Posted by Shaun Callahan
Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
OK, so you created a Groupsite which automatically makes you the “Manager”. That doesn’t mean you have to be the only one in charge of everything.
Manager Tip – Let others help. It is easy to give other trusted members of your group manager status so they can help.
Here’s how:
1. Select the “MANAGER” tab.
2. Select the “MANAGE MEMBERS” tab
3. Under the “STATUS” column, simply click the arrows next to “Member” and a drop-down menu will appear with three status choices.
4. Select “Manager” and you are done.
You now have another member of the group who can help manage things.
In small private groups, you may want to make everyone a manager.
We all need a little help every now and then.
Posted in Groupsite Manager Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Fri, 21 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
Remember the original Dr. Doolittle movie with the 2-headed dancing llama called a Pushmi-pullyu?
In the tech world “push” means the information is sent to you. “Pull” means you go and get it yourself.
User Tip – A Groupsite can push or pull or both. You decide. here’s how:
The key is under the ”My Settings” tab.
After you select the “My Settings Tab”, select the ”My Preferences” tab.
The key to controlling the “push” vs. “pull” is under ”My Email Preferences”
Group Related Email Blasts: Here you choose who you will allow to “push” calendar, discussion and email blasts to you. The choices are “All Group Members” (heavy push) or “Group Managers Only” (light push)
Next choose if you want to be notified by email whenever someone replies to a discussion topic you replied to by selecting “Subscribe” (pull) or “Do not subscribe”.
Recent Activity Updates”: Here is where you decide how often (if at all) you will receive summary digests of what is happening in your Groupsite. You can choose: Once a day, Twice a week, Once a week, Every two weeks or never.
Additionally, if you want the summaries sent to you, you can pick what types of activities you want to be updated on and simply uncheck those activities that you don’t feel the need to have “pushed” to you.
Groupsites are designed to help groups work. You decide how much and how often you want the Groupsite to come to you and how and when you want to go to the Groupsite.
Posted in Groupsite User Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:14:00 GMT
Less than 48 hours ago I was contacted by a friend who let me know that a wonderful display of human caring and kindness was happening and a Groupsite was helping facilitate an amazing effort to achieve something special.
I thought, “Perfect, this can be our Groupsite Success Story for this Wednesday’s post”.
Then I heard and understood the true magnitude of what was happening.
Monday night on the 5:00 news in Baltimore, WBAL TV ran a brief piece about a special young man named Johnny Rozema which said:
“A Baltimore County community is working around the clock to make a dying child’s wish come true.
For Holly and John Rozema, the week before Christmas couldn’t be more heartbreaking. Their 10-year-old son, Johnny, was given just days to live.
Johnny has been fighting a rare form of lymphoma since April. The Make A Wish Foundation had arranged for a family trip to Disney World last week, but Johnny never made it to the park.
“I thought for sure we had lost him. I carried him out to the ambulance,” Johnny’s father said.
Johnny is currently at John’s Hopkins Hospital, but one of his last wishes is to die at home.
His home has been under construction and is a mess, his family said. But the community decided to step in and give the Rozema’s something special.
“There’s a miracle happening here,” said Cindy Norris, the leader of a small but determined group who call themselves Johnny’s Angels.
Norris said she’d never met the family before this week, but she put her life on hold, as many other volunteers did, to help finish the renovations before he gets home.
“Donations have just come in from everywhere, from one e-mail I sent out. People are dropping out of the sky,” Norris said.
Everything from drywall and electrical equipment to paint has been donated, Norris said. Crews are working around the clock to get the house finished and furnished in time for Johnny’s arrival, but they could still use help from the community.
The group has registered the family at Wal-Mart and Target so people can buy them bedding and kitchen supplies, as well as other essentials they need. The group also posts what’s needed on a daily basis on their Johnny’s Angels Web site.
The family said they are overwhelmed by the generosity and are holding onto their faith and belief that Johnny’s wish will come true.”
