GroupCard.com

Pets, more pets, and PetSmart

2008-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

It seems that everywhere i look on GroupCard i see an allusion to pets

1) The Humane Society card for Obama and his family is getting TONS of hits, over 6200 signers to date

2) Bob's dog, Chester recently signed a card

3) Petsmart, the Major US retailer of pet supplies, now uses GroupCard. Check out this cool comment from one of their

employees

"Thanks! I’ve used your website in the past. It’s a great, fun way to send greetings to someone. My teams are

spread out over half the US and it is very difficult to get signatures on greeting cards."

Cool Press: GroupCard in About.com

2008-11-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Ingrid Taylar, a SF-focused contributor to About.com, just published a phenomenally written piece about GroupCard. She somehow managed to tell our story, describe our service, and detail certain features - all in one page.

If you're just getting to know GroupCard, this is probably THE piece to read.

GroupCard Redesigns the Group Card

Thursday November 13, 2008

About the time that Barack Obama announced his family's desire to adopt a shelter dog, some e-mail links led me to a GroupCard at the Humane Society website. The electronic card will be delivered to the Obamas on the 21st of November with the message "Thank you for deciding to adopt." When you click on the card, you'll peruse the messages of more than 4,600 people who've signed the note to our new president-elect and his family. If you opt to sign it yourself, you can leave a unique imprint with choice of font, your spot on the page, and an optional photo of your pet.

If you've ever been part of the fractured and stealth group-card giving process you'll appreciate the ease of bringing everyone together in one electronic spot -- without having to circulate and hide the card, without missing the people who are out of the office, or 1,500 miles away.

GroupCard began in 2007 as a prototype on the Stanford University campus and now has headquarters in Menlo Park, with the bulk of the team based in Milwaukee. In the world of e-cards, it's a relative newcomer. But the interface is addictive in its autonomy. It allows signatories a measure of control over the desktop graphics. And it bridges the geography which normally constrains the traditional group card and paper-bound well wishes.

Sending a GroupCard is free. You can choose from a variety of templates or use your own image to create the cover. You then sign the card and have an optional add of audio or images. Once you've settled on those parameters, invite others to sign the card. GroupCard lets you interface with Facebook or Outlook. You also program in a date and time for card delivery. And, as a final touch, your GroupCard can be used as a group gift pool. Part of the card creation process allows you to attach a gift card to which other people can add amounts. Individual donations are anonymous and accrue on the gift.

The final product is electronic. But GroupCard has added printing options -- either DIY (downloadable), or produced by GroupCard in the form a poster card, a wall poster, or a flip book.

The GroupCard Hall of Fame and blog page has some GroupCard examples to inspire GroupCard newbies.

October Wrapup....

2008-11-08T19:03:00.001-08:00

It seems that things are taking hold, and people are really starting to find out about us! Boss's day was a great success, and we watched hundreds of lucky bosses around the world get some GroupCard love from their office teams.

In October, there were over seventy thousand signatures on cards, and over twenty five hundred cards with over five signatures. Importantly, we are celebrating yet another (6th in a row) month of record revenue.

In October, GroupCard was selected as an FBFund finalist. This means that the good people at Facebook (and Accel and FoundersFund) have awarded us a $25k grant. We are now gearing up for the final selection, where we are eligible for another $225k in additional grant money. We're hoping for your vote!

...and here's this months's select list of "cool new groupcard teams":

Cool Press: GroupCard in the Christian Science Monitor

2008-11-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Wow... it's super exciting to be featured by one of the world's most decorated publications. In its 100-year history, the Monitor has earned seven Pulitzer Prizes and hundreds of other awards.

It's really neat how they capture the essence of GroupCard with such effeciently worded description.

Six Picks: Recommendations from the Monitor staff

Tally up your carbon footprint, giggle at 30-second 'bunnified' movies, lift your mood with some Depression-era blues, and more.

