (I referring to being an entrepreneur of course ;-).
Last but not least, we’d like to thank Dave Sabol for writing a great post on his Associated Knowledge blog about his experience as a user since he discovered CollectiveX. Dave covers in eloquent detail how he came upon
CollectiveX after having looked at pretty much every major group-oriented product. It is users like Dave and Gareth, who wrote a similar post a few months back, that make the hard work put forth by the entire CollectiveX team rewarding.
We thank you all for helping to make the official media launch of Groupsites a success. I speak for the entire CollectiveX team when I say we value
your feedback and patronage of our service and look forward to having you take this ride with us as we continue to build and improve as a company.
Sincerely,
Clarence Wooten
and the CollectiveX Team
Posted in Praise & Props, Business Chatter, News & Updates
Posted by Clarence Wooten
Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:23:00 GMT
It’s here! You are now able to login to your CollectiveX group from anywhere.
Simply copy the code below and add it to your existing website or blog and your members will be able to login to your group from there.
<form action="https://GROUPSUBDOMAIN.collectivex.com/login" method="post">
<label for="user_email">Email:</label>
<input type='text' id="user_email" name="user[email]" />
<label for="user_password">Password:</label>
<input id="user_password" name="user[password]" type="password" />
<input type="submit" value="Login" />
</form>
Important: Replace the word GROUPSUBDOMAIN in the code above with the subdomain of your group.
Your completed login form will appear as it does below:
Posted in Tips & Tricks, News & Updates
Posted by Clarence Wooten
Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:31:00 GMT
Although we haven’t been posting, we’ve been working to continue to improve CollectiveX. Over the past few months we’ve made incremental updates to the CollectiveX platform. I even took time to speak at the Social Networking Conference in Miami Beach.
Although many of the updates are behind the scenes, we’ve made a few visible enhancements that you may have noticed.
These enhancements include:
- Adding RSVP and email invite capability to calendar entries
- Adding email blast and subscription capability to discussion threads
- Enabling remote login to your group via your website
And more that we will detail in a series of blog posts to come. So stay tuned, we have a few major surprises in store. We promise not to go so long between posts again… shame on us!
Posted in News & Updates
Posted by The CollectiveX Team
Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:37:00 GMT
Three months ago CollectiveX launched with a tiered plan-based pricing model based on group size and features. We quickly realized that structured pricing plans were too rigid for the diverse universe of groups that came to use CollectiveX. We listened to and learned from you, our customers, and decided that providing maximum choice was best for the both of us.
Some groups are ad sensitive, some are not, some groups require SSL, some don’t, some groups want true “white-label” brand integration… others wanted free. Regardless of your group-type, we now have something for you… introducing “à la carte” pricing.
Read more...
Posted in News & Updates
Posted by Maggie Halligan
Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:25:00 GMT
CollectiveX is pleased to announce a new feature package, which allows group managers to customize their group and obtain added customer support. This new package includes the following components:
- Custom Banner
- Login Box
- One-time Member Data Importation
- Feature Tour
Read more...
Posted in News & Updates
Posted by Maggie Halligan
Tue, 13 Jun 2006 23:02:00 GMT
CollectiveX would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the users who have provided us with feedback and suggestions regarding their CollectiveX experience. This feedback has been and will continue to be the driving force behind the changes and enhancements made to the service.
Since our launch, we have been working tirelessly to enhance existing features and develop new features to meet the needs of our users. Therefore, we are extremely excited to announce the following new features to your CollectiveX service:
Read more...
Posted in News & Updates
Posted by Clarence Wooten
Thu, 11 May 2006 22:37:00 GMT
Today’s public beta launch is a critical milestone in a journey that was inspired by my own personal experience.
After my last startup was acquired, I increased my involvement in the community through various organizations and boards. I received an abundance of meeting and event notices — most of which rarely made it to my calendar. I accumulated a large rolodex of business cards from people I met through these groups, but I didn’t have the time to gain a better understanding of their backgrounds and interests and so I wasn’t able to get to know them on a deeper level.
CollectiveX was inspired by this fustration. It was created so that people like me could more easily stay informed about group-related activities and learn more about fellow group members. CollectiveX fills the need for a social networking service that is group-centric. It enables people to better communicate and form deeper personal and professional relationships with those they’re already connected to enabling them to – Maximize Return on Involvement.
What started as a side project for me in July of 2005 rapidly took on a life of its own. It became something that I was more passionate about, and it was clear I had to do it full-time to do it justice. Last fall I took a leave of absence from my work at Venturepreneur Partners to pursue CollectiveX.
For the past couple of months we’ve had an exciting private beta where we tested the application and started to get to know our user community. During this time we operationalized the company and began building a team beyond the initial developers.
I want to thank everyone who’s been involved — either officially or unofficially as a sounding board — throughout the development process. Thanks to the bloggers who helped put us on the radar and generated thousands of beta users. Thanks to our beta participants for providing invaluable feedback and insights into your needs. As a result of your feedback we’ve made many changes and more are on the way. This will continue to shape the direction of the product and the company.
It’s a great foundation to build on.
Posted in News & Updates