Johnny passed away today.
The community continues to send their prayers, kind words and donations and are completing their amazing effort to support the Rozema family.
If you wish to make a donation or share a kind word, please visit the Johnny’s Angels Groupsite.
Thank you.
Posted in Success Stories | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
”Would you like to dance?”
How many times in your life have you asked that question?
How many times have you been asked?
Was the answer always, “Yes”?
Here are the top 5 reasons why people say “No”:
1. They would actually like to dance but not with you. Either because they don’t know (trust) you; they do know you but don’t like you or they hate the way you dance.
2. They don’t like the song that is playing.
3. They don’t like to dance or don’t think they know how.
4. They don’t want to be the only couple on the dancefloor.
5. You have asked them to dance when there is no music playing and no dancefloor available and that doesn’t make sense to them.
Manager Tip – Re-read the top 5 reasons people say “No” above in the context of why people haven’t said “Yes” to the invitation you have sent them to join your Groupsite.
Do they know who you are? Do they trust you? Do they like you?
Do they care about the Groupsite’s mission and purpose?
Do they even know what a Groupsite is?
Have you shown them that other people are already participating and getting things done?
Have you made an effort to make your Groupsite relevant to them by inviting others they want to communicate with, creating Discussion Forums that are relevant to their needs and providing an environment that invites sharing and communication?
If not, does it surprise you that more people are not saying “Yes”?
Feedback? Ideas? Tips of your own? Join our Champions Group at champions.collectivex.com and engage with a community of people who are focused on achieving a greater return on involvement by staying in the loop with their groups.
Posted in Groupsite Manager Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
Album #172 on Rolling Stones list of the Top 500 Albums of all time is Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells A Story”.
User Tip – Tell your story. Start by uploading your photo so fellow Groupsite members know who you are.
Here’s how:
1. Select the “MY SETTINGS” tab
2. Select “Change My Profile Photo”
3. Select “Choose File” which will allow you to find the file you want on your computer. (Hint: save the desired file on your desktop for easy access)
4. Enter “Photo Name” and select “Upload”.
That’s it! Congrats. Since Groupsites allow for a dual-persona, you can upload one photo for your professional profile and another for your social profile.
Additionally, as you join multiple groups, you can have a completely different image in each group.
My photo below proves that it is not a beauty contest. It is about sharing, communicating and getting things done with real people. Click my photo below to see my profile. And after you do, I invite you to join our Champions Group and tell your story.
Posted in Groupsite User Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
The following CollectiveX success story was contributed by Andrew Moffat of Ottawa:
The following CollectiveX success story was contributed by Andrew Moffat of Ottawa:
“I used Linkedin Contact Manager (LICM) to download MY PLAXO contacts (after all it’s suppose to be my contact database for life). I also use LICM to download my contacts from Linkedin. I do this because these “networking” sites do not provide members with tools to actually network or do business collectively. They also do not let members actually understand their members (i.e. who they are, where they are from, profession, etc.)
So, we have been using Yahoo.Groups. Interesting…even a nice try. However, it falls short of being social networking. I am not a believer in mass mailing except when you have a piece of info that is relevant to the group, such as in a venue that will enables users to actually interact with each other.
In total, I have been looking for a place for months, and I belong to 20+ sites. Then, I got an invitation to belong to this site. I almost did not accept…aghhhhh! Would that have been an error! When I saw what CollectiveX could achieve I was hooked (and it only took 5-10 mins of reviewing the site).
I really like that CollectiveX has taken a group rather than the individual-centric approach. The idea that we would do social networking outside the context of a group (collective) is insane.
Most of the sites like Linkedin, Facebook, MySpace, etc. only want you to get your friends to join. They want the profiles (the email addresses). They are at best enhanced contact databases and rarely provide the tools/functionality required to truly network. In fact, most do whatever they can to discourage networking – to the point of restricting or deleting accounts.
