Interest Group Feature – quick access to relevant content

Yes - the end of this school year is almost here. So, for our last major pre-fall feature release, we decided to enable network members to create Interest Groups.

For example, you may want to create a group for the Summer Camp your child will attend. After you login, on your My Account page click on the Interest Groups circle to create your group. Once you create a group, others can join it – parents whom you invite to sign-up as well as those who are already network members. You will then have a group directory, plus the capability to filter content created by these members. This feature enables you to get to know and make connections with other parents from the camps your children will attend.

Of course, there are many more group types you can create. Some examples: Soccer/Little League club, Mothers club, Church, Employer, HOA etc. Besides the group directory capability described above, you get the unique ability to quickly and easily view relevant content posted by users on our site.

Viewing relevant content using group filters

If you have read user posts in an online forum, you must have wondered - Who is this person? How relevant is what they say? In order to act upon information, it is necessary to trust the source. Hence, we have linked user-specific directory/groups to content posted on our site. With a single click, you can filter content and find what is relevant to you.

We have provided links to screen shot images that will provide some examples - after you click on the link, you can zoom in by clicking on the arrow that will appear on your browser window.

1) Please click here to see how you could find out what members from your mothers club have posted about baby sitter referrals/classifieds.
2) Please click here to see how you could find out if a soccer club or classroom group parent has a blog.
3) Please click here to see how you could find out what your friends have posted in the Kids favorite recipes forum.

Ours is a community site and its value to you is dependent upon users and the content posted by them. We hope this filtering mechanism will be useful in your online activities - so please do try it out! Be creative - experiment by posting content (remember you can always edit what you post). Set up notification for topics/blogs in the forums, reference and blogs sections to get updated via email.

Simple Sign-up Sheet Feature - for School/Volunteer/Fundraising Activities

Many school/group activities require us to sign-up for this or that. Paper based sign-up sheets are not always easy to keep track of or to physically access or to keep well organized.

Hence, we are pleased to release our new simple Sign-up Sheet feature - it is easy to set-up, easy to sign-up on, and easy to access online 24x7. This capability will provide an efficient (fewer phone calls), time saving, convenient method to sign-up for wish list/party items, to volunteer for events/projects/tasks, or to raise funds.

Furthermore, our directory feature (automatically generated as users join the network) provides controlled and secured access to these sheets. The directory is monitored by network members, and access can be restricted through the school security code feature (as we announced last month).

We have provided links to screen shot images that will highlight the key capabilities – after you click on the link, you can zoom in by clicking on the arrow that will appear on your browser window.

Integrated into Blogs:
The sign-up sheet capability has been integrated into the Blogs tool. Please click here to see how you can post entries to your blog (Ex: announcements, news, surveys, discussions, etc.) AND add a sign-up sheet to your blog.

Item sign-up sheet:
Please click here to see how you can sign-up for items in a list (Ex: class party, pot-luck, teacher wish list etc.).

Volunteer sign-up sheet:
Please click here to see how you can sign-up volunteers (Ex: festival, class projects/tasks, PTA programs etc.).

Fundraising sign-up sheet:
Please click here to see how you can raise funds through cash or non-cash fundraisers.

Some additional points which you will find useful:
* Save sign-up tables to use again for your next event.
* Use the stored sample tables created by us as a starting point (if you’d like a specific table just contact us and we’ll add it to the samples)
* Print out the sign-up sheets and also send out reminder emails to all participants with just one click.
* Ask your teachers/administrators to set-up their blogs/sign-up sheets - remember you can now invite them into your network.
* Use the notification feature for all blogs that interest you - set it up so that you get emailed when a blog is updated.

New Features - March 2006

Invite Teachers/Administrators

You can invite teachers/administrators to join the network. After you login, look for the link on the left side bar. Help us get Teachers to sign-up and create blogs !

Notification

You can get notified by email when content is updated. For example, if there is a specific Blog that you read or a specific Forum topic (Ex: your school message board) that you are interested in, you can sign-up to be notified. Look out for a “Notify me when updated” box in the specific blog, forum, reference section that interests you and subscribe to it.

Enhanced Security

We have added one more layer of security to our site - the capability for a “School Security Code”. Your school office staff, PTA members, parent volunteers etc. can administer this code, which allows control over sign-ups up into your school groups. If you are interested in learning more about this feature please reply to this email.

Simplified Registration flow

We have streamlined the registration flow - this should definitely help you sign-up new parents. So please login and send out invitations.

Introduction: We'll use this blog to keep our community up to date

Keep an eye on this blog for information on new features, use tips etc. We will use our community blog to capture relevant Q&A. We are in alpha mode and so we welcome all feedback (more the better). Please send us feedback through the link on our site.

Following is a brief introduction to our site:

SchoolParentNet is a social network for parents, teachers and administrators, and leverages the school system to create a secure online environment. The site enables families to make/strengthen connections around real world communities - their local schools and other interest groups such as soccer clubs, mothers clubs, etc.

Use this site to exchange information and organize events with the school community in a secure and controlled manner. Our simple blog/sign-up sheet feature will provide an efficient, time saving, convenient method to manage wish list/party items, volunteer tasks and fund-raising activities. Use our friend, interest and school group capability to share referrals with local, relevant and trusted users.

Learn about this site by taking a tour. Please click here to see screenshots of how you could use our blog/sign-up sheet feature to create an online “welcome packet” with information about key activities and events, sign-up sheets for things like school/class supply wish lists, parties, etc.

Come join our free PreK-12 network - users from across the country (300+ schools from 35+ states) have already signed up! Please click here to sign-up. After you join the network, you can help win money for your school by inviting others.

SPN Fact – looking under the hood

The basic concept behind our site is based on the six degrees of separation theory (you may be familiar with this concept through the Kevin Bacon game!). Our site is built on the idea that if parents, teachers, administrators invite their friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, etc., and they in turn invite others then we can build a useful social network around our own school communities. In order to make the site more relevant to users, the software behind our site, groups users based on the school information they provide when they sign-up. Users are grouped with others at multiple levels from the district/city, to the school and even down to a classroom. So users just need to invite others they know and trust and let the site make relevant connections. This mechanism shifts the challenge of network building, creating contact lists, etc. from individuals or organizations (such as PTA’s) to all network users. In this way, we can help each other grow our own local networks - for example, one users co-worker may be a school parent group member for another user. Grouping users by their school information also allows us to create security-screening mechanisms as well as to help increase relevance of content presented to each user.

Company name, Domain name

Internet companies like to be creative with their names - it's "in" to create a word and hope it becomes part of our daily language. We thought we'll be more practical (we are parents after all!) - so we just named ourselves after what we do - a network built around the school system with emphasis on parents.

As for domain name - we were at the mercy of squatters who occupy domains and hope to make a buck. We looked for schoolparent.net/com but could not get it. We were able to capture www.schoolparentnet.com and so used this domain. Subsequently we have been able to get www.schoolparent.net and this too links to our site.