| We hope this information helps WorldWIT members (the women and men who subscribe to our discussion groups) understand our community, the many ways we can help each other, and why certain kinds of posts don’t make it onto our discussions. These FAQs also explain posts (messages) on behalf of clubs, associations, and businesses.
How does the email discussion group work?
An email discussion group, also called a list-serv, is a way of communicating with a large number of people by sending an email message to a specified group address. So, when you post (send) a message to KeystoneWIT, for instance, your message reaches all of the KeystoneWIT members. These members receive your post in their in-boxes and can respond to you directly or respond with a comment back to the full KeystoneWIT group. As a KeystoneWIT member, you’ll receive all the email messages that other members post, as well. In effect, you become a member of a large private mailing list.
What are the benefits of subscribing?
Subscribing to a WorldWIT chapter puts you in touch with thousands of subscribers all over the world, as well as with members of your local chapter. Our goal is to support and enable women to reach their career and personal goals. WorldWIT lets you connect to all these people to offer support, get answers to personal and professional questions, and help yourself as well as others in the global community of women.
How can I be sure of the quality of content in the discussion groups?
This is a great question because many list-servs are free form and open, without anyone supervising or watching over the conversation. WorldWIT discussion groups are completely different because they are moderated by a live human being who makes sure SPAM and unsuitable content is never distributed to the group. We aim to keep the conversation lively, but never offensive or malicious.
How can I join (subscribe to) a WorldWIT discussion group?
You can subscribe to a WorldWIT discussion group here at our site by clicking on the ‘Join Now!’ link associated with the chapter(s) of interest to you. Please limit your subscription to no more than three discussion groups. After clinking “Join Now!’ simply fill in your name and email address then click SEND. Upon sending your request to join, you will receive a confirmation message. Click the link in this message to confirm you request.
When you join a WorldWIT discussion group, you’ll receive messages (in a digest form) from the group as they’re posted. Feel free to reply and post to the group as often as you’d like. If you’d like your message distributed to multiple lists, please send it directly to moderator2@worldwit.org with your instructions.
Who are the other WorldWIT members?
Our members are comprised of women – and some men – who are working, or looking for work, or students looking forward to working. WorldWIT subscribers work in business, technology, and the academic world; they are lawyers and consultants; they are in the media, in government and in not-for-profits. More than half of them work in corporations, but many are entrepreneurs, many work from home, and some wear numerous professional hats. We range in age from our twenties to our fifties (at least) and cover a wide range of industries and functions.
How can I introduce myself to other members?
We encourage you and all new members to make a personal introduction to members of their local group to let them know who they are. Please introduce yourself, rather than your business.
Any suggestion for how I might construct my introduction?
Here’s a for-instance:
“Hi, everyone, my name is Carla. I’ve been working in marketing communications for 10 years, mostly with Apple. Just recently I started my own business, called Carla Communications. I specialize in creating collateral materials quickly and economically. I’m originally from Brisbane, Australia but I’ve lived in Seattle for five years. Look forward to meeting many WorldWIT-ers at upcoming events as well as through this discussion group.”
Your introduction should be designed to familiarize the group with you, your background, and your interests, not your product or service. If the tone of an introduction is too “sales-y,” we’ll contact you to gently suggest that you edit your introduction so that we can post it. Aside from messages from WorldWIT sponsors who support our community, our subscribers dislike receiving marketing pitches in their WorldWIT conversations.
What’s the difference between the digest and individual messages?
All WorldWIT discussion groups are automatically set up as digests, meaning you get at least one message from the list every day, granted a post has been sent. If traffic on the list is heavy, a digest will be sent for every 10-15 messages. Digests allow you to browse through multiple posts at one time.
If you wish to receive individual posts as they are sent, rather than the digest, you may change this setting by logging into /members.
If receiving mail in your inbox is too much for you, you may change your settings to Vacation Mode. This will stop the messages from being delivered but keep you in the discussion group, allowing you view the posts on the Web at /archives (which non-members cannot do.). It’s also good to do if you’re going away and don’t want to sort through a lot of email upon your return.