"To You.... From All of Us

Signing group cards for co-workers is easier than you think. Groupcard.com lets you "e-vite" people (telecommuters, too) to "sign" an e-card – and even contribute money to an Amazon gift card. Specify how long people can access the card, and then, at the appointed time, off it goes!"

Here's the article

Cool Press: PCMag credits GroupCard as "The Good" in how Tech has changed our lives

2008-10-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

GroupCard was just mentioned in a PCMagazine that describes how tech changes our lives, making some things easier, other things more impersonal and complicated. We're thrilled to see that GroupCard was mentioned amongst ranks of Gmail, Skype, Meebo, Kayak and others.

"The Good:

For the past decade or so, technology has transformed the way we communicate, in part due to the advent of the Internet. Instead of mailing letters, we're writing e-mails through Gmail or Windows Live Hotmail that can be sent instantaneously to a recipient. We can even add multiple recipients to these e-mails, so that more than one person can read them. Even more, we can send greeting cards over the Web with sites like someecards.com and GroupCard.com. No postage needed!"

...As a a devout BlackBerry Crackhead, it's sad to see that blackberry addiction is called out as a BAD effect of technology in todays world.... oh well..

September Wrapup

2008-10-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

September was a bit of a transitional month we adjusted to the mix shift between our core site and our facebook application traffic. As part of this, we began to understand our "card-to-card K factor" and other really interesting viral metrics.

September marked our sixth streight moth of record revenue, record "average signers-per-card", and over 1300 cards with over over 5 signatures.

Finally, we are excited to see teams from these companies start to use GroupCard.

Create your company’s holiday cards on GroupCard!

2008-10-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

We’ve been noticing many companies creating holiday cards using GroupCard- especially teams that are located around the world or on different schedules. By getting your group to contribute to a card for clients, suppliers, or other business partners, the whole office can save time and hassle involved in holiday greeting cards. Check out your options here: http://www.groupcard.com/for/busine ss/

Here are a few news covers- just-in-time for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Junkanoo, St. Nicholas Day, Advent, Hogmany, Ganga Bois, Japanese New Year, Las Posadas, or another special day around the world!

Cool Press: KillerStartups thinks we're Killer

2008-09-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

The folks over at KillerStartups.com recently covered us in a nice little blurb.

Here's one cool line they had:
"It’s something that everyone should try at least once, as it will make the person receiving the card feel extra special. "

Though we've never heard of KillerStartups before, they seem to do a great job spreading the word.. heck, they even they even twittered about us!

Check out the whole article here:

If you wonder how groupcard works....

2008-08-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

We've had numerous requests from people who were curious about what happens behind the scenes at GroupCard........

Cool Press: PC Mag picks GroupCard as top 100 website of 2008

2008-08-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

GroupCard was just selected as a "top website of 2008" as a top "undiscovered" site. Hopefully we won't be "undiscovered" for long!

"Group Card lets a group of people sign and send a free e-card, which works well for sharing a card with officemates, friends, or family members. The selection isn't much better than what you'd find in the card aisle at your local drugstore, but anything that saves us from spending $5 on a paper card is great with us. "

PCMag's list has some real gems, including our friends at animoto, and some totally hillarious time-pass websites. Highly recommend grabbing a cup of coffee and checking them out!

Special thanks to our friends at PorterNovel i for helping us apply!

Cool Press: GroupCard in the Milwaukee Journal

2008-07-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Katherine Diaz from the Milwaukee Journal just wrote up a big article about GroupCard. It's a very comprehensive piece, and details our product, our business, and our presence in Milwaukee. Katherine is quite a fact-finding writer, and everyone did a great job helping out... Here's the whole piece.

Big News at GroupCard

2008-06-27T14:31:00.001-07:00

How do we celebrate our special events here at GroupCard? With a GroupCard, of course! We started a Congratulations card for John, one of the founders, and his fiancée, Katie, as they get "hitched" this weekend. The card will be delivered on Saturday, June 29^th- the big wedding day. Check it out and leave a message for John and Katie! http://www.groupcard.com/c/DfPdXqwkcqw

In other news, there are celebrity cards going for both Richard Simmons and Harrison Ford. They're neck-and-neck. Are you kidding me people? Add your birthday wishes here: http://www.groupcard.com/celebrity_cards.php

Families use GroupCard to Organize Group Gifts to Coaches and Teachers

2008-06-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

As school concludes and summer activities heat up, we’re excited to see parents and athletes starting to use GroupCard to thank their teachers and coaches.

