One task that was assigned to me months ago was to come up with a great collaboration space where members of a training and organization development network could share resources, info, speakers, templates and more together. We realized that we all were probably doing the same work (over and over), looking for speakers that we think had great messages for our staff, and we’re probably developing the same template that 4 other members already have designed.
I googled and goolged looking for just the right egroup. There in fact use to be a site called egroups which I used years ago for a book club. I use to like it simply because it had everything I needed in a site and was simple to navigate. There was the typical member list, discussion board, file centre, photos, calendar and polls. It seems hard now to find all of these items in one location. Google groups is not bad but was seemed to be missing the calendar. You can use the google calendar, but when you have to explain to “non-techies” how to add it in, you begin to lose members. I know that the group I’m aiming for needs one simple point and click package. myegroups.com doesn’t seem to have a file sharing area.
After the Boston conference I was convinced that a wiki was the way to go. Now I’m not so sure on that. I would love to see a great example of a “group collaboration” site on a wiki. I read through “The World of Wikis“ by David Lenehan and tried out many of the suggested wikis here. I can easily navigate myself around the page, setting up new pages, adding headings, discussions, photos, etc. However, I know my audience and I fear that if it isn’t simple from the beginning then I will lose them and their keen interest to get something like this up and running.
Items I have tried
- pbwiki
- wikia
- wetpaint
- collectivex
- myegroups
- google groups
- yahoo groups
- gather
- wik.is
I have until June 1st before I have to present my “brilliant” idea to them. Any suggestions here would be greatly welcomed. Pehaps I haven’t found the right one yet or am looking at THE known wikis/egroups in the wrong light.