Facebook has come the furthest trying to provide tools. However, since it has been so focused on a youth/family market, it does not serve the business community well. The addition of wWdgets is great in theory. However, there is so much garbage that the focus and message of sites can become confusing. The other issue that makes no sense is that INDIVIDUALS spend all their time trying to build connections looking for opportunities. With no context we keep adding contacts, hoping that one of them or one of their contacts might expose an opportunity. However, we are spending 80% of our time adding contacts and with only 20% of the time available to participate in actually getting to know our contacts. Then, we get reprimanded by the sites claiming they want to facilitate our networking activities.
The group-centric approach ensures that people of common mind are able to quickly find each other and get on with working the opportunities. For those that want to be islands onto themselves…you have lots of Social Networking sites to stroke your egos. For those that really want to explore, network and truly execute opportunities, there is CollectiveX.
Now, to the point: I sent invitations from PLAXO and within 45 mins of hitting the enter button I was locked out of my account. I approached support and to date I have not received an answer and I have not been allowed access to my account. For those of you on Plaxo, it would be interesting to see if my account still exists. I guess no; as I was getting 50+ add friend requests a day. btw (and I know that most of us have experienced this) Linkedin restricted my account 6+months ago…because out of 4k invitations (I have a number of friends that do not/will not do social networking) I received 5 IDKs. Out of the 5 IDKs two are actually contacts…they hit the IDK by accident and then asked to connect with me. I wear the Linkedin restriction as a badge/reminder of what social networking is not about.
Clarence…Thanks, you have restored my faith. CollectiveX is awesome and I look forward to contributing significantly to its evolution. I also plan to ACTIVELY promote Collectivex as the example of how social networking should be operated.
To you and your entire team…Well Done!!”
Posted in Success Stories | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
Starting today, each Monday, I will share a quick thought on how a manager of a Groupsite can help increase the amount of engagement they are seeing from members of their groups.
On Fridays, I will share a tip for Groupsite users on how they can increase their personal involvement.
Here goes:
When I was in grade school I first noticed a “secret club”. Sitting in the back of my parent’s car, whenever a Corvette driving on our side of the road passed a Corvette on the opposite side of the road, they would flash their headlights at each other. It was a secret handshake! Just last week on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David gave the secret “thumbs up” signal that (according to the show) is part of the secret society of being bald.
I wonder what would happen if two of those Corvette drivers met in person, when they were not driving their cars? Would they even talk to each other? If a put 50 Corvette drivers in the same room, would the conversations last more than 4 ½ minutes? Would they even get along?
Manager Tip: As a Groupsite manager, give some thought to not only what group members may have in common, but think about why they would want to communicate with each other. Why would they want to get to know each other on a deeper level than simply “We bought the same car” or the amount of hair on their heads. Once you establish the why, active participation in your group will take off. Without a why, you may simply find yourself with a list of a bunch of people with only one thing in common who would rather flash their headlights once and speed on by.
Feedback? Ideas? Tips of your own? Join our Champions Group at champions.collectivex.com and engage with a community of people who are focused on achieving a greater return on involvement by staying in the loop with their groups.
Posted in Groupsite Manager Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Fri, 07 Dec 2007 05:01:00 GMT
During my High School years in Baltimore, there was a club on North Avenue named O’Dell’s. This club had a motto that appeared on black and white bumper stickers throughout the city that read: “O’Dell’s – You Know If You Belong”. Since this club was in a mostly black neighborhood, many people thought the motto implied if you are white, you didn’t belong.
If you ever entered the club (which I did at least twice a week) you instantly understood the true meaning. At any given time in the evening (O’Dell’s was open until 6 am), 95% of the crowd would be dancing and sweating on the dancefloor. The other 5% were refilling their cups from the grape juice fountain at the end of the large room (no alcohol was served at O’Dell’s).
This was not a place for spectators. You came here to participate – On the dancefloor – All night long.