Susie Toussaint, a super-involved mom, started a card for her son’s baseball team coach and 25 other families signed. “GroupCard is such an easy, flexible, and unique way to send teacher gifts and coach thank-you cards. I love that you can upload photos of the team or use the clip art to personalize each individual signature. The kids loved using the different fonts. I never thought of online cards as personal until I used GroupCard.”

Using the gift card feature is also proving to be an easy, efficient way to collect contributions to a gift from the team. “Using GroupCard saved the hassle of collecting checks and organizing people to sign a physical card,” mentioned Susie.

Many of the parents ordered the printable pdf not only for the coach, but for themselves as well. Susie “loved looking back at the funny pictures and reading what the kids wrote.”

Luke, a student and the creator of a GroupCard for his teacher, told us, “I found out about GroupCard through a friend who created a birthday GroupCard for a friend. I am the president of a student organization NC State University and wanted all of our officers to sign a card for our faculty advisor. GroupCard made it simple and convenient for everyone to sign. It also provides a great way to go back and easily view the card."

Has your team used GroupCard? Send us your experience: feedback@groupcard.com

In living color - Now you can get your GroupCard Printed! (BETA)

2008-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Every day we get a handful of awesome emails from users asking... er BEGGING for a printed GroupCard. We never expected such big demand! After quite a bit of trial and error (and sadly killing a few trees) we've finally come up with a way to offer printed cards. Our first try is a rough beta, but we think you'll love the final product!

Visit our print page to learn more about how you can choose from three different options

1) "Poster Card" These cards make a real impression! For this solution, we print your card out on high quality poster paper, and send it to you in a roll. It's great for displaying your GroupCard on the wall in your cubicle, office, room, garage, or (if you're really popular and have a lot of signatures) along the side of a school bus! Rich (our Chief Creative Officer) actually does this all by hand, so you're sure to get a high quality product with great attention to detail! Current charge is $14.99, though if you have a HUGE card, we may need to charge you more.

2) "Flip Book"

Perfect for passing around at a party, for a coffee table, or just keeping handy in the bookshelf. This option is slightly more expen$ive b/c we use a third party provider. Current charge is $24.99

3) "DIY"

For this, we send you a pdf file that you can basically print out on your own printer at home or the office. It is great if you need the card NOW, or if you just want something quick and easy to keep on your desk. Current charge is $4.99, and this is to help us cover some extra software and computing work that this rendering requires.

New Sequential Art Grad is floored by his GroupCard!

2008-06-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Joe Luby of Central Florida had a longtime dream of pursuing a degree in Sequential Art at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Joe was finally able to obtain his dream through much persistance and sacrifice. For awhile, he & his wife, Jessica, had to live in different states, they endured a couple of relocations, and Joe even managed to finish his last two courses online while being a stay-at-home dad for their new baby boy, Caelan. Jessica wanted to show Joe just how proud everyone was of his accomplishment, and decided to do so with a GroupCard graduation card. Joe was absolutely floored when he received the graduation card signed by all his friends and family. In fact, the outpouring of support by everyone who signed the card left Joe positively speechless.

Jessica knew Joe would love the card. She's created several cards on the website, and everyone has received them with glee. As Jessica told us:

[GroupCard is] an amazing spin on the e-card. GroupCard has taken informal e-cards and transformed them into an amazing interactive personal card. My husband was floored when he received his graduation card. I am a huge fan and am sharing the site with anyone who will listen! Thank you!

