New Admin Features of Qlubb

In response to administrator requests, Qlubb.com has added the ability for group admins to allow or disallow members as a whole to add/modify/delete events, add/modify/delete tasks, see members tab info and delete messages (only their own, I hope).

Facebook Groups

If you are already on Facebook, you can use it to create a group and post events to that group. Just click on the "Applications" tab on the bottom left of the page when logged in to Facebook. Click on Groups to create a Group.

Groups are popular on Facebook and you can RSVP to events posted to them. You can see what groups your Facebook friends have joined recently, all groups that you belong to and do a search for groups at http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb.

GroupLoop.com Allows Creation of Groups

GroupLoop.com is another website that allows you create your own group. There is a free service, but it only allows you to have up to 25 members. Their "personal" group package allows up to 50 members and costs $19/month with a 30 day guarantee, the same price and guarantee that Meetup.com offers for unlimited membership for up to three groups. There is no mention on GroupLoop.com of any discounts for buying several months at a time like Meetup.com offers.

All that said, if you expect to have no more than 25 members of your group, GroupLoop could be a good option. The features include the ability to share and archive files, a calendar that allows the collection of RSVPs for events and a "central discussion area."

Qlubbs on Qlubb.com offer Online RSVP to Events

How did I not know about this? I found Qlubb.com while looking for a way for members of my extended family to communicate with one another without having to keep track of all of their emails or spamming anyone. I looked at the features and was pleased to see that online RSVP for events was among them. Qlubb.com has many of the features of Zanby.com, such as group email, file sharing and photo sharing. A major difference is that in a qlubb, no one person has administrative privileges. This could be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective, your group and its needs. Working groups will appreciate the shared to do list.

AroundMe Collaboration Server in Alpha

You can see Barnraiser's "AroundMe Collaboration server" software in use on their website, which was made using it. They are now accepting inquiries from people interested in testing the software for use in interest group/community/network sites. It looks like you'll need PHP5 though. Email Tom Calthrop of Barnraiser if you're interested.

MothersClick.com

Some of the more popular meetups on meetup.com were those for mothers. Now moms have a new alternative with MothersClick.com. The site is fabulously functional. It's easy to find or start a group and get or give answers to parenting questions. There are also classifieds, reviews, recipes, blogs, resources and a shopping guide. It's powered by Drupal, which I'll talk more about later. Meetup.com look out!

DemocracyInAction.org: A Resource for Nonprofits

DemocracyInAction.org provides "e-advocacy tools" for nonprofit advocacy organizations, which allow them to manage donations, communications, member information, and campaigns online. What sets DemocracyInAction.org apart from similar services, like Kintera or GetActive, is that they have excellent options for organizing all kinds of events, not just fundraisers. They are also nonprofit and use open source technology. As a result, they have lower fees.

With DemocracyInAction.org's interactive web features, users can start or join local chapters and create or RSVP for events. Advocacy organizations and their supporters may find this useful for house parties, rallies, fundraisers and more.

These options are only available with their best "Tier 3" service. This still isn't cheap. However, I think it's a good investment for larger organizations.

How Did You Hear About This Blog?

How did you find this site? If you searched for it, what keywords did you use? Any tips for improving the visibility of this blog would also be appreciated. Thanks.

The Importance of Cross-Pollination of Groups

One of the things that I think helped drive the growth of Meetup groups was how people would come across one Meetup group and decide to join another. I experienced this myself with members of the Madison Vegan Meetup.

In response to the Meetups fees, some groups either made their own sites and/ or started using other sites like Yahoo Groups or Proboards. Now that there is CityCita and Zanby, I'd like to make a case for folks to move their groups to them for the following reasons.

• They are more functional
  
• They offer the opportunity for groups to cross-pollinate
  
• Moving to them and giving them our feedback helps them grow and improve
  

As Zanby and CityCita grow and become better known, they will attract more members and individual groups will grow. Getting people to join a group and come to events is undoubtedly the biggest challenge an organizer faces. Having two sites with many different local groups makes it easier for people to find a group than having groups all over the web. Further, Zanby and CityCita are actively working to promote themselves in the media and may do some paid advertising in the future as well. I believe that all of these reasons combine to make these two sites the best options for local groups to organize online.

I know from experience that moving a group to a new home isn't easy. A lot of people just won't take the time to register and join. It should be easier than when you moved people off of Meetup. Now, you may have people's email addresses and won't have to shut your old group down until you are ready. Just be sure that most people are okay with the move and explain why it's important, then continually remind people to move over at events, in emails and on a message board. When you've started accepting RSVPs at the new site, tell people who haven't moved over yet what they missed at an event and how you missed them to try to lure them over. If you lose members in the process, they probably weren't active members. Some may come back much later and new members will continue to join if you are promoting your group well. Don't worry, it's worth it.

Gatheroo is now Zanby

Some other company claimed to have dibs on Gatheroo, so they sued Warecorp to stop using the name. Warecorp conceded and the site formerly know as Gatheroo.com is now Zanby.com. They've also gone from alpha to beta.

My husband and I recently moved from Madison, WI to Dayton, OH and I started a new vegan group on Zanby. My hope is that starting a group on Zanby from scratch will be easier than getting existing group members to move to it from another site. I'll let you know how it works out.