Cool Press: GroupCard in About.com

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.

Cool Press: GroupCard in the Christian Science Monitor

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

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..

Cool Press: KillerStartups thinks we're Killer

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:

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

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 PorterNoveli for helping us apply!

Cool Press: GroupCard in the Milwaukee Journal

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.

Cool Blog Post from web2web3

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

News Flash: GroupCard officially launches GroupCard Gifts!

... 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:

1. One person (the creator) initiates the card on the GroupCard.com website, choosing from hundreds of designs.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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

MothersDay 2008 - Our first official PR

Last Minute Mother’s Day Greetings from the Whole Family - GroupCard

Greetings from the group - Families around the world can now come together online to sign a Mother’s Day card for mom

Menlo Park, CA, April 8, 2008 – GroupCard, a new online service, allows family members to come together online to sign mom’s Mother’s Day card. Families around the world are using the Web site, which virtually re-creates the familiar “group office card” experience. Whether your brother is stationed overseas, your sister is traveling abroad, or the nephews are living across the country, each can log on to sign mom’s GroupCard by adding a picture and a personalized message. GroupCard is free, eco-friendly, and with just two days before mothers’ day, it is practically the only way everyone in the family can add their sentiment to a single special greeting for mom.............

Want to see the whole thing? Here's the PDF of the release

Cool Press: SquidNote (GroupCard) on CNet WebWare

A cool review of SquidNote (our Beta Site) by Josh Lowensohn of CNet's WebWare:

"Many folks might have experienced this at one time or another in high school or later on in college. That awkward time you had someone with whom you weren't really friends sign your yearbook. The result was usually the wonderfully vague "have a great summer!" written as speedily as possible. You might have even written the phrase yourself. Later in life, this comes back to haunt us all, when co-workers we might not know very well get a group card for leaving, getting married, having children, etc. A virtual equivalent to such a card called GroupCard manages to emulate the real thing with character and ease. Despite my general dislike of virtual greeting cards, GroupCard makes the entire experience rather enjoyable." continued....

Cool Press: USAToday Pop Candy!

A fun early review of SquidNote (our Beta Site) by Windy Matheson at the USAToday Pop Candy

"If you work in an office, you've probably had to deal with the group greeting-card situation: First, you have to secretly pass around the thing, then you have two minutes to think of something brilliant to scrawl inside a tiny space. A new website, GroupCard, is trying to make the whole process a little more creative. Log on, and you can create a virtual card for any occasion. "Signatures" can be made in different fonts and include personalized images. There's also no page limit, so you can say as much or as little as you want." Continued...

Cool Press: Look Mom! We're on TV!

Wow - Demuro with CBS2 (in Studio City, CA) found SquidNote (our beta site) early!