UpToUs: A New Online Network For Parents
UpToUs, where I serve as corporate blogger, is a new online network for parents. It offers parents a private place where they can socialize with other parents, and use various tools to manage daily life with kids.
UpToUs streamlines the management of groups such as classrooms, sports teams and scout troops. It takes about 5 minutes to establish a private community for your group. Each group comes with a centralized calendar, an announcement system, photo sharing, a volunteering organizer, discussion panels and more.
Instead of using several sites (Facebook, eVite, Flickr, Yahoo Groups and Google Calendar), UpToUs provides groups with all the tools that they need, tailored specifically for them, in one place.
UpToUs makes life easier for individual parents too. A typical household will join several UpToUs communities (the kids’ classrooms, their sports teams etc.). For each household, info from all their different communities will stream into a single, private Personal Organizer. So, information that is currently scattered among many sources, such as school fliers, email-based discussion groups and specific websites, will be organized into one convenient screen.
UpToUs is also very useful for non-parents who would like to facilitate communication within groups such as a tennis club, a neighborhood or an extended family.
UpToUs is a free service. You can sign up at UpToUs.
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Tiffany responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 4:20 am →
Wow, never heard of this site and we don’t have that much chaos just yet but as Mackenzie gets older I’m sure we’ll have a billion things going on. I generally use Google Calendar but this seems like a great idea for families as well as teachers who want to be able to interact more with everyone. Definitely going to keep this one on hand for the future! Hope it’s expat friendly too since we’re in Germany.
Tiffany’s last blog post..Why shopping as a pregnant woman is so easy
Scott McIntyre responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 4:24 am →
It’s very interesting to read of your involvement with UpToUs, Vered.
It sounds like a great resource for building offline and online communities- an area I am particularly interested in.
How on earth do you fit all your commitments into your daily schedule? Have you found that elusive 25th hour?
Cath Lawson responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 4:47 am →
Hi Vered - It sounds like a really unique idea. I’ll check it out. It might help me to get more organised.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Don’t Be Like The Women On The Titanic
Robin responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 5:28 am →
Good on ya Vered! Sounds like a good thing. It’s great that you work in an area that you so obviously believe in and are good at.
Robin’s last blog post..Letting Creativity Just Slip In
Writer Dad responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 6:09 am →
Vered,
Up to us sounds like a really good idea. I’ll head on over and check it out. Have a great weekend.
Writer Dad’s last blog post..The Eighth Wonder of the World
Suzie responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 6:45 am →
Sounds interestingIll check it out
Suzie’s last blog post..Pass The Chicken Soup
Hunter Nuttall responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 7:10 am →
I only realized just now that it’s Up To Us. Before I thought it was Up Tous, and I wondered what a Tous was!
Hunter Nuttall’s last blog post..Mister Rogers Addresses The U.S. Senate
Marelisa responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 8:20 am →
Hi Vered: I went to look at your “other” blog. Very interesting! I think it’s important for parents to get to know the parents of their children’s friends since the children will probably been spending a lot of time at each others houses. Nowadays we need anything that helps create a sense of community.
MizFit responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am →
yes
YES
***YES***
Fo’Shizzle.
off to check it out—-when I can distract the Tornado.
MizFit’s last blog post..It’s SCAVENGER HUNT TIME!!
Ann at One Bag Nation responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 8:55 am →
Hi Vered: our school has something called Parent Organizer, which I love, but it only covers school events, not specific classroom info, and our soccer info is at a completely different place. I’m dashing out the door now, but will check out UptoUs later today - thanks!
Ann at One Bag Nation’s last blog post..Friday Food with Almost Frugal
Davina responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 9:24 am →
Hi Vered.
This is great! I’m not a mommy, but I’ll check this out anyway. Thanks for sharing. See you on Monday for those fashion tips.
Davina’s last blog post..I Dreamt I Died
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am →
Thank you everyone for reading and for taking a look. UpToUs addresses a need that hasn’t been addressed so far. We hope to make a real difference in parents’ lives.
@ Scott: How do I fit it all in? I don’t get enough sleep, except on the weekend.
@ Marelisa: It is certainly strange that we don’t know so many of the other parents. I am hoping that UpToUs can help with that.
Natural responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 11:01 am →
sounds great Vered. I checked it out before when you linked it or maybe saw it on BWAB blog. Great idea. Parenting can get hectic and every bit of help.
thanks to hunter, i didn’t even try to pronounce it. i see a word i don’t know, i leave it that way.
uh oh. 10 fashion mistakes, i bet i’m making at least 5 of them right now. see ya monday. fo’sho.
Natural’s last blog post..Traffic: Flaw in Design or Drivers?
Barbara Swafford responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 11:47 am →
Hi Vered,
I checked out UpToUs. That’s a fabulous idea. Although our kids are grown with kids of their own, it looks like something they could use to organize their hectic schedules. Plus ,it’s looks very easy to navigate.
And the blog, your writings are right on target. You’re doing a great thing. Be proud!
