Last week I reviewed Qlubb, a social collaboration web service, as a tool for improving communication within dance studios. I was fortunate to correspond directly with Sophia Chiang, CEO and founder of Qlubb, and express some of my thoughts on the site and its service. I was happy to learn that a calendar feature (which, I wrote, is currently and unfortunately absent) will be added in a few weeks. (NOTE: This feature is now available on Qlubb) As for my concerns about unrestricted password access for group members, Ms. Chiang responded, “So far, the majority of our QLubbs are < 30 members and so these intimate groups hopefully rarely have a misguided member. But now that we have added much more functionality and larger groups coming on board, we will have to add in administrative layers to protect, as you have said, certain functionality from rogue members.” (NOTE: This feature has also been added 3/23/09, see here) The personal and positive interaction with both Sophia Chiang and those responding to customer service questions at help@qlubb.com, has left me confident that the Qlubb administrators take the questions and concerns of their users into consideration and seek to meet their needs while remaining committed to providing a service that is above all simple to use.
As I mentioned in my review, other dance studios are using Qlubb in order to improve communication among their students, parents, and organizers. Qlubb has recently distributed a press release, highlighting this use of their service with quotes from actual studio owners. The release has even quoted the review of yours truly! Check it out below!
Also, do any of you already use Qlubb? If so, what are your thoughts?
Did the review inspire you to take a closer look at Qlubb and/or how you handle communication within your studio?
QLUBB HELPS GROUP OF PEOPLE IMPROVE COMMUNICATION, INCREASE COLLABORATION AND REDUCE EMAIL
Web 2.0 social collaboration solution helps dance academy improve organization, efficiency and reduces email overload among staff and parents
(Burlingame, CA). Qlubb, a social collaboration solution for real-life groups, provides a free service for any group of people to get online in just a few minutes and be able to share, collaborate and get things done quickly and easily. Qlubb is being used by thousands of groups worldwide to improve the flow of communication, organize group activities and reduce overall email overload.
The Divine Dance Academy, a dance and fine arts school based in Olds, Alberta, Canada began using Qlubb recently. Divine Dance Academy offers a range of classes in dance, music, voice, musical theatre and drama from beginners (as young as three years of age) up to competitive students. The 130 person school has adopted Qlubb as its primary platform for school communication and coordination.
Trish deCoverley, the studio owner, organizes and participates in a number of performances and dance festivals each year and found that their previous mode of communication, email and monthly newsletters was often insufficient for effectively organizing the Academy employees, performers and their busy parents.
“We send out newsletters every two to four weeks, which become out-dated fairly rapidly” said deCoverley. “Parents need to be able to access the up-to-the-minute event schedules, and if they are volunteering what slots are still open. We ran into several cases of miscommunication when the latest information was not received or read by all the necessary parties.”
Patricia Simoneau, the Divine Dance Academy webmaster, led the search for a solution. “I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. When I evaluated Qlubb, I felt like a kid in the candy store. I saw all of these great features that we could use immediately and most importantly, it was very easy to use compared to the other solutions I looked at. When we rolled it out, everyone in our group could figure it out quickly.”
Divine Dance Academy has put their urgent contact information online. Because of its open design, Qlubb allows members to update their own contact information without having to go through an administrator.
“One of the additional benefits we get from putting our business online is that we’ve been able to enhance our dance community. Qlubb provides us with another way for us share, whether it’s publishing photos, discussing our last performance or posting a pair of hardly worn dance shoes for sale. Qlubb helps our real-life community be closer,” said Simoneau.
Nichelle Strzepek, a performer and dance instructor who taught at private studios, community colleges and one major University, recently reviewed Qlubb on her Dance Advantage blog. She says, “What makes Qlubb distinct is its simplicity. Whereas some websites offer mind-boggling options which could be daunting for those with a) little time to waste, or b) little experience/confidence with computers, Qlubb allows for an extremely quick set-up. This makes the site an attractive solution for “real-life” groups that meet in person and want to organize themselves in a simple, no-fuss, fashion.” Her full review is available at http://danceadvantage.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/go-qlubbing/.
“It’s great to see Divine Dance Academy and the greater dance community using Qlubb to engage and get organized,” said Sophia Chiang, CEO of Qlubb. “Whether your organization is a playgroup, a scout troop, family, club or dance studio, Qlubb is the easiest way to get online, organized and on the same page.”
About Qlubb
Qlubb is a Burlingame, CA-based provider of Web-based social collaboration solutions for real-life groups. Whether it is a playgroup, classroom parent group, sports team, family, club or hobby group, Qlubb helps most any group of people connect, share and get things done. Qlubb strengthens ties within the group while also helping groups increase participation, be better organized and be more efficient.
Qlubb is very easy-to-use and takes just a few seconds to start a fully-functioning site that includes a fully integrated private collaboration site, group email, shared calendar, signup sheets, automated reminders, photo sharing, public Web page and much more. Users are not required to register, requiring just their email address and a password set by the Qlubb creator. Qlubb is available for free at www.qlubb.com.
Nichelle Suzanne is a writer specializing in dance and online content. She is also a dance instructor with over 20 years experience teaching in dance studios, community programs, and colleges. She began Dance Advantage in 2008, equipped with a passion for movement education and an intuitive sense that a blog could bring dancers together. As a Houston-based dance writer, Nichelle covers dance performance for Dance Source Houston, Arts+Culture Texas, and other publications. She is a leader in social media within the dance community and has presented on blogging for dance organizations, including Dance/USA. Nichelle provides web consulting and writing services for dancers, dance schools and studios, and those beyond the dance world. Read Nichelle’s posts.
