Blog Azendoo EN

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Syncing a Group of International Students: Tips from Quentin at EPITECH

It’s no secret that tons of students use Azendoo to organize their school projects, share information and stay in sync with their group. Having a home screen for your project’s tasks and messages makes staying on the same page a snap. But I think that Quentin takes the cake when it comes to long distance collaboration.

@kentin_dommer

Quentin is a fourth year, application development student at EPITECH in Bordeaux. He and his group of friends decided to start a company for their master’s project. The only problem is that this year, his teammates won’t be in France. They’re off to different corners of the globe to study with the worlds best.

My Question: How are you going to stay in sync with your group if everyone is in a different country?

When we decided on our project, we spent a whole week looking for the best application possible to get us in sync while we’re around the world. Then, I had remembered using Azendoo last year, so we decided to take another look. It was cool to see that the app had totally changed. Now, it’s so much better!

At EPITECH, fourth year students have to enroll in an international program and finish their master’s project abroad. This is an amazing opportunity for us, but it makes organization and project management a real pain. Plus, the finished product has got to be perfect because it’s the most important project of the entire program.

I’m starting a company with 6 schoolmates that are literally all over the world (San Francisco, Montreal, Dublin, Seoul, Canterbury and Beijing). That means that we’re in totally different time zones. So staying in contact and regrouping all of our info and documents poses a real problem.

Unfortunately, I can’t talk about the actual project because it hasn’t been finalized yet, but we’re knee deep in brainstorming mode. We use Azendoo everyday to present, develop and comment on new ideas. If we tried to do this with something like Facebook, It would have been impossible to stay organized.

Being a student means working hand in hand with the school, and that means that our teachers are always asking for documents, updates, outlines… all of that stuff. We have different subjects in Azendoo where we organize everything so that we can find and forward documents quickly. Plus, using subjects also means that we can organize our conversations by topic. We have subjects called: Legal Status, Weekly Rapport, Monthly Report, Graphics, etc.

I really like that we have different conversations depending on the topic. For example, our Designer is only involved in the Graphics subject, and he doesn’t have access to the others. That means that he’s able to follow subjects and participate in specific conversations without having off-topic chatter crowd the discussion.

Plus Google Drive! I love this integration. My friends post messages in a subject and attached their Google Drive Doc. Then, I can access it from Azendoo and make any suggestions or changes directly in the doc. We try not to use email, and this makes working together so easy. We’re still brainstorming so we’re not using tasks yet but that will surely evolve with the project.

Thanks again Quentin for taking the time to chat with me! Have fun in Ireland, and talk to you soon.

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Task Management Application versus To Do List Application

A while ago I had a conversation with someone during an event, he didn’t really know what was the difference between a Task Management Application and a To Do List Application. He was using a To Do List app but couldn’t tell me if it fitted its needs or not.

We might all have different needs in term of work organization and that’s why I decided to write an article to differentiate those 2 types of application.

Article originally shared on Lifehacker 

Those two types of applications have a common objective: to boost our productivity in terms of personal and/or team organization. The important thing to understand is that they both help us to manage our work, they just not answer the same needs in terms of organization.

To coordinate our work we need to organize the things we have to do, so called « Tasks » ! But we have different types of tasks:

things you have to do right now

things you have to do later

things you have to plan

things you have to assign to your teammates

things you have to do everyday

We might even need to share those things in team (so everyone is synchronized on same information), and to collaborate on specific tasks. Understanding what is a task management application versus a to do list application can save a lot of time. It really depends on your specific needs.

Task Managers – Collaborate and share your work

  Task Management applications have been built for structured collaboration. They can handle due dates, reminders, dependencies, discussions, priorities, task descriptions, documentations, task statuses, assignments, etc. They manage different levels of action and offer complete workflow management.

Besides, a task management application gives context to your work because you can organize your tasks in dedicated environments and share them with your team.

To do List – An ordered list of items

To do list applications let you keep lists of things you have a to do in flexible UI environments. Unlike Task Managers, to do list apps only remind you what you have to do, but not how to do it. In some to do list applications you can also add content (documents, descriptions, target dates, …) to your tasks, but it’s really complicated to use them as collaborative applications.

Productivity is all about doing great things together. You need to sync your team to get things done. Besides, a task management application lets me keep track of my projects. I can tag my work and follow my workflow intuitively.

To conclude all of you are not necessarily looking for a Task Manager like Azendoo, so before trying an application you really have to identify your and your team needs.

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How to get Organized using Subjects: Tips from Kevin at Engine Yard

We’re fortunate to be able to connect with users all around the world and hear about the many different ways they use Azendoo. This week, I got the chance to chat with Kevin Holler about how he uses the application to organize his workload and stay in sync with his team.

@iamkevinholler

We got to meet Kevin this year at The Next Web Conference 2013 in Amsterdam. He’s an Application Engineer at Engine Yard Ireland, Organizer of Hack Night Dublin and Co-Founder of Shake.io! So needless to say, he ROCKS!

  My question to him: How do you get organized with Azendoo?

