Paul Webster (Twitter : @watfordgap)

14th February 2013

'Cloud' Tools and Websites

for Collaboration & Communication

• What is the 'Cloud'

• Not about 'Big 4' social networks, but other tools and websites for productivity & collaboration

• Use these to be social & share – gives more time for you to do 'work'

• Build conversations with

– Supporters

– Networks

Try some out today

And the best bit they are FREE!

Collaboration and Communications tools

What is 'The Cloud'Rather than installing software on your computer, a 'host' runs the software and services are accessed via a browser over fast reliable internet connections.

Often Free & simple as web-based email (like Hotmail or gMail), internet banking, Google Docs or sites like Facebook, Doodle or Eventbrite.

Advantages ConsiderationsSharing over dispersed network Speed & availability of connectionReduced capital & server costs Security & Data ProtectionRemote & flexible working Migration costsHost manages latest upgrades A new way to workData regularly & securely backed up ICT systems can't 'be seen'Someone else 'can worry about ICT' No control in changes to websitesSoftware and File Storage is rentedMobile devices maximise access possibilities

http://www.commoncraft.com/video/cloud-computing

Types of services in the cloud

There are many services that can be accessed 'in the cloud' - which is often used as just a marketing term. (See Off-site, Remote, As A Service)

Data backup tools RackspaceMail & News reader feeds Google Mail & Google ReaderFile storage & sharing sites Dropbox Office suites Google Drive, Microsoft 365, Docs.comProductivity services/tools Doodle, Scribd, SlideshareLearning in the cloud My Learning Pool, KnowHow NonProfitWeb hosting 123.reg, Daily.comTelephones Virtual call centres & telephone systemsVideo & Audio conference Skype, ooVoo, GoTo Meeting

http://www.commoncraft.com/video/cloud-computing

Grumbles & Frustrations?

Planning of Meetings

Event Administration

All have Costs & take Time

Keep supporters informed

Joint working on documents

Shared calendar (internal & external)

The Answer?

Knowing your Message and Audience

Selecting appropriate Social Media websites to use

Try out Cost and Time saving websites

Streamline work

And

Improve communication

Do Better Things ….

….Do Things Better

Supporting Groups

• Know your objectives and what you want to say• How can we support your work better

• Research where your audience are – do you know?• Survey and find out, work in spaces where your target audience are

• Plan how to use the tools – have a strategy• Run an event?, e-bulletin update? Do ‘as well as’ what you do

• Choose tool to match audience and implement• Look at what other organisations have done, what works elsewhere?

• Sustain the conversation and say thank you• Encourage people to return, keep it new, links from websites

OASIS was developed by @JohnSheridan John.Sheridan@SocialMedia404.com

From Flickr – Claire Sutton and justinbaeder

Finding the right tool for the task

http://nptechuk.wordpress.com/sms-links/

• Choose the way to convey message.

– Audio → Images → Video

– See Audioboo, Flickr, Pinterest, Bambuser, Youtube

• Choose the context to engage with audience.

– Blog → Facebook → Twitter

• Choose a useful (FREE) tool/s to help streamline work

– Finding out → Letting people know → Running events

– See Survey Monkey, MailChimp, Eventbrite

Can be a simple choice - Sharing a policy document between trusteesCan be a strategic choice - Moving all docs to cloud and eliminating file server

The best website for the job

Group CommunicationsSkype – www.skype.com

What it is- voice & video calls over internet- text chat- distance meetings- reduces travel- one to one only on free version- owned by Microsoft

Group CommunicationsSkype

Free Version- Your Skyple Account and software updates- One to one video and voice calls to anyone else on Skype- Instant messaging and file sharing

Paid Version – £2.99/month introductory fee, normally £5.99/month- Calls to mobiles and landlines- SMS text messages- Group video chat for up to 10 people- Group screen sharing

Other ones to look at- ooVoo, Google Hangouts

Running EventsEventbrite

What it is- online event management- free if event is free- booking, maps, tickets incl- attendee books online- send email reminders- link with Mailchimp- badges & check in lists

Feedback on how it has benefited Northampton Volunteer Centre

- 'Probably had the most revolutionary impact on our charity'

- booking process was – Telephone / Post, Two spreadsheets, Manual e-mails & confirmations, Word documents, Cheque payments...

- attendance e-mails, reminders, payments are automatic

- 'one click' to print badges and sign-in sheets – online check-in too!

- link into Mailchimp to contact groups of contacts

- much more professional - 'A breath of fresh air to the organisation & no lost bookings!'