Cool Blog Post from web2web3

2008-05-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

Though online greetings sometimes feels more web1.5 than 2.0 and definitely not 3.0, it's a pleasure to get a good post from Attila at Web2Web3. It's a fun post and i certainly am humbled to being compared in any way to Google ;-)

Posted by Attila Gárdos | 5/29/2008 | Service reviews | 0 comments » Some great ideas pop up every now and then in Menlo Park, California: Google was founded here in 1998, it is adjacent to Stanford University, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is situated here… and GroupCard (previously called SquidNote), the collaborative greetings Web site also operates in Menlo Park.

Yesterday they announced the launch of GroupCard Gifts, a feature that allows individuals to go online to collectively send a gift from the whole group along with their GroupCard. GroupCard Gifts are redeemable for an Amazon.com Gift Card, which can be used to purchase millions of items available on Amazon.com. GroupCards can be circulated online via email or Facebook, making them a fast and easy way for contributors to sign the card from anywhere in the world. With graduation and Father’s Day coming up, GroupCard is an easy way for families and friends to come together to acknowledge the special grads and dads in their lives.

read it all here

Some love from South Africa

2008-05-28T16:29:00.001-07:00

...just got this fun note in our feedback in-box today...

"Thank you! This is al I can say This is a super way of letting your friends know you care for them Riette Bornman, South Africa"

Thank you Riette for taking the time to say thankyou!

News Flash: GroupCard officially launches GroupCard Gifts!

2008-05-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

... an envelope gets passed around around the office, collecting money for a coworker's baby shower
... one of the PTA moms called you to add to the class gift for a special teacher
... you're in charge of buying a group "thank you" gift for your soccer coach, to thank her for your coach for her hours and hours of support

Starting today, GroupCard has the perfect solution for all these situations....

Here's how it works:

One person (the creator) initiates the card on the GroupCard.com website, choosing from hundreds of designs.
The card is then circulated via email and other web alerts (such as Facebook). Each contributor is invited to sign by adding a personalized message with unique fonts and pictures.
Each card signer may optionally contribute to the GroupCard Gift. Gifts can be of almost any amount, and individual contributions are kept anonymous. Each payment is quickly and securely transacted online via credit card or PayPal.
On a pre-set delivery time, the GroupCard is delivered to the recipient, who may then redeem the GroupCard Gift for an Amazon.com® Gift Card. The recipient may then also send a thank you note to all the contributors via the GroupCard.com Web site.

Today we announced GroupCard Gifts, and how GroupCard Gifts can be redeemed by recipients for an Amazon.com Gift Card.

Below are some of the early press hits...
Payments news
ecocoma
http://it.einnews.com/news/paypal
Yahoo News
Greensheet.com
Daylife.com

Blog Posts
http://www.parenthacks.com/
http://www.daylife.com/topic/Cher

Here's the PDF of the press release

Families send GroupCard Gifts to Iraq to honor Purple Heart Soldiers

2008-05-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

GroupCard Gifting (our feature which allows people to attach a collective gift to a GroupCard) is now live and already growing. We've heard many stories about real situations where friends and family rallied to send a powerful group sentiment in the form of a GroupCard Gift. For example, one early report came from a family in Ontario who sent a GroupCard Gift to their father, who in turn redeemed it for an Amazon.com ® Gift Card to buy a brand new snow blower.

I am proud to report that not one, but TWO of our early GroupCard Gifts have been delivered to US soldiers who are serving in Iraq. Their stories are a remarkable coincidence - each of the soldiers had recently been awarded a Purple Heart for heroism in separate tragic events. In both cases their families rallied to send a GroupCard Gift. Both cards gathered dozens of signatures and collected over $100 in contributions for the heroes. Both Tim and Steve (the recipients, who are both on active duty in Iraq) will actually be able to have their orders from Amazon.com® shipped to them overseas.

