Monday, February 1, 2010

Wiggio Blog


Wiggio: Making it Easy to Work in Groups
by Katie Adkins
            Wiggio is a site that allows working in groups to become like no work at all. This social media site allows group members to stay connected. Wiggio, from the acronym WIG (Working In Groups), sends mass text messages, e-mails, and voice messages to group members. Wiggio also allows groups to host conference calls, webinars, keep a common calendar, and share documents in a common folder. This tool is totally free and the best part is that you do not have to have a Wiggio account to join a group!
            The first step is creating a profile. There are links available to your Facebook, Twitter, and Skype accounts. Once you have created a profile, you can create a group. A group name and e-mail addresses of potential group members will be required here.  Once you have created your group, you can get started by adding names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of potential group members. I created a group called Current Topics for this class. You can also join existing groups that other members have created. You will need the group name and password. In this group you can share a common calendar, upload and edit common documents, and conduct video conferences.  
            Wiggio was created by Dana Lampert and Lance Polivy, two programming students from Cornell University. Several test runs were conducted on campuses such as Harvard and Brown University. As students, they found it hard to communicate with group members and friends when everyone used different methods. So these graduates wanted to put the services from other popular sites such as freeconference.com and Google Calendar all together.   
            “We were in many different business organizations, bands, sports teams, fraternity councils, and living in apartments with different housemates, and we found that each group was using different tools,” says Lampert. “Some were using Google Calendar; others were using Yahoo’s calendars. Some just sent e-mails out, others used listservs. For polls, they’d go to Survey Monkey, and for conference calls they’d use free apps like FreeConference.com. When Lance and I put our heads together, we thought we could put all these things in one place.”  
                                                                                    -Dana Lampert, Co-Creator
             This software is specifically targeted toward college students who are busy with multiple jobs, classes, clubs, and friends. This is a great way to stay connected with all groups students are a part of. The creators are constantly creating updates and new features. You can learn more at blog.wiggio.com, the site’s blog.

Lampert, Dana; Polivy, Lance. (November 6, 2009). Wiggio Blog. Retrieved from http://www.blog.wiggio.com
Roush, Wade. (September 11, 2008). Wiggio Offers Free Groupware for Harried College             Students. Retrieved from http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/09/11/wiggio-offers-       free-groupware-for-harried-college-students/

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