The Convos Blog

5 ways to get help from Convos

2009-05-19T20:19:56Z

As you're getting started with Convos, we know you may have questions, feedback, and ideas. We've made a number of resources available to help you get started, share your feedback, or get in touch with the Convos Team directly. Here's an overview:

1: The Convos Help Center

The Convos Help Center is a comprehensive, web-based guide to all of the features available to you and your groups. To access the Help Center, simply visit http://help.convos.com

2: Quick Guides

Quick Guides are an easy way to learn more about what's available to you while you're using Convos. To access a Quick Guide, simply click the orange ? button on the top left of the interface.

A Quick Guide will appear based on where you are in the interface and will highlight where to find key functionality.

3: Feedback Forum

Have an idea for a new feature or something you would like to see Convos do? Share it with us on our feedback forum at http://feedback.convos.com

4: Follow us on Twitter @convos

The Convos Team sends out periodic updates regarding new features, group management topics, and more. Follow us here and feel free to @convos us anytime. We're listening.

5: Send us an email

If you prefer to reach out to us privately via email, simply send an email to support at convos dot com or use our online contact form here.

We look forward to hearing from you!

New Feature: Print RSVP Responses

2009-05-18T19:02:58Z

We just added a simple feature for group events that allows you to print a list of RSVP responses. Here's how it works:

With an event open in the right panel and the RSVP tab selected, you'll see a "Print List" button on the right side of the screen. Simply click this button to print a formatted list of RSVPs.

Click the "Print List" button A formatted list of RSVPs will be printed

We'll be looking to add additional printing options throughout Convos and we encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas here: http://feedback.convos.com

6 Reasons for Using Subgroups in Convos

2009-05-04T15:07:31Z

Two weeks ago, we added the Subgroup functionality to Convos. It's a really powerful addition and I thought I'd talk about it some more. We know that all organizations operate differently and have different structures. These structures, like departments, committees, project teams, and membership levels, are what really empowers an organization. Too many solutions I've used before didn't allow me to organize members the way they needed to be. In most cases, you only get one big group which is terrible for trying to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with subsets of members.

With Convos, we knew that the application needed to be flexible enough to adapt to different kinds of organizations while keeping the experience as user-friendly as possible. You can check the Convos Help Center for an in-depth overview of managing subgroups.

Now here are six reasons why your organization should start using subgroups in Convos.

1. Subgroups promote collaboration and interaction

Organizations get things done in smaller groups. When you break things down into committees, project teams or leadership boards, you're facilitating productive interaction with members in those subgroups. Not only is it easier to manage smaller sets of people, but decisions are made more quickly and goals are more easily shared.

2. Convos subgroups have all the functions of a regular group

A lot of other online group tools simply have subgroups that act as mailing lists. Those kinds of subgroups don't empower the members in them to work together, share files, and plan their own events. In Convos, all subgroups have the same available functions of a regular group.

3. Subgroups can be used for any part of your organization

There are a wide range of uses for subgroups. Here are a few ideas:

Board of directors and advisory boards
Committees
Departments
Geographic regions and chapters
Project teams
Alumni groups - split them by year, occupation, or affiliation
Membership tiers or levels - e.g., Platinum, Gold, Silver members
Major events
External relations - collaborate with people outside of the organization (see this post)

4. You can create as many subgroups as you want

Whether you have three committees or 158 district chapters, your organization can create as many subgroups as it needs. By not placing a limit, organizations can set up their groups to adapt to their organizational structures.

5. You can send more relevant and targeted messages to specific members

Sometimes a subgroup doesn't need all of the group functions it provides. Administrators can simply use subgroups as a means of distributing messages, event invitations, and feedback requests to specific individuals.

Some organizations I've been involved with have had problems with heavy listservs where too many messages are sent out. You can actually use subgroups to prioritize messages that allow members to easily be alerted to important announcements. One subgroup can be used as the heavy listserv for general discussion and a second subgroup can be used for important messages, events, and feedback requests.

6. Members don't have to be re-invited

I mentioned before that other tools only give you one group to work with. If you want to have subgroups on those tools, then you'd have to create new, but disconnected groups. This doubles up the invite process.

On Convos, all members just need to be invited to the main (top-level) group. Once they're in, administrators of subgroups can simply just add them.

Living in 2002: Bringing Your Online Group Tools Up to Date

2009-04-29T18:54:09Z

In the past two weeks, I've been talking to some people at a large member organization to see how some of their content and online tools can be improved. I've been involved with the organization for a couple of years now and was familiar with their online "dashboard." Giving it some thought, I commented that the organization is still living in 2002.

I don't actually know when they implemented the dashboard, but it was around that time. Back then, the dashboard was pretty cool for the 200+ district advisors and 10,000+ active members to access. It was the one place for downloading manuals, reporting information, and looking over some basic statistics of the organization. They weren't using high-end association management tools. This was built from the ground up and customized for them. Seven years later, it badly needs to be updated or replaced with something better. Given what's come out on the web during that time (social media, more APIs, FB, etc.), there are lots of things that they can use to improve their operations.

Whichever tools they decide to go with, it was clear that they need to:

Be simple to understand and learn
Make content conveniently accessible
Add communication and collaborative features
Make reporting and documentation processes minimal but useful
Be private and secure

A lot of the tools you can find now are extremely easy to use, well-designed, and actually useful. Trying to wade through the many online group solutions can be confusing and frustrating. The important thing is that the organization finds the tool(s) with the right features for them.

