Tag Archives: communicate

GroupFlier Offers First Curated Content for SMS Text Messaging

Receive tweets and news about Egyptian Youth Movement activist Wael Ghonim.

Bethesda, MD, February 14, 2011 — Group texting service GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) today announced the release of the industry’s first curated text messaging groups.

The first group is dedicated to providing timely information and tweets from Wael Ghonim, the 30-year old Egyptian activist, Google executive and face of the Egyptian pro-democracy youth movement.

“Our users drove us here,” said Morris Panner, CEO of GroupFlier. “They use our service to group text and talk about important issues. They told us they wished they had a good way to get clear information about important news events as they unfold.”

“They all love Twitter and Facebook, but to receive hundreds of SMS texts on the phone can be overwhelming. We stepped in and are providing that curated content. We learned a lot about what type of content people want to receive via SMS.”

The text messaging group dubbed “Egypt4Peace” will follow the tweets made by Egyptian activist Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who survived 11 days in police custody blindfolded and without cause.

Wael Ghonim is one of the administrators behind Egypt’s most popular Facebook page, “We are Khaled Said,” that has served to mobilize the youth movement and helped organize thousands of protestors in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Although anyone can set up Twitter to follow SMS tweets, the GroupFlier option will not automate the sending of tweets indiscriminately. This curated service will screen for the most relevant tweets and news headlines that convey compelling information about the passion, plans, and convictions of Wael Ghonim and the youth movement.

The Egypt4Peace SMS group will also select tweets made by embedded reporters Dan Nolan of Al Jazeera English, New York Times’ Roger Cohen, and Sharif Kouddous, senior news producer for Democracy Now!

A free service, people can join Egypt4Peace in two different ways:

* Go to http://groupflier.com/join/Egypt4Peace
* Text Egypt4Peace to (617) 394-1386

GroupFlier CEO Morris Panner has been a long proponent of human rights, having been the founder of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. He is on the board of the Washington Office on Latin America, a leading human rights group for Latin America.

On Tuesday February 9th, Panner wrote an opinion piece, “Accelerating Change in Egypt,” which was published by the Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/8/accelerating-change-in-egypt/

TechCrunch featured this innovative service on Feb 10:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/10/groupflier-egypt/

About Wael Ghonim:
Google’s director of marketing for the Middle East and Africa, Wael Ghonim received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University in 2004, and received a master’s degree in Business Administration cum laude from American University in Cairo in 2007. Wael is married to an American and his family home is in Dubai.

About GroupFlier:
GroupFlier’s mission is to empower clubs and associations of all types, through free group texting and content curation for SMS. The service is compatible with all cellphone devices and platforms, whether it be a BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or old Nokia, as well as supporting any service plans by AT&T, Verizon or a phone card. GroupFlier also offers an iPhone app for group creation. Soon to follow are more advanced iPhone, Android and RIM clients that will enable a richer information experience.

Press & Media Contact:
Victor Cruz, Principal
MediaPR.net, Inc
Bethesda, MD
(401) 349-3369
vcruz@mediapr.net
http://www.groupflier.com

GroupFlier announces new options that give group texting creators more control

Group texting service GroupFlier today announced a few options that give group texting administrators a better way to manage their group members.

Bethesda, MD, January 14, 2011 — Group texting service GroupFlier today announced a few options that give group texting administrators a better way to manage their group members. GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) allows any community of friends – club, team, class, party, family – to use a single text message to reach everyone in the group at once.

To get started with the service, all that’s required are the cellphone numbers of the members in your named group.The new options being announced today provide another level of control over the management of groups.

Group creators can access the new features by logging into “Your Groups,” clicking on a group name, and selecting “Settings.”A group creator may delete a group, remove a group member, as well as adjust settings for a group.

As was previously available, creators/administrators can change the group’s name. Notifications can be set to inform members when a new member joins or leaves the group.

Another feature allows the group creator the option to be the only sender in a group; this works well in situations where communications are designed for one-way only, such as a weather report for when a team coach needs to cancel or delay a game.

GroupFlier is managed using a set of star (*) commands sent from the cellphones of members.

For example, text *help to the group number and a full list of the commands will be sent to your cellphone. The full list of * commands include: *new [name], *add [name] [number], *bye, *hi, *nick [name], *remove [name], *delete, and *who.
To receive a text listing all members that are currently in a group, as well as those members’ cellphone numbers, text *who.To add a level of privacy, administrators can disable the *who command.
A new option is that GroupFlier now allows you to restrict the *add command to only the group creator. This option lets nobody else but the group’s creator to add people.

Says CEO Morris Panner, “The thinking behind this was to give group creators some flexibility and options to tailor how they want to administer things depending on the type of club or organization or application use they have in mind. These options are based on users’ feedback, so we want to thank everyone for their comments and encourage others to send us new ideas.”