Feedback from Voluntary Action Leicestershire

Support engagement of PVI providers into children's care strategies

- Will have provided 70 training sessions for up to 1800 workers

- Saved so much time, particularly sending automatic confirmations & built-in map of location reducing trivial enquiries

- Event capacity handled by system – attendee told immediately

- 70 sessions - replication of events is a real time saver!

- Customise questions asked of attendees, so tailor event format

Running EventsEventbrite

Free Version- Unlimited events, Unlimited attendees- Invite and manage attendee bookings- Download attendee details and print reports- Print badges and sign-in sheets- Offline attendee ticket wallet & phone app to sign-in attendees

Paid for Version – No monthly fee- 2.0% of price + £0.65 per ticket (e.g. £30 event would cost £31.25)- All versions have all features

Other ones to look at- Meetup, Brown Paper Tickets, Amiando

Dispersed CollaborationYammerPrivate discussion network

What it is- a closed internal network for teams- community for dispersed workers - chat, send open and direct messages- store & share documents - follow groups, people and files- discussion thread notifications online, by email, phone app or text

Free Version- Unlimited size secure, free network for an organisation or team- Discussions, Polls, Groups, Teams, File sharing, - Desktop tool and Smart phone app- Fully customisable notifications by device and frequency- Full control over network and group membership

Paid for Version – From £2.00 per user per month- Custom branding - Tools for bulk user management- Enterprise control over keyword blocking and stats downloads- Enhanced support via telephone and email

Other ones to look at- Ning, Facebook Groups, Google+ Communities

Dispersed CollaborationYammerPrivate discussion network

CollaborationGoogle Tools (Drive)www.google.co.uk(was Google Docs)

What it is- Google Drive (My Drive offline)- Collaborative document sharing- Online version of Office Software- Documents, Spreadsheets, Forms- Also Presentations & Drawings- Need a (free) Google account- File level control for access / update- Have to be connected to Internet

Maybe consider Yammer or Dropbox

You need a (free)Google account

CollaborationGoogle Tools (Drive)

What it does- Upload files and share, gather by Forms- Revisions & rollback changes- Simultaneous live updating & chat together- Secure 'cloud' backup- Doesn't have all features of Office Software- Download .doc / .pdf to Format, Share, Print- Calendar to see colleague availability

Step-by-stepHow to use and share Google Calenders

What it does …- you can create a calendar for your organisation or project- view calendars by agenda, day, week or month- see public & other people's calendars by yours – event / calendar colours- share calendar, allow some people to change events or manage sharing- create events, select duration, add attachments for participants to share- invite others to your events by email address and Find Time feature- from settings, can embed in a website as a publicly viewable calendar- set-up repeating events and create flexible reminders before event

Not Just Document Sharing (Google Drive)- Browser (Chrome)- Mail (Very popular and versatile on-line e-mail system)- Reader (Keep up to date with RSS newsfeeds you subscribe to)- Maps and Streetview (Find an organisation and see the building)- Places (Enhanced search result listing & map integration)- Alerts (Instant e-mail notifications when search term mentioned)- Custom Search (Embeddable search for your site or selected range)- Wallet (Secure money transactions)- Adwords (Advertising and keyword promotion)- Sites (Build simple webpages)- Play (Google App store for Andriod phones)- Plus (Social network, share content in 'Circles' & video 'Hangouts')

Even- Hardware (Chromebook)- Augmented Reality (Glass)

CollaborationGoogle Tools

..even just to be noticed by a wider audience - get your organisation listed with 'Google Place' page

e.g. Voluntary Action RotherhamDerwentsideCVS & VB here

- Verified- Add Photos- List Offers- Streetview Maps- Show Ratings- Comments

Feedback on how it has benefited Community Lincs TLI Group

- easy to collaborate with dispersed team

- documents are always there

- used Forms as part of an ideas gathering exercise

- always got latest version, not 'on other computer'

- 'Places' – makes our organisation stand out

- 'Calendar' – can see mine/colleagues availability when I'm planning meetings out of the office – even on my phone

CollaborationGoogle Tools

Finding OutSurvey Monkeywww.surveymonkey.com

What it is- online survey website- drag and drop questions- simple tick-box or grids- multi-users

Finding OutSurvey Monkey

What it does- generate graphs- download spreadsheets- event feedback forms- logic based on responses

