BigTent relaunches Transition Tool promo for groups

Published March 12, 2010 Big Features Leave a Comment
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In the spirit of Spring Cleaning, BigTent is relaunching its Transition Tool promotion to help your group get organized. What does this mean? We will migrate member data for groups that want to launch between now and the end of April. This member data can include anything such as  names, addresses, and kids information.

If your group has 50+ members, and you would like help migrating their information into a BigTent group, email us at support@bigtent.com with “Data migration” as the subject line. Already have your list of member data? Feel free to attach it to your message.

“Data migration” usually isn’t synonymous with “lots of fun,” so think of it this way: calling on BigTent for member data migration is like getting a jet pack for your group. We’ll handle the migration, so you can focus on the fun parts of your group — putting on events (with timesaving online payments), hosting discussions, and more.

Don’t let the thought of having to migrate your data to a new technology slow you down! Put on your jet pack, launch on BigTent, then blast off into an awesome world of free tools for online groups.

As an added bonus, groups that migrate their data before the end of the year will get a special, BigTent-hosted Q&A forum in their groups. The Q&A forum provides a month’s worth of tips to get your members comfortable with using BigTent, and features timely responses from BigTent experts.

We look forward to seeing your group on BigTent soon!

Best,

Diane & the BigTent team

BigTent team members head to SXSW

Published March 12, 2010 Big Culture Leave a Comment
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Greetings from Austin!

I’m Jenn, a design team member here at BigTent, reporting with my colleague Pearl Wu, who’s QA. We’ve recently landed in Austin and are excited to take part in the 2010 SXSW Music and Media Conference.

There are some great keynotes and workshops listed this year. We’re excited to participate in discussions on mobile user experience, location and context, Tastemaker Moms, and much more! It is our hope that these conversations will inform our thinking as we expand our product into the mobile realm, and continue to devise strategies for appealing to all the Chief Household Officers out there.

If there are any BigTent members out there participating in SXSW, please get in touch with us @jenn__chen and @pearlsaur. You can also show your support by joining our group on Facebook. We’d love to meet up with you!

Best,

Jenn and Pearl

Redbeacon Partnership Offers Added Value for BigTent Groups

Published March 10, 2010 Big Features 1 Comment
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Today, Redbeacon and BigTent are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership that will help members of BigTent groups find competitive offers from service professionals such as painters, plumbers, and more.

“Online communities, such as parents groups powered by BigTent, are a natural place to turn in the search for high quality local service professionals, which is what makes this such a powerful partnership” said Ethan Anderson, Cofounder of Redbeacon.

Integrating RedBeacon’s service with BigTent has allowed us to expand our Reviews and Classifieds offerings. Currently, group members can reach out to each other to buy, sell, or solicit advice on products and services. Redbeacon expands this network — simply list the service you’re looking for, and the RedBeacon engine will collect bids from relevant professionals in the area. In addition, you’ll be able to see if a service provider has been endorsed by another member in your group.

The BigTent system even understands when you post about a requested service in Forums, which is often the first place people turn to when contacting their groups. Just look for a pop up box that prompts you to go through RedBeacon.

For the time being, RedBeacon services are in limited release on BigTent and will be available to approximately 100 groups in the Bay Area.

BigTent Group of the Week: Coronado Stroller Strides

Published March 8, 2010 Big Features Leave a Comment
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This week’s spotlight is on Coronado Stroller Strides, a group of 25 moms who meet several times a week to work out, meet other moms, and have fun. The group has no public Web site — by choice. Moms interested in Stroller Strides sign up for local classes through the national Stroller Strides site, so the Coronado Stroller Strides BigTent group is limited to moms who have already paid their club membership dues.

Our team had a chance to connect with Lindsay E., one of the Stroller Strides instructors who’s also leading the BigTent group. Here’s some insight into her lively group and their decision to adopt BigTent:

Q. What’s a typical day in the life of your group?

A. Our group meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at Tidelands Park to workout. Moms also meet up for weekly playgroups and a monthly mom’s night out. We’re a wonderful group of moms and are always looking for new additions!

Q. Why did your group choose BigTent?

A. Prior to starting our BigTent group, we did not have a social chat site. I wanted to give our moms more opportunities to communicate, plus have a way to remind moms about upcoming events. BigTent has everything I need, and then some — like fun polls.

Q. Now that you’re on BigTent, what are your new goals for the group?

A. I’ll be moving cross-county in a few months, and I hope to pass the group on to its next instructor with a solid foundation, both online and in-person.

–Excellent. Be sure to refer the new instructor to our Coach Corner for helpful tips on managing her BigTent group!

Q. What else keeps you busy besides Stroller Strides?

A. I’m a clinical psychologist who is taking several years off from work to raise a family. I have a 15-month-old son and a baby on the way. I started Stroller Strides when my son was 3 months old and loved it so much that I became an instructor. I enjoy having a way to stay fit, get outdoors, connect with other young families, and model all of these healthy behaviors for my son.