When selecting tools for online groups, you should start with identifying the needs of the people who will actually be using them. Without their input, you could be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on something that will barely be used. Focus on what can make things convenient for them and that can add value to their busy lives. Then you can start to discussing the types of content that needs to be created and distributed as well as the communication channels that will work the best for everyone.

Once you get an idea of what the members actually need, then you can start examining the different solutions out there. A lot of times, people do this in reverse. They look at the solutions available first and then get filled with lots of ideas, some of them useful and a lot of them irrelevant. By talking with the members (actual users) first, you get to see what the real issues and needs are. For example, you may find that one solution offers tagging on files. You might think that's such a great thing, but your members might not actually care. They just want the easiest and fastest way to find files, whether it's by tags, folders, or search. Don't be fooled into thinking you actually need something when you don't.

Overall, I think a lot of organizations are in this position. A few years ago, they made some significant investments in technology and now they're ready to do so again. But now the marketplace is filled with so many options. Some are cheap and some are insanely unaffordable. Others can focus on one function or they can have a broad range of functionality. By listening to your users carefully, you'll be able to narrow your options significantly and hopefully choose the best tool for your organization.

Helping Group Champions Build Member Activity in Online Groups

2009-04-28T18:11:13Z

It's easy to start an online group. With tools today like Convos, it takes seconds to get a group up and running. The hard part is getting everyone else in your group or organization to use it. There needs to be one or more people to champion the use of the tool by constantly poking, prodding, and encouraging others. Members of your group have to clearly understand why they should be using the tool and how it can help benefit them and the organization.

I've seen too many organizations choose tools and create groups where they magically expect people to just start using it. I've heard of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars wasted on online tools that either don't fit the organization and/or doesn't get high adoption rates. It's important to note that technology is simply an enabler. It's only as good as the champions' ability to effectively use it and promote it.

Leaders choosing an online group tool for the first time usually make the mistake of choosing a tool for their needs, but not anticipating the needs of the members. Then, after realizing their mistake they painstakingly look for replacement solutions that have a better user experience. No matter which tool is used, champions will always need to do their part. Different tools are going to make it easier or more difficult for them to increase member usage.

One of the things we've done with Convos is to try and make it something that group leaders AND members like to use. Convos has no ads, no page loading wait times, and a lot of interaction is done just over email. By making Convos simple and convenient, we want to help group champions increase member usage more easily than with other group tools out there today.

Introduction to Convos video

2009-04-27T18:41:37Z

If you've noticed our new website, you've probably taken a look at the intro video we have on the home page. If not here it is below.

For those of you wondering how we made this, there's a great program for the Mac called Screenflow. Full version costs $99 and well worth it if you want to do simple, clean screen casts. The intuitive interface works like iMovie and makes doing videos like the one above really straightforward.

Stay tuned as we'll have some new tutorial videos coming out in the next few weeks.

Managing External People In Your Groups

2009-04-27T14:34:41Z

A lot of times organizations want to keep their online groups completely closed to external individuals or third parties. The fear is that letting those individuals in would compromise security, member information, or important content. What then, do organizations do to interact with those individuals? How can they use their existing group tools for collaborating on projects, maintaining relations with vendors, or communicating with non-affiliates? By configuring your Convos groups, you can actually let external individuals in without exposing sensitive information and content to them.

Convos' flexibility lets organizations set up their groups and subgroups in a way that best suits them. To do this, you need to:

1. Have your main (top-level) group hold all external and internal individuals.

2. Set the main group to use a Mailing List for messaging (in Group Settings). This only allows one-way communication from admins to members.

3. Disable the Member Directory module in the main group (in Group Settings). This will not let members see who else is in the group.

4. Use subgroups and invite members (internal and external) so that they can collaborate and communicate.

One Year Later

2009-04-23T14:14:56Z

We did it! The new version of Convos is up. Now everyone can take advantage of the awesome new features
we’ve created. The interface has gone through extensive style changes with some elements being critiqued down to the pixel. All of these changes pave the way for our new direction and focus on providing a more professional and useful experience.

We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and our product throughout the past year. Since then we’ve become
uber-focused on our activities and what we want to become. Coming up later this year, we’ll be adding some great features to help you manage member information more effectively, configure messaging preferences, and interact with others more conveniently. I can’t go into more detail just yet, but we’d love to hear your thoughts on what you’d like to see from Convos.

The new Convos is LIVE!

2009-04-21T16:22:08Z

Great things never come easy.

Celebrating great accomplishments does.

And it's celebrating time!

We're excited to announce the newest version of Convos, complete with group-branded web applications, full-function subgroups, file folders, and three simple pricing tiers. We designed Convos to combine the speed and power of a desktop app with the accessibility of a web app.

So check it out. Let us know what you think. Organize company departments, softball teams and leagues, Scout outings and anything else where you need a better way to communicate, plan, and share with a group of people.

Oh, and thanks. We appreciate it.

Stay tuned as we'll be sharing more about the new features throughout the week.

SNEAK PEEK: CUSTOM GROUP INTERFACE

2009-03-12T15:25:41Z

One of the new features we're adding to Convos is the ability for groups to have their own group-branded version of the Convos interface. Here's how it will work.

When you setup your group, you can click the Web Application tab located in the Design section. From here, you can upload a group logo, give your application a title, and choose a color for the top navigation bar. Here we have called our application "Aqua Company Portal" and selected the dark blue color scheme.

Now, when we log into the group, we see our logo, application name, and color scheme applied to the interface.

This gives you the ability to control the look and feel of your group's experience and have your own dedicated version of the Convos application to manage your group.