About GroupFlier, Inc.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, GroupFlier’s mission is to empower clubs and associations of all kinds.The service is free and compatible with all cellphone devices and platforms, whether it be a BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or old Nokia, as well as supporting any service plans by AT&T, Verizon or a phone card.
Please contact us at support@groupflier.com with any questions or feedback.

Friend us at http://www.facebook.com/groupflier or follow us on Twitter @groupflier.

Press & Media Contact:
Victor Cruz
MediaPR.net, Inc
Bethesda, MD
(401) 349-3369
vcruz@mediapr.net
http://www.groupflier.com

GroupFlier Releases API for third-party Developers

Group texting site GroupFlier today announced the official release of its application programming interface.

Bethesda, MD, December 30, 2010 — Group texting site GroupFlier today announced the official release of its application programming interface. The API can be used by third-party developers to build powerful group texting functionality to websites and applications that connect to GroupFlier’s free text messaging and geo-location services.

Announced earlier this month, GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com) allows any community of friends – club, team, class, party, clique, family – to use a single number for group texting. The service is compatible with
all devices and platforms, whether it be a BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or old Nokia, as well as supporting any service plans by AT&T, Verizon or a phone card.

Some examples of how the API can used by developers …
* A band web site could use the API to create a texting fan group.
* A fishing forum could use the API to create a group for real time updates on the latest fishing reports.
* A group scheduling application could use the API to create a group and then send alerts to the group.

Says CEO Morris Panner, “With the release of this API, there are no limits to how GroupFlier can be used to organize joint activities, whether it’s a ski trip or a foursome on the golf course. Each group receives its own unique texting number so it’s easy for anyone to send a text to the whole group.”

With forthcoming geo-location integration, friends will be able to check in and know where they are located in relation to each other. The assigned group texting number can also serve as a conference call party number for the group.

GroupFlier will also add software that can be installed on any smartphone, so that users will not need to carry a costly texting plan to use the free service.

About GroupFlier Inc.
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, GroupFlier’s mission is to empower clubs and associations of all kinds. The company was founded by Morris Panner, a serial entrepreneur who two years ago sold his company, OpenAir, to NetSuite. GroupFlier received seed funding from Novak Biddle of Washington, D.C. Contact us at support@groupflier.com with any questions or feedback.

Friend us at http://www.facebook.com/groupflier or follow us on Twitter @groupflier.

Press Contact:
Victor Cruz
MediaPR.net, Inc
Bethesda, MD
(401) 349-3369
vcruz@mediapr.net
http://www.groupflier.com

Groupflier Rolls Out Free Group Texting Service, Compatible with Any Cell Phone Platform

GroupFlier today announced the release of its free group text messaging service. GroupFlier allows any community of friends – club, team, class, party, clique, campaign, family – to use a single number for group texting.

Bethesda, MD, December 10, 2010 — GroupFlier today announced the release of its free group text messaging service. GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) allows any community of friends – club, team, class, party, clique, campaign, family – to use a single number for group texting.

“We are social texting,” said Morris Panner, GroupFlier CEO. “Texting is the perfect way to communicate one-to-one, but unless everyone is on the same service, communicate as group.”

With GroupFlier, each group receives it’s own unique texting number so it’s is easy for any member to send a text to the group.

Soon to come is geo-location integration so group members can check in and know where they are in relation to each other. The group texting number can also serve as a conference call party number for the group.

GroupFlier will also add software that can be installed on any smartphone, so that users won’t need to maintain a texting plan to use the service.

GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) is compatible with all devices and platforms, whether it be a Blackberry, Android, iPhone or old Nokia, as well as supporting any service plans by AT&T, Verizon or a phone card. GroupFlier gives a group the flexibility to communicate freely.

“People are searching for a better way to communicate and form community,” Panner said. “New technologies let them do it and let them unhook from the single providers, whether that be the phone company or Facebook.”

Panner is an experienced software entrepreneur who two years ago sold his last company, OpenAir, a business process software company, to NetSuite, Larry Ellison’s on-demand software company.

GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) caught the attention of one of DC’s hottest VC firms, Novak Biddle, which funded Panner and his team earlier this year.

GroupFlier ( http://www.groupflier.com ) also has intrigued the political set in DC. “This solves a huge problem for campaigns and field operations,” said Dick Keil, media strategist with PurpleConsulting and a former White House correspondent who covered the 2004 Presidential campaign. “Communication is the life blood of a campaign, everyone is on a different system, you just can’t move resources fast enough. With GroupFlier, a campaign can get every volunteer on message just like that. IIt is a huge competitive advantage.”

Press Contact:
Victor Cruz
MediaPR.net, Inc
Bethesda, MD
(401) 349-3369
vcruz@mediapr.net
http://www.groupflier.com