–Congratulations on the newest family addition! We wish you the best of luck with your move and future endeavors. Thanks for choosing BigTent!

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bigtentgroups

Automatic event reminders arrive at BigTent

Published March 5, 2010 Big Features 1 Comment
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Hooray! Auto event reminders are here. You can now easily schedule up to three automatic event notifications for times between 30 days and 15 minutes prior to any event.

Auto reminder capability has been our most requested features, so we’re really excited to be able to provide it to you. We also want to give a big THANK YOU to our developers, designers, and QA team who spent a ton of time working on this upgrade.

Special thanks to BigTent group leaders Roxanne Davis and Meghan Gray for working with us on the design of this feature. These outstanding admins ensured that the reminders will meet our groups’ needs.

Hope this feature saves you time and makes your lives a little easier.

Best,

Rosa & the BigTent team

Join BigTent for a free webinar: Fun with Fundraising

Published March 3, 2010 Big Thoughts Leave a Comment
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You know may know her from our recent twins’ club webinar, Twins Club: Extreme Makeover. Natalie Diaz is a force to be reckoned with — tireless mother of twins, founder of Twiniversity, and expert group leader. She is currently Director of Manhattan Twins Club, which means she’s responsible for a support system that helps out over 900 expectant and new moms.

In that role, Natalie has learned the ropes to fundraising. If you’re part of a parents group and you’re looking for ideas to raise revenue for your club, be sure to join Natalie in our latest BigTent webinar, Fun with Fundraising. Here are the details:

Fun with Fundraising

Thursday, March 11 @ 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern

Registration is FREE, so sign up today!

During the session, Natalie will share 10 tips she’s used to bolster her twins club’s budget. Though her experience is tied to twins clubs, we encourage all parenting group leaders to join. Tips she’ll share include:

-How to sell group products

-How to find event sponsors

-How to monetize your newsletter

…and more!

Hope to see you on the upcoming webinar. Let us know if you have any questions.

-The BigTent Team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BigTentGroups

Follow Natalie & Twiniversity on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Twiniversity

Twins Club: Extreme Makeover audio and slides now up

Published February 25, 2010 Big Features Leave a Comment
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Twins club leaders! In case you weren’t able to attend this morning’s webinar with twins club expert, Natalie Diaz, we now have a recorded version of the session and a PDF copy of the slides available:

Be sure to stay tuned for an upcoming webinar in March, where Natalie will focus on fundraising tips for your groups. As leader of the 800-member Manhattan Twins Club — the largest club in the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs — Natalie has a ton of experience to share!

Best,

Mia & the BigTent team

Follow Natalie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/twiniversity

Follow BigTent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bigtentgroups

Flying with BigTent: slides and audio available

Published February 23, 2010 Big Thoughts Leave a Comment
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Missed today’s BigTent webinar? Not to worry. The slides and audio for today’s session are now available:

It’s always rewarding to help BigTent users get more out of our site. We hope this session helps you all interact more meaningfully with FlyLady and other FlyBabies. And if you have any questions about using BigTent for other groups you’re involved with, pleased let us know!

Best,

Mia & the BigTent team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bigtentgroups

BigTent discusses marketing trends at Mom 2.0 Summit

Published February 19, 2010 Big Features 1 Comment
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2010 Mom 2.0 Summit - FEB 18-20

BigTent CEO Donna Novitsky and Account Executive Allison Talamantez are headed to Houston this week for Mom 2.0 Summit – An Open Conversation Between Moms and Marketers. Both are excited to connect with hundreds of other brands and mom bloggers to discuss the latest trends.

On Saturday, Donna will be part of a breakout session, “Using Your Right Mind to Market,” and will share her insights on how BigTent is giving advertisers revolutionary new ways to connect with chief household officers.

“BigTent has a unique engagement marketing model where we create high value programs connecting brands with women in mutually beneficial ways,” says Donna. “For example, we are doing a ‘Key Influencer’ campaign for Calphalon that sends a set of pans to hand-picked “Cooks with Style” for their review. We also helped Shutterfly roll out their new line of holiday cards with a “sneak peak” campaign that gave BigTent members a chance to vote on their favorite designs.”

If you’re attending the conference, we look forward to seeing you there! If you can’t make it, be sure to follow @BigTentDonna and @mom2summit on Twitter for the latest updates.

BigTent adds Facebook forums

Published February 17, 2010 Big Features 1 Comment
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BigTent is expanding the ways in which we support community groups! Our on-site features can streamline even the most complex group tasks, including membership renewals and dues collection.

We know that some groups are more informal than others, so now we’re offering Facebook-hosted conversations for all lightweight groups out there. We’re rolling out this feature in stages, so our current version only allows you to participate in forums that are created by employees.

We already have several forums to pique your interest, including Project Runway, a Recipe Swap, Bay Area Eats, and Olympic Trash Talk.

If there’s a forum you’d like to create that isn’t on the list, just post a comment and we’ll get it started. Hope to see you on the forums soon!

Best,

Will & the BigTent team

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