Incircle: what do you think?

[DGMarie]

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!

[irishpipes]

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.

[DGMarie]

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.

[Jimmy Choo]

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.

[Beryana]

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.

[AnchorAlumna]

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.

[ForeverRoses]

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.

[skgator68]

It's been a while since this thread was active, but I am wondering if everyone is still as excited about InCircle as they were previously. We are thinking about getting it.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Kappa Alpha Theta is now using InCircle. I cant speak for others, but personally I enjoy it

[AnchorAlumna]

Delta Gamma is in test mode with it. I think it may go online sometime after 1-1-2008.
The University of Alabama has been online for a while, but it hasn't really been promoted in any other media, such as the school alumni magazine. It's pretty dead in the water right now.

[DGTess]

I'm a member of the DG test.

So far it's at least as useful as linkedin.com. I'm chomping at the bit until all our sisters are invited...it annoys me that it didn't come well-enough prepared that the organization could use it right "out of the box." Having to test for three months tells me it's not really well designed.

[33girl]

OK, bumping this because I wondered if this is happening w/ everyone else's InCircle.

We have people who are sending out announcements about new groups to literally EVERYONE and if you have no interest in the group, there's no way to delete the announcement. I can understand this for groups like "Our new headquarters" that are sorority-wide interest, but some of them are REALLY specific. Is there any way to filter these?

[KSUViolet06]

Sigma unveiled its new HQ website today, which includes an InCircle program (called SigmaConnect).

I feel like it will be useful particularly for collegians because they can share share ideas and such, and it's also much easier to navigate than our old Members Only section (it was really hard to find certain things on it as a collegian).

[Buttonz]

We call ours SigNet. It's ok, I try to log in every other week or so..but it's not very active.