  When I started using Azendoo, there were just two of us. We created one big workspace and organized everything by subject. But we soon realized that it would be easier to set up several workspaces depending on the topics that were being discussed. Now, there are 8 of us that use the app on a daily basis, and we’re working in more than 6 workspaces.

To give you an example, we have a Conference Workspace that regroups all of the conferences that we attend. We use the workspace as a sort of “pipeline”. Creating a subject for each individual conference is much more intuitive.

    When we decide to participate in a new conference, we’ll create a subject in the Conference Workspace and start discussing it, exchanging ideas, creating and assigning tasks, adding documents (like sponsor info), etc. That’s the way we build-up to an event.

It’s really great to be able to see what’s most active. We filter the left Subject column to see what’s being used the most, what’s the most active. I don’t really use the “all my tasks” window that much. I tend to open up a subject and work from the subject window. That’s where I spend most of my time. I can see who’s involved, the tasks used and what’s going on in one specific subject. I might go to the « all tasks » window a few times in the day just to get a general idea of what needs to get done, but then I’ll switch back to a specific subject.

    After the conference, there’s always some follow-up stuff that needs to be handled. So we’ll archive the subjects so that they are still accessible if we need to go back and see something. We try and only keep active subjects in our workspaces.

Total, we have like 6 or 7 workspaces. Each are used differently, but the main idea is to have subjects that relate directly to the topic of the workspace. That’s the way we organize Azendoo to keep track of actual projects.

For the future, I can imagine syncing all of our offices in Azendoo. Engine Yard has locations all over the world, and it would be nice to have a central way to collaborate. Each office might have their individual workspaces (like we do) but we would also have company wide workspaces that we could use to stay in contact.

Thanks again Kevin for taking the time to chat with us. You’re the man!

For more info on how people are getting shit done with Azendoo, check out our other User Stories!

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Unbearable Heat and an Unbelievable Summer Offer

  There’s something about this time of year. The birds are chirping, the heat is almost unbearable and the urge to go swimming can only mean one thing: summer is here and in full force! In the Azendoo office, we have a love/hate relationship with summer (mainly because we work in a non-air-conditioned building). But that isn’t stopping us from setting up the fans and rolling out our AZENDOO SUMMER OFFER !

    Now that our 1st Birthday Party is over and we’re officially here to stay, we wanted to keep the celebration going all the way through summer, because who wants to stop a good thing? That’s why the Azendoo team has decided to continue offering you the ability to invite anyone and everyone into your workspaces for free! That’s right, your feedback was heard loud and clear and we’re leaving our doors open for you and all of your friends.

So seriously… what does “invite anyone and everyone for free” really mean? Well, you are no longer limited to 5 users per workspace, you can invite as many people as you want to join as many workspaces as you’d like, and all invites are unlimited and free. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!

    Taking advantage of our Azendoo Summer Offer couldn’t be any easier. Just connect to your Azendoo account and invite as many co-workers/collaborators as you want. You can even pair your Google Contacts with Azendoo and invite anyone and everyone with a single click of your mouse. At the end of the offer, you’ll keep your free workspace including everyone that you invited, no strings attached. Plus, we’ve even boosted your free storage space from 1 GB to 10 GB for the Starter Plan, and from 10 GB to 50 GB for the Team Plan, per workspace!

If you’re not already using Azendoo, and you want to get in on the action, just sign-up for the application and invite as many people as you want into your newly created workspaces. At the end of the offer, on September 21st, you’ll keep your free workspace, including everyone that you invited to collaborate with you. Everything that you created will stay exactly the same, unless you want to enjoy our Premium Features (Team and Business Plans), or add more users after the offer expires.

    Don’t worry, if you already have an Azendoo account with Free Workspaces, the unchanged workspaces that you created will stay exactly the same. Not to mention the fact that if you already have paid workspaces, you can invite as many colleagues as you want to join your Premium Workspaces at no extra cost and without limitation… seriously, anyone and everyone. At the end of the offer, your workspaces will remain exactly the same, including your newly invited co-workers, without changing the price of your initial subscription.

    If you are a frequent user, you’ve probably noticed that the application is constantly being upgraded and improved with tons of new features and functions. It’s important to us that you have the very best social task and project management application on the market. That’s why we are constantly finding new ways to help you get organized and get stuff done together.  In case you missed it before, here are some sweet new features that have just been added to the application. Plus, you can always get in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook for real-time updates and responses to any questions you might have.

Talk to you soon!

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How to Implement a Marketing Project with Azendoo

  Ever since the creation of our Azendoo blog, I’ve spent a lot of quality time talking to tons of Azendoo Users about how they use the app, their future expectations, any possible improvements, etc.

At the time, I not only wanted to collect their feedback, but also write about the different ways people use the application. Then, not so long ago, someone asked me the same question that I had been asking all this time… “How do YOU use the application?”

That’s why I decided to join the party and participate in the game that I created!

In order to illustrate the way I work with Azendoo, I’ve chosen to use our latest marketing campaign for the app’s first birthday as an example.

The Azendoo Team in full Brainstorming Mode

Organizing a marketing campaign, like our first birthday party, requires the involvement of several different departments: marketing, development and the board.