It's a huge honor that GroupCard served as the means for these men to be recognized for their heroism. Below are the emails that I received from the card creators - Steve's wonderful wife and Tim's incredible mother-in-law. I hope you enjoy

Dear Mr. Anderson, First off, let me thank you for making up such a wonderful thing as "GroupCard" I believe that people like me and my family will use the program for years to come. I have spread the word about your program to friends and family. I especially love the opportunity to attach an Amazon gift card to the note! So far the process has worked well for my group. I am looking forward to when the GroupCard gets sent to my husband. My husband Steve is currently serving his second tour in Iraq with the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, GA. This rotation has been quite difficult and challenging for all of us. In January his Hummvee was struck by an IED, wounding his driver, killing his gunner and leaving my husband with some shrapnel injuries to his neck, shoulder and face. By the Grace of God he was able to walk away from the accident and had minor surgery in country. He recently was awarded the Purple Heart. I wanted to surprise him with something special, and let him know how many people care about him. He has 10 more months left to serve on his 15 month tour. That's the story behind the note! I know he will be grateful for the note and for the gift card as well. As of today there is $177 on the gift card and 24 signatures! Thank you once again. Lea-Ann Wadleigh

Hi, John,
The card was for Sgt. Tim Klibbe. Tim is part of the 3ID, Unit is 1-30, Marne Task Force. He is stationed at F.O.B. Falcon, doing P.S.D. for his SGT. Major. Tim has won his Purple Heart. He was badly injured when his Bradley was hit with an IED. He dragged 2 of his comrades out of the burning vehicle. His original Unit has been decimated by severe injuries. But, Tim is still there, still serving. He credits his Chaplain for helping him get through the heartache of having his fellow troops so badly wounded. Tim is the husband of Regan, and father of 2 little girls, Aria and Lily (pictures attached). We were delighted to find the GroupCard so that many of us could encourage him all at the same time. Thank you for a great concept!! He loved it!! - Cher Nelson

Kenny from NY celebrates the big 4-0 with GroupCard!

2008-05-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

The morning of May 14th wasn't just an ordinary morning for Kenrick Adams; he was turning the big 4-0! As Kenny looked forward to his day off of work, he checked his e-mails (because, hey, you never know who might send you an e-mail on your birthday!). Waiting in Kenny's e-mail inbox was a GroupCard started by his wife, Yvette, and signed by well over 60 of his closest friends and family. Kenny was completely blown away by all the people who took time out to sign a touching card for him. As he read through all the signatures and photographs, he was moved to tears, then laughter, and back again many times! Kenny loved the card so much, he continues to read it again and again! Perhaps Kenny's feelings are best summed up by what he wrote in his thank-you e-mail to all his well-wishers;

"Words cannot express how much this card has touched me. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!"

Getting into GroupCard for Graduation!

2008-05-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

With hundreds of people to congratulate and limited time between finals and graduation, students have started telling us how they loved GroupCard. Amber Epperson, a past president of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity, and sister of Chi Omega Sorority exclaims that "GroupCard was an easy way for a lot of my friends to congratulate me on graduating. People from multiple groups that I am involved with signed it without me even knowing."

The graduates also really enjoyed the personalization features. Callie Dlugas, an Accounting major told me: "I felt loved. I also liked that my friends could add pictures of us". Amber adds: "I really enjoyed the different fonts and images- it brought out everyone's personality in their signatures. Receiving my GroupCard from my college friends reminded me of my high school yearbook; I even printed it out and keep it on my desk as a memory of graduation!"

The signers of the graduation GroupCards also enjoyed the being able to contribute. "What a sweet idea! My roommate loved seeing that all her friends wanted to congratulate her for graduating!" said Courtney Emert, an English major at Arizona. Contributors also got a kick out of reading what their friends wrote to the recipient.

Overall the students at the University of Arizona have become big fans of GroupCard. These students are not waiting for 2009 graduation to use GroupCard again, they are already using it to thank professors, congratulate award winners, celebrate birthdays, and recognize sports heroes. We are looking forward to many more Arizona GroupCards!

David Cook truly is an American Idol

2008-05-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

Right now there's an awesome celebrity "congratulations" card for David Cook (the presumptive winner of this season's American Idol). Over two hundred people have signed it in the last half hour..... including someone who thinks Obama is not going to win?It's still early, but this card appears to have has enough early traction to be bigger than our cards for the Wheel of fortune or BowWow

A Little Love from the Library... Menasha Library Director is hooked!

