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June 17, 2010

Edistorm – Brainstorming Sessions Done Virtually

When it comes to brainstorming sessions, white boards and sticky notes just won’t cut it anymore. With so many employees working remotely, either from home or from a different city, company-brainstorming sessions are taking an entirely different turn. Edistorm is an application that’s hoping to capitalize on that, by giving businesses a way to tap into the collective brainpower of employees, both near and far.

Start brainstorming online by creating a new “Storm”—the name for an Edistorm project page. Type in a name for the project, add a goal or description, and start inviting collaborators. Privacy levels let you decide whether to make your Storm open to the public or visible only to those employees who’ve been invited to take part. Once you’re on your Storm page, you’ll see a white wall and a virtual stack of sticky notes on the left. Anyone you’ve invited to participate can type an idea on a sticky note and place it on the wall wherever they want. Notes can be moved and organized in an endless number of ways, or grouped by color to better illustrate whatever point it is you’re trying to make. Because Edistorm operates in real time, you will immediately see whenever another users adds a sticky or makes adjustments to the wall.

One thing that really helps Edistorm stand out from the pack of collaboration tools currently on the market are its Idea Bots, which track the ideas you and your colleagues are posting on your wall and add suggestions or recommendations at the bottom of the screen. Suggestions can be included on your Storm wall, or given a “thumbs down” to be deleted completely. Overall, Edistorm is an excellent application that gives companies a way to hold interactive brainstorming meetings with employees who are located around the world.

Practical Uses:

  • Brainstorm ideas for a new product or business name
  • Learn ways to improve corporate culture by engaging your employees in a brainstorming session
  • Increase collaboration with employees who aren’t in the same offices
  • Vote on ideas for a new ad campaign

Insider Tips:

  • Idea Bots add automated suggestions for ideas on the bottom of any Storm page
  • Change the color of any sticky note at any time
  • Each user receives 10 votes to add to ideas they like
  • Save Storm boards after the brainstorming session is over

What we liked:

  • Users can vote on which ideas they like the most
  • Collaborate on tasks with colleagues who work from home
  • Brainstorming boards can be saved and referred back to at a later date
  • Edistorm offers free plans for users

What we didn’t like:

  • Nothing

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: March 2010
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: Edmonton, Canada
  • Founded by: Reg Cheramy
  • Web site: http://www.edistorm.com

Costs:

  • Solo and public storms are free
  • Basic plan is $5/month
  • Plus plan is $10/month
  • Premium plan is $30/month

Comments

  1. 3) usar a api do twitter e as funcionalidades para melhorar a usabilidade #intercon2011

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