How does WorldWIT protect my privacy?
The privacy of our members is a huge priority for us. We never sell, share, or divulge member information to outside parties. That’s why we never allow our members to access our member list. Of course, when you post a message, if you’ve included your contact information in the message, other members will see it. If any member misuses any contact information, we will unsubscribe him or her immediately. But please keep in mind that this is the Internet, and that we aren’t able to screen subscribers before they join. So please be careful about divulging personal information.
What if I have questions or problems with my subscription?
Please write to us at info@worldwit.org to let us know if you’re having trouble receiving our messages, responding to messages, posting messages or interacting with our community in any way. We would love to help you and get your question or issue resolved. If you’re visiting Boulder, Colorado, please let us know! We would love to meet you in person.
How can I get more involved with WorldWIT?
Here are ten ways to interact with WorldWIT, get value from the community,and support our efforts to connect businesswomen worldwide:
- Join a local WorldWIT discussion group and post to it – tell us who you are, let us help you with business, career, technical, financial and life issues, and help others with theirs!
- Tell your friends! Your colleagues, friends, roommates, relatives and others are welcome to join our WorldWIT group. Men are welcome too!
- Contact your local Executive Director!
Your group’s Executive Director contact information will be in each WorldWIT message you receive, or write to us at info@worldwit.org if you don’t see it. She will be happy to hear from you with your ideas about activities for your local WorldWIT chapter or ideas for WorldWIT generally.
- Contribute to our newsletter, Thinking Aloud!
WorldWIT’s weekly html newsletter, Thinking Aloud, offers news, advice and commentary on topics relevant to professional women in business and technology. Submissions of content are welcome! Please write to our Editor, Lauren Calkins, at laurenc@worldwit.org.
- Tell your friends in the media about us!
WorldWIT and all of our members benefit when our group grows. One way that we get the word out about this global community we’re building is through mentions in the press and broadcast media. WorldWIT has been featured already in TIME magazine, the New York Times, on CNN, CNBC, Fortune, and lots of other media outlets. But we love to let the media, especially local publications, know what we’re doing and how our group can be useful to local women (and men). Please send your media friends our way! Contact Kristi Hughes, Director of Communications, at kristih@worldwit.org. Thanks!
- Host a WorldWIT event!
WorldWIT groups love to get together for face-to-face networking events, and company host/sponsors help us do that. We meet in over thirty cities worldwide, thanks to our amazing Executive Directors and sponsors who support our events and activities. If your company would like to host or sponsor WorldWIT, please write to us at info@worldwit.org for more information.
- Forward our newsletter!
When you forward your weekly copy of our html newsletter, Thinking Aloud, to friends and colleagues, it lets more smart businesspeople know about WorldWIT, and every week our community grows. Please forward your copy of Thinking Aloud to women and men who would appreciate our take on the modern professional women’s issues and challenges. We’d be very grateful!
- Recommend our services!
In addition to corporate sponsorships, WorldWIT creates internal, women’s communities for corporations, alumni groups, associations and other organizations. Our very successful, turnkey model allows the women (and interested men) in an organization to quickly share answers, network and support one another on line. The WorldWIT solution has been called “the best and most cost-effective Knowledge Management solution available” by the CIO of a major consumer products company. Find out more by writing to us at info@worldwit.org.
- Start a new WorldWIT chapter!
There are still tons of cities, states, provinces and countries – even a couple of continents – that don’t have WorldWIT chapters in place. We’d love to start a new chapter where you live if we don’t have one already. Please write to us at info@worldwit.org for more information.
- Tell your alumni association, club, church group, or employer’s HR manager about us.
WorldWIT is a terrific resource for all working women. Please help us spread the word to professional associations, alumni groups, and other organizations you belong to. We appreciate your help.
Thanks for joining us, and please tell your friends about WorldWIT! We aim to connect the professional women of the world with other smart women in a friendly, supportive and efficient network that will benefit all of us and the planet. |