2008-05-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Tasha Saecker, director of the Menasha Public Library and an avid blogger, recently discovered GroupCard. Tasha was so impressed with the website that she raved about it in one of her blogs. Here's what she had to say:

"Just got invited to participate in my first GroupCard and I am hooked! I used it on Facebook to sign a card for a colleague's birthday, and it is not only a friendly interface, but a lot of fun as well.

Just select the card you want, sign it, using the sweet image interface to add pictures, give the email address of the person you want to send it to and the date it should be sent, and invite others to sign it as well.

Seriously, this is the way to do cards for colleagues who work in other facilities. It just rocks!" Posted by Tasha Saecker on May 19, 2008 1:08 PM

Thanks, Tasha, for the shout-out. We think you're great, too!

A graduation celebrated around the world

2008-05-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

I just emailed with Benedicte Kjobstad, a GroupCard user from Bergen, Norway (as she calls it "the raniest city in Europe". She had just created an amazing graduation GroupCard for her sister, Charlene. Benedicte highlighted to me how a GroupCard really brought together family and friends who are spread around the world (Bergen, Vermont, Berkeley, Lousiana, DC, Indiana, and beyond...). Charlene is the perfect example of a deserving recipient. Her accomplishment, culminating with her graduation from Law School at Northeastern, is quite an inspiration for all of us here at GroupCard.

"My sister worked extremely hard over the past 7 years, getting a full scholarship to Boston University and putting herself through law school at Northeastern University. Raised by our single mother, who always told us to never give up and always follow our dreams, despite our hardships. Charlene began talking about being a lawyer when she was in middle school and now, through her hard work, dedication, persistence, combined with a positive outlook on life she has accomplished her goal! She is a success story!

I currently live in Norway, and realize how difficult it is to communicate with family and friends, who are spread across the world. So, groupcard.com was an awesome way to tell my sister how much we care about her and how happy we are for her achievement! Thanks Groupcard for helping me and my loved ones spread some joy!!!!! "

VITALS:
GroupCard: A global Graduation Card for Charlene
Creator: Benedicte Kjobstad, Norway
Contributors: 20 family friends from around the world.. from Bergen to Berkeley
Notable fact: Charlene is a big achiever, and her graduation was celebrated by family and friends around the world

It's official, SquidNote is now GroupCard!

2008-05-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

In a flurry of activity in the past few days we acquired groupcard.com, changed the code to reflect the new URL, and then went ahead and did our first ever press release... just in time for Mothers' day. Everything seems to have gone off well (fingers crossed).

"Why the SquidNote name in the first place?" It was roughly one year ago today that I began roaming the halls at business school interrogating my friends about possible names for my crazy greeting card idea. My process end ed up pretty straight forward:
1) accost an unwitting friend
2) mention three names
3) wait a day, and see what they remember
In this "recollection contest" SquidNote won by a mile.

"So what went wrong with the name"?
It's true, our cephalopod had many admirers, but in the end, he lost out on some key factors.
1) it was distracting... the "why SquidNote" question wasted 3 minutes from every discussion
2) we couldn't rally around it... for some reason, it never excited us.

We knew it just didn't work.
3) in didn't help the brand... in public polls, the name "SquidNote" lost by a mile in terms of trust, energy, and friendliness.

"Where did GroupCard.com Come from"
To be clear, groupcard.com was more than a domain. There actually was a bare-bones collaborative greeting system running there. The technology was vintage (created back in 2001 we think), but we discovered that the 'ol site actually had a loyal community of users! We warmly welcome those users (Hi Diana!) to "the new GroupCard", and we thank Pam (groupcard.com's former owner) and Kurt at zoomwebhosting for kindly helping us with the transition.

"So, what's next?"
We're excited and committed to our new brand. Rich, our CCO (Chief Creative Officer) has a ton of tricks up his sleeve that will bring GroupCard to life. Stay tuned....