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Casual Friday - Open Mic
Urban Panther responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 1:25 pm →
What a fantastic concept!! Man, wish I had this when I was trying to keep the schedules of 3 children organized.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 2:56 pm →
@ Natural: Parenting IS hectic. UpToUs (pronounced Up-To-Us
should help.
@ Barbara: It would be great if you could forward it to your kids!
@ Urban Panther: “wish I had this when I was trying to keep the schedules of 3 children organized.” I need to organize the schedules of 2 kids and at times it seems impossible!
Lance responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 6:00 pm →
I’m a parent with three school-aged kids - daily management is ALWAYS an issue! I’ll definitely check this out, thanks for sharing it here.
Lance’s last blog post..Maintenance, Do You Do It?
Peter responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 6:19 pm →
Looks interesting! I’ll tell my wife about it - looking after “two under two” all day does tend to leave her a little stressed at times…..
Peter’s last blog post..Getting Back on the Right Life Path
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 10:16 pm →
@ Lance: In that case, UpToUs is just perfect for you.
@ Peter: While UpToUs is geared mostly towards school-age kids, several of the tools we offer could work well for your situation. Wow, 2 under 2… I do NOT envy you guys.
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map responds:
Posted: August 15th, 2008 at 11:17 pm →
Your energy amazes me!!
My schedules can get very hectic. Not sure whether your site can be used for parents not from the States, though. I’ll check it out later.
Thanks!
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..How To Build Intuitive Awareness For Inspired Actions
Linda Abbit responds:
Posted: August 16th, 2008 at 12:50 am →
Wow! How do you find time to do it all?! Good idea to cross-promote your other work here.
Wish UpToUs was around when my son was little. Maybe he’ll use it when he has kids in the future . . . . . the far off future (he’s only 18!).
Enjoy your sleep this weekend.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 16th, 2008 at 1:10 pm →
@ Evelyn: While UpToUs is mostly geared towards the United States, it can certainly be used internationally.
Give it a try!
Energy? What energy? I need more sleep.
@ Linda: Slept until 9 today. Heaven. Ido took the kids camping (I don’t do camping), so I’m working! Does that answer your question?
vw bug responds:
Posted: August 16th, 2008 at 3:27 pm →
Very cool. Thank you.
vw bug’s last blog post..Prayer / Good Thoughts / and the like Request
Shilpan | successsoul.com responds:
Posted: August 16th, 2008 at 8:49 pm →
Vered -
Thanks for the great info. I’m a father of two teenagers. It’s hard to believe that in few years they both will be in college. Nonetheless this information helps. I’m part of your group already.
Cheers!
Shilpan
San Diego Momma responds:
Posted: August 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pm →
Hi Vered:
UpToUs sounds like it could provide good support networks for us parents. I’ll definitely check it out. A resource like this is much needed in my household.
Meanwhile, re: your fashion mistakes post: could you take it a bit further and tell me what I should wear for a long weekend in New York this October?
Deb
San Diego Momma’s last blog post..Want to See Something Good?
Chris responds:
Posted: August 17th, 2008 at 8:12 am →
Vered,
Do you have an education consultant of some sort? If not, I will apply…Anyway, I will discuss your site with our school board and see if we can add it in our site.
Chris’s last blog post..To Blog Or Not To Blog
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pm →
@ Shilpan: Thank you so much for your support! I noticed that you joined our Facebook group. Thank you.
@ San Diego Momma: Thank you. It would be great if you could check it out, and spread the word to other parents - especially classroom parents and sports team coaches that would be able to start a community for their classroom or sports team. Re: fashion advice… New York, a long weekend, October… that’s easy! A couple pairs of stylish jeans, a couple pairs of black pants, 4 basic tops that you can wear during the day (here is your chance to add a little color), a black jacket or a neutral-colored (black, gray, winter white) long sweater, walkable shoes, a little black dress and a pair of heels for going out at night. I think that should do it.
@ Chris: If you can add a link to UpToUs on your school’s website, that would be AWESOME.
Even if you can’t, just spreading the word among teachers and classroom parents would be great - we are mostly going for a bottom-up approach, relying on classroom parents or individual teachers to adopt UpToUs as a tool for their classroom. Since it is such as useful tool, we are confident that once a classroom uses it, other classrooms will start using it too. Thanks again. I emailed you.
ironman responds:
Posted: August 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm →
Good luck, Vered. I don’t have kids yet, but I can think of a couple of friends that might be interested in this. Just like everyone else here, I admire your energy!
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 17th, 2008 at 9:02 pm →
@ ironman: Thank you - I appreciate the support!
Miranda responds:
Posted: August 21st, 2008 at 3:08 pm →
Thanks for sharing this! It looks like a really valuable tool. With my son starting Kindergarten this year, I think that this could really help with what expect will be an increasing amount of scheduling needs.
MomGrind responds:
Posted: August 21st, 2008 at 8:35 pm →
@ Miranda: I’m glad you like it. You may want to forward this to the kindergarten teacher, or to the classroom parent of your child’s kindergarten class has one. They are in the best position to start a community for the class and include the entire class.