Announcing GroupMe Featured Groups

Today, we’re thrilled to announce another awesome feature of the GroupMe platform—Featured Groups. Starting today, we’re partnering with five amazing brands to help them connect with fans and bring some exciting, exclusive benefits to GroupMe users. They’re like private fan clubs for the things you love.

• Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club - GroupMe users who are in a Bad Girls Club group will be able to receive exclusive content from Oxygen, including reminders about when the show is on, first-hand tidbits from the characters, and access to special promotions. Bad Girls Club featured groups even have the chance to be contacted directly by the Bad Girls themselves!
• MTV’s Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew - Once the new season premieres on April 7 at 10 p.m., fans who are in an ABDC group will be able to receive all sorts of content directly from MTV, including behind-the-scenes video clips, photo galleries, insider blog posts, and tune-in reminders. Plus, each week, a few lucky groups will be joined by one of the Crew members, answering fans’ questions directly via GroupMe messaging and conference calling!
• Bon Jovi - Legendary rock band Bon Jovi is using GroupMe to help their fans chat about their shows, events, appearances, causes, and anything else. Groups will be automatically entered to win exclusive merchandise including photos, albums, and DVDs signed by the band. Plus, on their 2011 tour, Bon Jovi will give GroupMe users a chance to win backstage passes, upgraded seats, and more!
• Bonnaroo - The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is celebrating its tenth year with an amazing lineup, and GroupMe will be helping fans easily plan their journey to Tennessee and stay connected with their friends onsite. GroupMe will be fully integrated into the official Bonnaroo iPhone, iPad, and Android applications, ensuring that no matter who you go with, you’ll be able to seamlessly plan and share a perfect Bonnaroo experience.
• Coachella - At this year’s Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California, GroupMe users in Coachella groups will be able to receive reminders for all the festival’s best bands. Plus, with updates directly from the festival organizers, GroupMe users will be the first to know about any changes to the festival or special promotions taking place onsite. 

Awesome, right?

You can start a featured group under any of these brands today through the “Featured” tab in our Android and iPhone apps, or by visiting the landing pages linked above.

Now testing our latest BlackBerry app

If you’re a BlackBerry owner, you’re in for a treat. Today, we’re happy to announce the latest version of our BlackBerry app!  We’ve made significant improvements to the in-app chat experience, notifications, and overall performance.  In-app chat means you don’t have to use up your monthly text message quota, and you can see photos your friends post as well (photo sharing from the BlackBerry is coming soon!)

If you’d like to give it a try, please sign up below:

The Major Rager

Pictures are now online from the Major Rager we threw last Monday in Austin with our friends Hashable, Dailybooth, and SPIN.  

So, relive the party! We hope you had fun… we sure did.

Learning from SXSW

Wow. That was a blast. Our team just got back from Austin, where we had quite the weekend hanging out at South by Southwest.

Over a few short days, we gave away thousands of grilled cheese sandwiches, cups of beer, VIP tickets to parties, t-shirts, temporary tattoos, stickers, buttons, lighters, and hats to GroupMe users… and in return, we got your feedback. We wanted to hear about what you liked and didn’t like, and figure out what we can do to make it better.

Today, we’re going to talk about some of the most common pain points we heard, and tell you about what we’re going to do about them.

Here’s what you want from us:

• A better onramp for users receiving SMS invites. This is really important to us. It’s hard to communicate to new users what GroupMe is, how it works, and how to use it in just 160 characters at a time, but this is one of our highest priorities. If you have specific suggestions, send them our way!
• International support. We’re working to make this happen as quickly as possible… and we’ll be ready to release it very soon. If you’re interested in helping us test, send an email to international@groupme.com and we’ll keep you updated on what we’re doing. 
• Easier ways to start a group from the app. Lots of you like the process of starting a group in the app, but wish it was a little faster. We’re playing a lot with the user interface of the apps as we speak, and hope to make this the easiest process possible. Stay tuned!
• A web interface for chatting. This is also something we’re interested in doing sooner rather than later. One thing we’re worried about, though, is that people tend to type messages on a computer much faster than people receiving text messages will want to receive them. We’re testing a few different things, but would love your input: catch us on Twitter or send an email. 

We’d like to thank everyone who came by, talked to us, and gave us this invaluable advice and feedback.

But… we want more!

If you used GroupMe at SXSW, we’d really appreciate it if you filled out this brief survey to tell us about your experience with it. It’ll make future versions of the product so much better. Thank you in advance!

It’s finally here! Nearly the whole team is hanging out here in Austin… and we just fired up the GroupMe Grill.

If you’re at SXSW, come get some grilled cheese and beer! It’s totally free to anyone who uses GroupMe. Find us right across the street from the Convention Center, at 350 Trinity Street. We’re having a blast. If you have an SXSW GroupMe, you’ll see it on your map tab as a sponsored location. Pretty cool, huh?

On another note, many of you here in Austin may have noticed that a data connection is unreliable at best this weekend. Just so you know, you can always switch to using GroupMe via SMS by texting #sms to a group. The iPhone and Android apps will automatically suggest it to you… so no matter where you are, your messages will always go through.

You can stay up to date on everything we’re doing this weekend by following us on Twitter, or by coming and talking to us down at the Grill. Have fun and see you soon!

Our box of SXSW secrets is starting to open…

Today, we’re going to talk about parties.

Here’s how it works.

