Now it’s even easier to sign up members and manage their information in your BigTent groups:

Member manage page. This new addition your group’s Manage area enables you to navigate all the ins and outs of the membership process. You can change membership types and end dates, suspend or remove members, and create exceptions to your group renewal rules.

For example, let’s say Helene enjoyed her trial membership and upgraded early to a full membership. In just a few clicks, you can make this change in your group records:

Revised enrollment process. We’ve shortened the number of steps it takes for a new member to join your group, and we’ve made things more familiar by adding your group name and logo to every sign up page.

We hope these changes, in addition to our new support for international time zones and group subscription changes via email, help you connect with your trusted communities. We want to hear from you — please feel free to share any questions or feedback you have.

Best,

Michelle  & the BigTent team

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

When we launched a new site look and feel in October, the mini-calendar took a mini-vacation. But when your feedback started pouring in, we realized it was time to call mini-cal and plead for its safe retun home.

We’re happy to announce that, as of January 26, the mini-calendar is back! Showing up as soon as you log into BigTent, and on every group buzz page after that, the mini-calendar bolds the dates when your groups have activities planned.

There’s also a text preview of two of the day’s events, and a link to view your full monthly calendar:

Mini-cal has had a few makeovers in its day. Here’s a gallery of how the feature has changed over time:

Mini-cal, today

Mini-cal, c. 2007

Mini-cal, c. 2006

Oh those features, they grow up so fast! Got questions or comments? Just let us know.

If you’re an MSN Group leader checking out BigTent, welcome! With the changes coming next month, chances are you’re deciding on the best new home for your online group. Of course, we hope you’ll choose BigTent.

We can help migrate your members and your message archives. Plus, we have some one-of-a-kind resources that make migrating from MSN Groups simple and effective:

1. Community Coaches. Change can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Once you create your BigTent group, get free phone and email support from a Community Coach. If you missed our email the first time around, contact us at coachrequest@bigtent.com.

Coaches are site experts who have managed their own groups on BigTent, so you’re bound to get some good advice.

2. Migration Guide. Follow the checklist in the guide to transition your members from MSN to BigTent.

If you choose the option to automatically import your members, we give you message templates to help get the word out about the switch.

3. Contact us. Have questions? We’re here to help. Please email us, call us (415-992-6550), or sign up for a live web demo.

As far as features are concerned, we offer discussion forums, photo sharing, and plenty of cool extras to add to your group experience. (How does unlimited, free file storage sound?)

Have you already made the switch to BigTent? Have other questions? Feel free to share your thoughts. We love hearing from you!

Last week we unveiled some great new features on BigTent! The features include:

- Easy download of calendar events

- Greater visibility of forum search options

- Customizable invitation rejection message

Easy download of calendar events:

For our tech savvy members, we’ve created a feature that allows you to integrate your BigTent events into your desktop calendar applications. This feature allows you to download your calendar events to your desktop for use in other Calendar applications such as Outlook, Google, and iCal.

You can download events 6 months prior to and one year from today.

Greater visibility of forum search options:

Instead of having to click on “Advanced Options” to filter forum topics by author, date, or message type, these choices are now a part of the main search menu. You can filter messages by forum, keywords, author, date range, message type, or any combination of these.

Customizable invitation rejection message:

We know you never want to deny potential members entry to your group, but sometimes an interested person may not fit your membership criteria. For this reason, we’ve created a feature that allows group leaders to add a message that gets sent when you or another leader rejects a potential membe’s application.

This feature is particularly useful for groups with a limited capacity, or groups that only accept members who meet a certain requirement (e.g,, attended a specific university or have children of a certain age) and want to specify these requirements when denying memberships.

We’re adding new feature and enhancing existing features all the time. Stay tuned for more tune-ups in the Tent!

It all started in August 2006, when a local club, the Marin Parents of Multiples Club, became the first group ever to adopt BigTent. Supporting close to 300 members in Marin County, Calif., the group and its leadership team were seeking a better way to manage its membership, including tools to organize a special sub-group for parents of twins over five.

Today, BigTent currently hosts many parents of multiples groups that span 15 states, with new states coming into the pipeline each month.

So what fuels the passion that multiples groups have for BigTent? In some ways, the proof is in the pudding — or rather, the increased rate of participation. Mica Garretson is Newsletter Editor for St. Petersburg Parents of Twins and Supertwins in St. Petersburg, Fla. Mica loves the fact that Big Tent has streamlined membership renewals for her group.

“This time last year, we had 16 people pay their dues on time,” she says. “This year we have 33. Thank you so much, BigTent, for making this process so much easier!”

Wondering what BigTent can do for your group? Just check out the screenshots below for more examples. You can also sign up to attend a live web demo, or start setting up your group today.

Membership forms

With BigTent you can design a custom membership form to collect vital information for your club. Find out who’s interested in volunteering, who’s on bedrest, and more:

Database reports

Use our secure, admin-only database to look up information for your group! This will allow you to contact members and support them more efficiently:

Sub-groups

Want to organize playgroups and hobby clubs for your group? You can create sub-groups to your heart’s content on Big Tent. Plus, you can make private sub-groups for your board and other special commmitees:

Have questions about starting a group on BigTent? Just email learnmore@bigtent.com for more information.

