How to join ICE user groups

 

Step 1: Create a Convos login

 

ICE”s user groups are hosted by Convos at their web site, www.convos.com.

 

1.      Create your own login at www.convos.com

a.       Go to www.convos.com and click “Sign Up”

 

 

b.      Enter your email address, then click “Send Verification”

 

c.       You will receive an email similar to the following:

 

Hello,

Thank you for choosing to sign up for a new Convos account.

To complete the sign up process, please click the following link:

http://live.convos.com/group_websites/auto_signup.jsp?email=director@iceschools.org&request_id=15368

- The Convos Team

 

d.      Click on the link to confirm your email address.  You will be taken back to the Convos web site so that you can choose a unique username.

 

 

e.       Complete the info and click “Launch Convos”.  Be sure to remember your User Name and Password so that you can login to Convos later.

                                                              i.      You will receive an email “Welcome” from Convos.

                                                            ii.      If you ever forget your Convos User Name or Password, go to www.convos.com and click “Forgot”.

 

Step 2: Request membership in the ICE User Group

 

Each individual user group is a “subgroup” of the main ICE User Group.  You must first request membership in the main ICE User Group, then ICE will make you a member of the specific “subgroup” for your area.

 

  1. Send an email to ice_groups_coordinator@iceschools.org; include the name of the specific user group(s) that you’d like to be a member of. You can be in as many ICE groups as you want.
  2. When we receive the email, we will “invite” you to join the main ICE user group. You will receive an email notifying you that you’ve been invited.
  3. Login at www.convos.com with your Convos User Name and Password.
  4. Click on the “Connections” button at the top of the screen to see your invitation.

 

  1. Click on the invitation, then click “Accept”.  You will then have to provide your contact information (this will be available to other members of your group).
  2. Once you are a member of the ICE User Group, ICE will make you a member of the “subgroup” for your area. Your groups will show up in the “My Groups” list when you login to Convos.

 

Sharing information with your User Group

 

Sending messages to the group

 

Option 1: Send an email to the group

Simply compose your message and send it to the group email address.  Note that your must be a member of the group to send a message to the group.

Option 2: Have your IT person email the group

Each school’s IT person has access to all the user groups, so they can post the message for you.

Option 3: Login to Convos and send the message from there.

1.      Login at www.convos.com with your Convos User Name and Password.

2.      In the “My Groups” list, click on the group you want to send the message to.

3.      Click the arrow beside “Group Item” and choose “Message”.  Compose your message and click Send.

 

All messages sent to the group will be kept in the group’s Message list.  This allows the group to have an archive of messages sent. Your individual group coordinator can remove messages when they are no longer needed.

 

Finding out who is in your group

 

Click on “Member Directory” to see who is in your group.  You can click on any member to see their contact information.

 

Schedule, Files, and Pages

 

Your group coordinator is called the “Moderator” in Convos.  The Moderator can perform the following tasks for your group:

  1. Add events to the group Schedule; everyone in the group will see these events.
  2. Create “pages” to display information to the group.
  3. Upload files, such as queries and documentation, which is viewable by anyone in your group.

 

 

Verifying your email addresses

 

Convos will only accept email coming from addresses that have been “verified” as belonging to someone in the group.  So, we recommend that if you have multiple email addresses that you might use to send message to the group that you “verify” them in Convos now.

 

  1. Log into your Convos account at www.convos.com
  2. Click "My Settings" in the top right
  3. Click the “+” button, then enter your email address.

a.       You will receive an email with a confirmation code.

                                                          iii.      Log into your Convos account at www.convos.com

                                                          iv.      Click "My Settings" in the top right

                                                            v.      Select this email address in the Verified Email Addresses box

                                                          vi.      Click "Verify"

                                                        vii.      Enter / paste the Verification Code above and click "Verify"

b.      Back in the “Settings” screen, choose your “primary” email address for the “Forward all messages to”; this is where you will receive any email messages sent to your group.