Start a SXSW group on our landing page, or from the “Featured” tab in the new app (just tap “SXSW”). Your group will automatically be entered to win tickets to some of the week’s best parties.

Here’s what we can get you into, if you win:

• Automattic’s “Wordpress Takes SXSW”, with VIP tickets.
• Tumblr and Funny or Die’s Reblog LOL Party
• Our own Major Rager, co-hosted by our pals Hashable, Dailybooth, and SPIN, with VIP tickets.
• Chomp, Hipmunk, and Blekko’s “Search Party”,  with VIP tickets.
• Eater’s “Get Sauced Pool Party & BBQ Challenge”, an invite-only event.
• Appsumo’s private friends & family party
• gdgt’s “live in Austin”, with VIP tickets.
• CrowdTap’s Launch Party, with VIP tickets.
• SPIN’s “SPIN@Stubbs” showcase, with VIP tickets.
• Silicon Valley Bank + NEA’s SXSW party, with VIP tickets
• and finally, Foursquare’s exclusive Big Boi Concert, with VIP tickets.

[and maybe more?]

You’ll be notified in your group if you’ve been selected for any of these. 

Need I say more? Start your SXSW group today, and with any luck, your group will be enjoying an awesome party soon!

GroupMe 2.1-more-thing

Well, we promised you there was more coming… and here it is!

Our iPhone and Android apps have been updated once again with some awesome new features. 

Home Screen

Our new default home screen gives you quick access to four tabs: groups, people, activity feed, and featured groups. 

• Groups displays all the groups you’re in, plain and simple.
• People shows you all your contacts who are using GroupMe.
• Activity shows your friends who just started using GroupMe, and groups that are available for you to join [more on this below…]
• Featured collects groups that you might want to start. For example, you can start one of our special SXSW groups from this tab. 

Joinable Groups

Now you can open up any group for friends to join. When you start a joinable group, your contacts using GroupMe will see it in their app. They can request to join with one tap, and can then be approved or denied by the group creator.

You can even publish a public invite for a joinable group on Twitter or Facebook so you can bring in even more friends! 

Avatars

You can now set an avatar that will show up next to all your messages in either app. The chat has never looked better.

Better relationships and contact integration

Tap on any person in the GroupMe app. You’ll see your mutual groups at a glance. With one tap, you can start a new group with them or add them to your phone address book.

Featured Locations

Now, see special locations on your group’s map view. For example, this week, if you have a SXSW GroupMe, you’ll be able to learn about GroupMe’s secrets in Austin, and see where all the best parties are.

Data connection detection

We now detect when you have a bad data connection, and present the option to drop down to SMS. It’s perfect for areas with a poor connection… like, say, a crowded Austin Convention Center.

And lots of little things…

For example, you now have the ability to set your nickname in each group and choose whether you want to receive new user notifications. Plus, there are plenty of bug fixes and optimizations.

Catch us on Twitter or Facebook with any questions. If you’re having trouble with one of the apps, contact support via email: support@groupme.com. 

That’s all for now!

Love,

Team GroupMe 

P.S.: While the iPhone app should be available immediately, it may take a few hours before you see the updated Android app in the Market. It’s worth the wait! #)

Well, as you may have noticed, things have changed. 

Welcome to the new GroupMe.

We’re too excited to wait any longer, so let’s get into it. Here’s what’s new:

 Apps

• Today, we’re releasing GroupMe 2.0 on iOS and Android, both available immediately. 
• You can now use GroupMe using your data connection, entirely within the app. In-app chat is faster than SMS and beautiful to look at. If you’re having trouble finding a data connection, though, the app will automatically recommend that you use SMS, like classic GroupMe. It’s totally seamless messaging, no matter where you are.
• These apps both also now support location sharing. You can add your location to a message easily and see all group members on an interactive map. Never lose your friends again.
• Share photos inline instantly. Capture your group’s moments as they happen.
• Add anyone you know to your groups, whether you have their phone number or not. Invite friends via email, or from Twitter or Facebook.
• We still give every group a unique phone number, so your friends with older phones can still join in the group chat. 
• No login required. Authenticate the app once, and that’s it. 
• Get it now: 
  GroupMe for iOS
  GroupMe for Android

 Website and Rebranding

• Our main man Poundie had a facelift, and he looks better than ever. Our brand has been completely restyled, thanks to some awesome work by our amazing new lead designer, Kevin David Crowe, and Camillia BenBassat at Avec.
• Have you seen the new homepage? We apologize in advance if you spend the rest of your day on it, just scrolling up and down. We’re using it to show off a few common uses of GroupMe, while also showing off that it works on every phone. It’s all thanks to our new front-end engineer Chris Connolly.
• The user experience has been revamped site-wide, including a new “Help & Support” tab on every page that allows you to find fast answers to some frequently asked questions, or ask your own. 

 Shortcode

• Today, we’re introducing the fastest possible way to start a group. It’s all thanks to our new shortcode.
• Just text START to GROUP (47687). That’s it. Any questions?

 SXSW

• We’re going to SXSW with big plans and we’re really excited. Start your SXSW GroupMe and learn more now on our hot new SXSW landing page. Add your crew, and you’ll automatically be entered to win VIP tickets to the week’s best parties.

There’s so much more…

But we’re not ready to announce it yet, so stay tuned. In the meantime, go play with our new app! Scroll around on our homepage! Start a SXSW group! Tell us what you think!

As always, send any questions to support@groupme.com, or find us on Twitter or Facebook.

Love,

Team GroupMe