Free Version- Unlimited surveys- 10 questions per survey on 15 question types- 20 survey templates with Progress bar & Page numbering- 100 responses per survey- Collect via weblink, email, Facebook or embed

Paid for Version - £24 per month- No limit to surveys, questions, limit to 1000 responses- Download survey responses - Cross-tabulate responses from multiple questions

Other ones to look at- Snap Surveys, Zoomerang, Lime Survey

Finding OutSurvey Monkey

Feedback on how it has been of benefit to organisations

- finding out more about what members needs are

- as a post-event feedback system

- useful graphs for presentations & funding bids

- timesaving vs annual paper based survey

- also see www.polleverywhere.com

Finding OutSurvey Monkey

Collaboration Doodlewww.doodle.com

What it is- easy meeting scheduling

also- simple choice selecting

- no more round robin emails- everyone can see latest view- pick dates, invite people, choose the most popular- set options, invite people,choose the winner

Easy meeting scheduling and choice selection

What it is- removes 'round robin' emails- everyone can see latest view- Reply 'Yes', 'No' and 'If Need be' - unlimited dates & participants (can set own cap)- share URL with potential attendees or closed list- share poll on Facebook & Twitter- create free account to manage options & polls- hide responses so only creator sees- responders can leave comments about choices

Free Version- Registration not even required to participate- Free sign-up to manage invitations- 'Meet Me' page to publish availability and your time can be booked Paid for Versions- Themes, No adverts, Mobile, Calendar integration (€29 per year)- Also Branding, More Efficiency, Own URL , 20 people (€359 per yr)

Others to look at- Google Calendar

Feedback on how it has benefited the ITEM3 network- completely eliminated the wasted time of juggling meeting dates- everyone knows each others availability & who is attending- straightforward online system to select event catering options

CollaborationDoodle – www.doodle.com

Letting People KnowMailChimp

What it is- mailing list management- e-bulletin design- engagement stats- segmented subscribers- emails sent smoothly avoid spam- handles bounces automatically- easy import from Excel- integration with social networks

Feedback on how it has benefited Lincolnshire CVS

- 'helps create consistent, attractive, professional newsletters', template based design of campaigns & newsletters for re-use

- eliminates manual emails with multiple attachments that had to be sent in batches to avoid jamming Outlook mail servers

- build & import lists of groups and segment by town / interest

- sign-up forms on website – people now 'come to us'

- understand readers by tracking sent, bounced, opened, clicks

- social media integration, Twitter, FB, QR – measure reach

Letting People KnowMailChimp

Letting People KnowMailChimp

Free Version- 2000 subscribers and 12000 emails per month- Templates and Template Images including Merge Tags- Unlimited Groups and Segments- Offline and phone tools for stats and to collect new subscribers

Paid for Version - £9.22 (1000), £18.45 (2500) per month (and larger)- Delivery Doctor and Inbox Inspector- No limit to emails (price bands for subscribers)- Enhanced targeting through subscribers social networks- Personalised Auto-responder when new people join list

Other ones to look at- TinyLetter, ConstantContact, DotMailer, Mailblaster

Also...

(Almost) whatever task you want to do there will be a website or service to assist you ...

Listening to opinions and views

Team file sharing

QR Codes linking to website from smartphone

Jing, Google+, Branch, Audioboo, ipadio, ifttt … … maybe best left for the surgery sessions later!

What's next in the Cloud?Bite-sized Consumption of learning & information

Mobile Tablets & Phones is only growing

Visual Image & Video based content dominate

Virtual Google Glass – Augmented & Immersive

Smart NFC Near Field Communication payments

But we should always ask, How is this relevant to the sector and how will it help work with communities

Measuring Success- Check how many times links are clicked if using Bit.ly- Listen what's said about your organisation using Topsy- Monitor. Google Analytics, Facebook Insights & Wordpress page visits, combine in Sparkwi.se- Measure. Tweetreach, Twitalyzer, SocialBro, www.twentyfeet.com- Visualize. Infographics on Visual.y, My Social StrandBUT …. real success is not just about the numbers- Tell stories of real people and real changes- Find out how people heard about you- Build relationships & success by joining in conversations- Social media presence an reflection of your organisation- Engage press, funders, authorities with pictures and video- Say Thank You!

Websites we've covered

Unanswered Questions

Things you'd like to be able to do?

Other websites

Anything else ….(Technology related!)

Any Questions?

Guides and Links - http://nptechuk.wordpress.com/sms-links/

Thank You

Paul Webster (Twitter : @watfordgap)

paulwebster43@gmail.com