Upgraded Facebook Group Reconnects NECI Alumni

There’s three pieces of news in today’s post. You can pick and choose what you like. Dare I say this post is a la carte.

1. If you manage a Facebook Group you can avoid it being archived without much trouble. I’ll give you the solution.
2. In doing so you may rekindle the ties that brought everyone together in the first place.
3. If you are lucky (I was lucky) you might also stumble onto a cool topic for today’s blog post. It’s cheese.

Facebook is packed to the gills with groups about every imaginable topic. Some are private some are public. Most of these groups are somewhat dormant, or very dormant, depending on their topic. Facebook has decided to upgrade their groups technology and in the process is “archiving” groups based on the amount of ongoing discussion. Two NECI groups (one private for alums and one public for students) had many members, but a low level of ongoing discussion as people are busy living their lives. We wanted to preserve the value of keeping these folks connected though, which meant making sure we could “upgrade” rather than be “archived”. My trick?  Create an “event” within each group about the topic of saving the group, explaining the situation. This boosted activity and not only allowed us to upgrade due to the activity boost, but has been re-connecting alumni all day. We also have a young, but well maintained, fan page that is suggested for all things NECI.

Fan page screenshot

Since creating the events in our groups, we’ve seen fresh participation from all over the globe. NECI alums have been posting jobs, discussing recent meals, posting their twitter handles, and harkening back to their days on campus. Sounds like there was some mighty fine wine drank in the winter of 1992.

Cheeseisalive.com photo

I also stumbled upon this website called Cheese is Alive which is maintained by a NECI alumni who refers to herself as Cheesewench. Her cheese travels took her to far away places (like Chicago) and back to Vermont. She is also involved with the American Cheese Society. The link list on Cheese is Alive in regard to cheese resources is super extensive. You can also follow her cheese chatter on twitter @cheesewench.