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Bethel MOPS! This active North Platte, NE group is our first in the state — a feat we owe to the innovative work of their Publicity Director, Kendra Carper.

In her efforts to spread the word about MOPS, Kendra was delighted to discover BigTent as a web solution for her group. Kendra raves, “Every part of Big Tent is created as though it was intended for our group!” She’s a particular fan of Big Tent’s color-coded calendar, our folder for sharing newsletters and other documents, and sub-groups for organizing her steering team.

Kendra has been involved with Bethel MOPS for three years. When asked what fuels her community involvement, she said, “I believe whole-heartedly in MOPS International’s ministry philosophy that ‘Better Moms Make a Better World.’ I love helping women become better mommies, which in turn grows a whole generation of better kids.”

Kendra credits her husband, Steven, for helping her balance her schedule and build quality ministries within her MOPS group. When not working with MOPS, Kendra is busy with her two boys, four-year-old Jackson and one-year-old Brady, and the family’s “temperamental dachsund,” Abby.

Our team applauds your hard work, Kendra, and wishes you and Bethel MOPS the best of luck in your ongoing endeavors!

We just can’t seem to leave you alone! We love it when our group admin list teems with suggestions of new ideas. We’re giddy when a new user takes our survey on ways to improve our current technology. We devote many of our communications to spotlighting our groups’ efforts to stay innovative and organized.

You may be wondering, what’s our thinking around always stirring up the conversation with members? Recently, Laney and I participated in a conference honoring the 10-year anniversary of the Cluetrain Manifesto. Back in ‘98, some visionary techies declared that marketing was going to completely change, and companies had better get with the program. They predicted the extinction of “one way marketing,” where companies have control over what is said about their products and services. Instead, they spoke of marketing becoming a two-way conversation, where customers would spread their product reviews in wide-open public forums on the Internet. According to the manifesto, companies who participated in these conversations with authentic and honest responses would thrive, while those who tried to control all the messages would, well, die a slow and painful death.

Now here we are in 2008, where the incredible channels of blogging and social networking give power to the people, who in turn keep companies honest. There is no room for “spin.” We at Big Tent couldn’t agree more! Our team is here because we’re passionate about a partnership with our groups and their members. We love your ideas. And if you haven’t been part of the dialogue yet, please feel free to send us a line at hello@bigtent.com — or better yet, post it in your blog.

-Donna Novitsky, BigTent CEO

We’re continually impressed by the outpouring of dedication and support which members receive from their community organizations. From pulling out all the stops to host a reunion gala for former teammates, to dreaming up new fundraisers to bolster youth in arts, such great groups energize our team to continue adding features under the Tent.

In recounting her own quest for parenting advice and camaraderie, one of our colleagues, Archana Bhat, illustrates this unflagging volunteer spirit:

“Are they amazing? Or slightly crazy?”

These questions swirled in my head when I was pregnant with my twins and had just joined my local multiples group, Eastside Mothers of Multiples (EMOMs). Let me explain. When you are pregnant — with twins at that — everything seems overwhelming. I actually was scared of Babies R Us for the first six months of my pregnancy! I didn’t recognize half the items in the store, and the choices for raising baby were almost too crushing for me.

Then I joined EMOMS. When I got access to their message boards, I was so happy to read stories from other moms, who themselves had once been clueless about twin boppy pillows, breastfeeding multiples, and purchasing two of everything instead of one. A member nearby even called to reassure me, talking to me at length about my pregnancy and what to expect in the upcoming months.

Post-pregnancy, I attended the bi-annual Toys & Togs Sale and came home with tons of gently used toys, clothes, and strollers — all for the bargain basement price of $100! The sale was run better than any corporate event I have ever been part of, with enough rules and regulations to ensure a smooth sailing day for buyers and sellers alike. I then realized that the women of EMOMS are nothing short of amazing.

I left that sale deeply inspired by the club, and feeling as though I should give back for all that I had received. I emailed the existing technology chair and asked if I could help out in any way. She immediately replied, “Can you find us a new member site?”

In my search, I lighted upon Big Tent, and EMOMS soon launched on the site in Summer 2007.

Almost all the moms in my club were incredulous that I took on such a Herculean task with young kids at home. But that’s when I realized I had become the “EMOM” archetype that had once puzzled me — the seemingly tireless, always passionate mom. By adding the responsibility of securing a new group technology to my plate, I actually reduced my stress, and gained a mentally challenging outlet to counterbalance the other forces in my life. While raising twins as a stay-at-home mother is hard, my refreshed outlook enabled me to appreciate the wonderful moments of parenting bliss that punctuate the usual chaos.

In the end, EMOMS got a brand-new functional web platform, and I got way more than I anticipated: my freedom, my sanity, and a new network of friends and support.