OK, I'm going to try something new although I'm really scared. And if everyone hates it, I just won't do it.
But I've got a beta to Tatango — a service that lets people subscribe to text groups. I'm going to set one up for the school, but as you may know, I never deploy any technology at school that I haven't tested first personally.
So, I need a few beta testers. If you want to sign up for this service, I'll take the first two people who sign up w/ their cell phones AND send me an email and give them a Beta code for the service.
Whoever is first, gets the TWO invite codes I have left. But as many of you as wish can join the text group. Right now, replies to the group go directly back to my cell. (I'll turn it off if it is too much!)
Group text messaging by Tatango.
I will send ONE message tomorrow.
I plan to try this out and my idea is to have a brief message about one of three things: a teaching tip, cool technology, or inspirational thought with UP TO one per day. It would probably be 3-4 times per week.
So, help me decide what “we” think about this and answer the following poll.
<a href =”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/853969/” >What topic would you MOST like to hear about on a text messaging service?</a> <br/> <span style=”font-size:9px;”> (<a href =”http://www.polldaddy.com”> polls</a>)</span>
The jury is still out! You be the jury! If this is useful and people like it after a few weeks, I'll keep going. If people don't want such things to invade their text inbox on their cell, then just don't subscribe.
So, let me know what you think. If the widget doesn't work in this post, then you can also go to the group page.
Only ONE group with Beta
Oh, and I just tried to add a group to test with my students and I'm only allowed ONE. If it works, I'll have to set up our administration with an account. The pro version gives you more lists.
The nice thing is that people can subscribe and unsubscribe. I'll have to look closely at the privacy policy.
Anyone know anything about this service? If you'll help me test, I'd love some feedback. First message will go out tomorrow!
Technorati Tags: tatango, text, sms, innovation, technology, cellular phone, cell phone, texting
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8 comments
Looks Great!
Just set something similar on Jott.com. There are unlimited members to a group. You can read the FAQ here: http://jott.com/jott/faq.html#a16
It was OK, the voice to text is sometimes a bit tricky is you don’t speak clearly.
Robin
Vicki,
I just set up something similar on Jott.com. Since my daughter is playing volleyball, my son goes to a different high school and dad works in a different state, I can jott them all at once with a schedule change. You can have unlimited users in a jott account/contacts. See the FAQ here: http://jott.com/jott/faq.html#a16
Robin
FYI– I believe http://www.textmarks.com/ does the same thing if you are looking to compare products. I am going to ask my students to sign up for messages this year too. See at http://www.websterschools.org/webpages/dwaltman/ap_psych_2.cfm
I’ve been with Tatango since they were NetworkText, but have never gotten around to putting a group together – couldn’t find a reason. I was thinking about using this with kids this year to either supplement or replace my homework website, but I figure this is a good way to see what it’s like on the receiving end.
@mrs. R. Martin – The difference between this and the Jott list (I use Jott too) is that people can subscribe and unsubscribe themselves. So, really, it is like RSS for a text messaging service. It is different. I LOVE Jott and am teaching it to my students, but tatango lets people subscribe to my group — a power that I think should be in the hands of the people.
I’ll be interested to see what you think of Tatango. Sounds like an cool tool!
Hey everyone, my name is Derek Johnson and I’m the CEO of Tatango. Great to hear all your comments and great to hear Vicki that you are trying out the service, hopefully you are liking it so far.
@Damian – Great to hear about your possible integration of Tatango to communicate with your students. If you decide to go this route please email me at djohnson (at) tatango.com and let me know your feedback, I would be extremely excited to hear how it turns out.
@Dave – Another great text messaging company, TextMarks, I do encourage you to look into what they offer before selecting a company.
@Vicki – Great explanation between Jott and Tatango, you hit it right on the head!
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