“You know if you belong”. If you came to watch – you didn’t belong.
User Tip: Groupsites powered by CollectiveX are not a spectator sport. Participate. Communicate. Share. You will achieve a greater return on involvement. If you just want to spectate, visit YouTube.
Posted in Groupsite User Tips | no trackbacks
Posted by Shaun Callahan
Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:37:00 GMT
When people see my title, CIO, they think I am responsible for overseeing all technology at CollectiveX and assume I know how it all works. Wrong.
I don’t care “how” it works. CIO stands for Chief Involvement Officer. I care about “why” it works. And that means I care about why people choose to share, communicate and network through Groupsites powered by CollectiveX compared to everything else they could be doing with their time.
Starting today, each Wednesday we will let someone from one of our Groupsites powered by CollectiveX share how we are helping their group work.
On Mondays, I will share a quick thought on how a manager of a Groupsite can help increase the amount of engagement they are seeing from members of their groups.
On Fridays, I will share a tip for Groupsite users on how they can increase their personal involvement.
Since this Wednesday, here is what Eric Levenson from Maryland shared about how one of his groups works;
“Nearly six weeks ago I setup a “virtual meeting room” using CollectiveX by sending out invitations to my immediate family,—- basically my late grandparents 4 daughters, their children and grand children, nearly 20 of us total.
CollectiveX has given us a place to share ideas, links, family photos (new and old), and to keep in touch with each other at all hours of the day—- since we span from coast to coast. We especially like the calendar feature. We have posted over 100 special events (mostly birthdays and anniversaries) and we all find ourselves checking the upcoming events to see what special days are on the horizon. Cousins that I spoke to a few times a year, I now connect with on a weekly basis!
After thanksgiving, our first family event since we setup the website, people posted pictures from the day. It was expecially nice for those who were not able to attend, but felt “in the loop” by reviewing our highlights from the day.”
Want to share a Wednesday story about how your groups work? Drop me a line at shaun@collectivex.com.
Posted in Success Stories | no trackbacks
Posted by Clarence Wooten
Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:24:00 GMT
Sorry for the hiatous. Last month was a busy month of travel and speaking engagements. Here is a round-up of CollectiveX talks and travels.
TerpAMA Talk
I started September with a speech to the University of Maryland’s TerpAMA chapter. If you’re wondering, AMA stands for the American Marketing Association. The audience was filled with a great group of approx. 100 University of Maryland students who are all about marketing. Although my talk was centered around CollectiveX, my speech also covered social networking in general. Specifically, I discussed how Groupsites powered by CollectiveX differ from non-group-centic social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. In doing so, it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t much I could tell a group of College students about Facebook, I’m pretty sure the entire room raised their hand when I asked who had a Facebook profile. The good news is… almost everyone in the room had a CollectiveX profile as well—TerpAMA uses a CollectiveX Groupsite to power their member network.
My talk was very well received and it was clear that in addition to the many CollectiveX champions within the TerpAMA group, we also have champions among many other campus groups at the University of Maryland. I’d like to thank Ryan Shain, President of TerpAMA, for putting together a great event.
TechCrunch40 Conference
Next, I travelled to San Francisco to the TechCrunch40 conference. It was a great time! It was good to catch up with a few old friends from the Bay area including Nivi, Janice, Jeff, and Sridhar from Zoho (see photo below) and meet new friends and CollectiveX users. I was particularly impressed with how well organized the conference was… especially considering it was the first conference ever put on by TechCrunch. I have to give kudos to Mike Arrington for what he’s done with TechCrunch. Some of you may know that Mike and I go back to the late 90s when Mike was our attorney at ImageCafe.com, my previous Internet startup. It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in Mike’s backyard with a small group of others at the first TechCrunch gathering. It’s clear that TechCrunch has come a long, long way since that barbecue in Mike’s back yard back in 2005.
(Sridhar and I origionally met when we both presented at Under the Radar last year.)
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