4 ms·

I think your first paragraph is key though. I introduced Slack at a startup I'm working for, and I think the main reason we kept using it, and now use it for al

by mercer 12y ago

I think your first paragraph is key though. I introduced Slack at a startup I'm working for, and I think the main reason we kept using it, and now use it for almost anything, was because the CEO and designer felt comfortable with it. The same applies to Trello, in my experience. I've been able to convince all my clients, including the ones who will send me emails with attached .docx documents that contain low-res images for their gallery, and as a result I can basically live inside Trello. Slack is getting close to playing a similar role, and the only reason it doesn't is that for the trickle of communication with many clients Trello is better.

whichfawkes 12y ago
Agreed. I think my perspective on cost may be a little skewed because I'm using it for a University CS Club with over 100 members and we can't pay $500/month for it. I have less incentive to introduce it for the startup I work with because those people are all comfortable with email, and busy with enough other things that I'm not going to see 'instant message like' responses anyway.
- malnourish 12y ago
  You should contact them directly and work out a deal. I would imagine they would agree to favorable terms if it's academic-related.
- ddebernardy 12y ago
  Echoing malnourish, touch base with them and highlight to them that your context is that of a university. I'd gather they'll give the service away to you for free, if only for the sake of making sure you're team members are familiar with -- and addicted to -- using it by the time you're done studying.
- tonystubblebine 12y ago
  The Lite option is free and has no limit on number of users. We use the paid option for a team made up of our staff, but we also just launched a new team with the Lite option as a way to talk to the sellers in our marketplace. I just invited 700 people of those people in to Slack and plan to invite several thousand more. The limitation is that the archive is limited to 10k messages. But there are plenty of use cases where that doesn't matter.
Q6T46nT668w6i3m 12y ago
We used IRC at my former company (Simple) and it worked well. This is notable because most of the company is non-technical customer support.
- mercer 12y ago
  Oh, I'm sure if you can make IRC work, it might be enough. But aside from the fact that this can be a significant hurdle in many situations, Slack's integration with various tools is a significant advantage that IRC can't quite replace (easily). For example, we've linked our various trello boards to their relevant channels, and as a result when I get into work (part-time) I can simply scroll through the 'front-end' channel and not only see the discussions between co-front-enders, but also see the updates on trello tickets in the same place, in the exact context of the conversations around it. That's become quite valuable to me.
  - nilkn 12y ago
    It seems odd that Slack doesn't offer integration with FogBugz. Is FogBugz really that out of style now?
    - mercer 12y ago
      FogBugz always seems a bit... anachronistic and old-fashioned, but I don't know if that plays a role.
      - nilkn 12y ago
        I agree with you, actually. I just thought it was still sufficiently popular to get support, especially alongside a lot of other integrated services that I've never even heard of.
jtwebman 12y ago
I agree for external clients, they seem to be only targeting better communication within the company.

by mercer 12y ago

whichfawkes 12y ago

Agreed. I think my perspective on cost may be a little skewed because I'm using it for a University CS Club with over 100 members and we can't pay $500/month for it. I have less incentive to introduce it for the startup I work with because those people are all comfortable with email, and busy with enough other things that I'm not going to see 'instant message like' responses anyway.

malnourish 12y ago
You should contact them directly and work out a deal. I would imagine they would agree to favorable terms if it's academic-related.
ddebernardy 12y ago
Echoing malnourish, touch base with them and highlight to them that your context is that of a university. I'd gather they'll give the service away to you for free, if only for the sake of making sure you're team members are familiar with -- and addicted to -- using it by the time you're done studying.
tonystubblebine 12y ago
The Lite option is free and has no limit on number of users. We use the paid option for a team made up of our staff, but we also just launched a new team with the Lite option as a way to talk to the sellers in our marketplace. I just invited 700 people of those people in to Slack and plan to invite several thousand more. The limitation is that the archive is limited to 10k messages. But there are plenty of use cases where that doesn't matter.

Q6T46nT668w6i3m 12y ago

We used IRC at my former company (Simple) and it worked well. This is notable because most of the company is non-technical customer support.

mercer 12y ago
Oh, I'm sure if you can make IRC work, it might be enough. But aside from the fact that this can be a significant hurdle in many situations, Slack's integration with various tools is a significant advantage that IRC can't quite replace (easily). For example, we've linked our various trello boards to their relevant channels, and as a result when I get into work (part-time) I can simply scroll through the 'front-end' channel and not only see the discussions between co-front-enders, but also see the updates on trello tickets in the same place, in the exact context of the conversations around it. That's become quite valuable to me.
- nilkn 12y ago
  It seems odd that Slack doesn't offer integration with FogBugz. Is FogBugz really that out of style now?
  - mercer 12y ago
    FogBugz always seems a bit... anachronistic and old-fashioned, but I don't know if that plays a role.
    - nilkn 12y ago
      I agree with you, actually. I just thought it was still sufficiently popular to get support, especially alongside a lot of other integrated services that I've never even heard of.

jtwebman 12y ago

I agree for external clients, they seem to be only targeting better communication within the company.