Incircle: what do you think?
 

Does your greek group currently use InCircle? What do you think about it? For those who also have FaceBook or Yahoo Groups, did InCircle replace it for you, or do you use it differently?

I've searched here and found TriDelta and AOPi members using it, and generally speaking very positively about it. Would you recommend it to other groups? I know of several other groups looking at it and wanted some candid feedback.

Thanks!

We (AOII) use InCircle. I think it has been very well received. My only real complaint, if you want to call it that, is that there seems to be a core group of posters who are on there all the time and still zillions of sisters who never get on at all. It also isn't as active as Greek chat. I think as time goes by and more sisters get used to the technology it will be used more. I think the older generations of alumnae are likely intimidated by it or don't even really know about it.

Irishpipes: you said there aren't many posters on it. Was it announced in a big way with training or just like in your national magazine? Am curious if groups are really pushing people to sign up for it. Given the cost of it (around $24K for a 3 year contract) I'm wondering the real ROI.

I use InCircle (I'm a Tri Delta). It's nice to have b/c it gives you the ability to network with sisters across the country but it didn't replace myspace or facebook for me.

AOII actually have a pre-launch before the full launch on the website, To Dragma (magazine), etc. Basically e-mail invites were sent out to all those sisters who posted on GreekChat, MyAOII Discussion boards, etc.

While there are a core group of people that are active on inCircle, it does seem to be growing. There are groups for just about EVERYTHING and some are definitely more active than others (and some go in spurts). Will it replace Facebook for the collegians? No. HOWEVER it has connected a LOT of sisters both 'lost sisters' and just meeting new sisters. It made Leadership Institute (and I'm sure Convention) even more fun because you are putting faces to posts, etc. There is definitely the sisterhood and 'Big Picture' AOII aspect that makes it attractive.

My school (University of Alabama) just installed it. I hate it. It's hard to figure out how to post anything. They seem to assume there is only 1 graduate per family, so I have to go through a different e-mail account than my husband, who's also an alum. Stupid.

InCircle is okay, but here is my complaint. They list people using their first name and current last name. If you want to find out their maiden name, you have to click on each individual profile to see it. There are some people I would love to reconnect with, however unless you know thier married name it is a pain to try and find them.

ASA just started using InCircle (We call it Sister Circle - but it's the same company). There was an announcement on the national website, but if you're not a regular visitor, you wouldn't have seen it. There will probably be something about it in the upcoming Spring Phoenix. I like it a lot, as it is much more active then our previous AlphaNet, but it's hard to search for spesfic things - namely chapters, since when you put in "Beta Kappa", you get ANYTHING in the profile that has Beta and Kappa. And since we have quite a few chapters that are Beta-something, and there's a popular honor GLO with Kappa in it, I get quite a few hits to dig through.

All in all though, I really like it.

ETA: I also am set to receive "Daily Digests", and it will not send them for 3-4 days, and then send them all at once.

I love InCircle! AOII and Ole Miss both have it! I will say this the AOII InCircle is way more active than the Ole Miss InCircle. I think the Ole Miss InCircle has around 6000 members on it! I enjoy the AOII InCircle because I've been able to talk about AOII things that wouldn't be deemed appropriate on a public message board!

https://rebelnetwork.olemissalumni.com/

https://incircle.alphaomicronpi.org/

Search under the school name, sillypants. :) Or just under "western." If I searched under my chapter name I'd be there all day too.

Ditto everything Jess said - I've reconnected w/ sisters I haven't talked with in literally 20 years. It's a 2000% improvement over anything we've had previously.

So is it more focused for alumnae? Or do the college members find it beneficial too?

I think collegiate members would find it useful/fun as well - and we do have some on there - but most of us who posted are alums, so we see it from that side.

That's another thing I like about it - there is no collegiate/alumnae division. Except for a few instances, it's not like we have groups for "Alpha Chapter - Collegians" and "Alpha Chapter - Alums" and you daren't join the wrong one. Everyone can post in the group together.

Thanks! Can you give me some idea of the types of sub-forums you have? Like do you have every chapter as a unique forum, and ones for things like "recruitment" or "finances" things like that? Are there moderators for the forums?

Anyone can create a "forum" called a group in InCircle. If you create it, you are the "moderator." However, unless you choose to make the group restrictive, moderators don't really do much of anything. If you do choose to make a group restrictive (say, only initiated members of XX chapter) only the moderator can admit new members who apply.

We have groups for each chapter, alumnae chapters, states, regions, people who like American Idol, Harry Potter, moms, musicians, republicans, democrats, Irish, Cub fans, Corp Board members, former traveling consultants, surfers, teachers, book clubs, you name it, we have it.

Group members can post threads within the group. The only way lurkers see those posts is to open the group and see it, unless they are group members and then it tells you there is a new post. There is also a Community section where there are just general types of threads that are right there for everybody to read without being a group member.