Each group has a specific role:

- The development team is responsible for managing the overall operation of the application, payment, and integrating Google Contacts

- The marketing team prepares the offer announcement and transmission,

- The board ensures that the offer is consistent with the business model, and then defines the form and conditions.

In short, you have to plan the schedule, assign tasks and get everyone involved synchronized to ensure that all of your teammates are moving forward in the same direction.

The Project’s Evolution

Step 1: Setting the Foundation – Creating a Subject

This first step is all about brainstorming. You’ve got to gather your ideas and make a list of everything that needs to get done. Seeing as how there will be several people working on the project, I created an Azendoo Subject called « Offer Azendoo 1st Birthday » where I share my Evernote notes that listed my initial ideas.

ADVICE: There are several ways that I use subjects. It can be a specific action or even a general topic (« Marketing » for example) that allows me to do several things at once; such as brainstorm, keep a record of my ideas, exchange ideas with my co-workers, and keep an eye out for new stuff. A Subject shouldn’t necessarily be limited to the concept of a « project » because all actions within a business aren’t necessarily projects.

Azendoo Subjects work like tags. They allow you to track your work based on themes. So for the next few weeks, the team will be following the subject « Offer Azendoo 1st Birthday ». Once our Birthday Offer is finished, we can simply archive the subject.

TIP: A subject can be public, and therefore accessible to all the members of my workspace, or private and only accessible to members that are directly invited.

Step 2: Dividing the Workload – Assigning tasks

Now that all of the actions have been identified and validated thanks to our discussions in the « Offer Azendoo 1st Birthday » subject, it’s time to divide the tasks between all of the team members.

« Create a pop up in the app » for Pierre

« Design an infographic » for Jason

« Publish the offer on the social networks » for Dan

« Write the press release » for me…

So I created these tasks and assigned them to everyone.

As I’m writing this article, I can see that all of the tasks in this subject have been finished. Here is the overview of the subject’s completed tasks list that I use to track who did what:

ADVICE: The Azendoo Task Management setup lets the whole team synchronize effortlessly and manage their time. We don’t organize our work according to individual deadlines anymore. Instead, we manage our schedule based on the day that we want to work on each task.

TIP: You can subscribe to your colleague’s tasks so that you’ll be notified when their task is completed or commented on.

Step 3: Getting the Ball Rolling – Sharing Information

We also held a short 20min meeting to ensure that everyone was moving in the same direction, and we talked about the possible changes that may need to be made along the way.

Obviously, we use the « Offer Azendoo 1st Birthday » subject to exchange information and documents, in addition to staying on the same page regarding the projects progress. Discussing topics in the Subject also allows you to synchronize the whole team without having to send multiple CC emails back and fourth. Everyone has access to any and all of the information, whenever they want.

ADVICE: I use all of our integrations (Evernote, Google Drive, Box and Dropbox) to share content in context. By doing so, my co-workers have access to all of the necessary documents which are classified by subject.

TIP: You can also ask a question with the « Vote » button. This feature allows you to share ideas with a single click and more importantly, get the opinions of your teammates.

Project Overview

Project execution is actually quite simple and very fluid. Thanks to Azendoo’s many functions, synchronization occurs naturally and each team member receives the right information without being « polluted » (like with email). Everyone knows what he or she needs to get done, and now we all have an overview of the project’s progress.

This system allows for horizontal management teamwork, much more agile and flexible than traditional project management.

Once the project is finished, I’ll export all of the project tasks to an Evernote note to keep track of them and archive the subject.

So how do you use Azendoo?

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Cole MacDonald, Student Council Member

As you may have heard, Azendoo for Education is picking up steam. We know that a students budget can be tight, and that every penny is used for school supplies and study materials (uhuhmmm...). That's why we decided that a task and project management application as great as Azendoo needs to be FREE for anyone and everyone that uses it for education! Fortunately for us, we got to talk to Cole MacDonald, a student and Student Council member, about the way his team uses Azendoo for Education. Check out what he had to say:

Hey Cole, So tell me about what do you do.

I’m a student, and a member of my school’s Student Council. We're an elect body of 8 students that organize and plan events in collaboration with individual student clubs. We act as the liaison between the students and the teachers.

How did you hear about Azendoo?

I heard about Azendoo on the Evernote Trunk!

What were you looking for?

Well, I use Evernote a lot for school, and the Student Council needs a project management application that can pair with our Evernote Notes. I take a lot of notes  for school, and I was looking for a service that integrates Evernote so that I can share them easily with everyone.

Plus, I wanted something that has task management so that we (my student council) can get organized next year. We do a lot of event planning and we need a service that combines individual task management with group project management.

How do you use Azendoo?

I have been demoing the application for a few months now to see if it’s something that we can implement into the Student Council next year. Like I said, we do a lot of event organization, and last year we had tons of trouble getting organized and communicating. So I presented the application to the council last year, and everyone agreed to start using it as soon as school starts back.

What is your favorite feature?

I just love that the interface is really intuitive for people that aren’t tech savvy. The whole service is really easy to use.

Of course, I use all of the Evernote functions a lot. Things like being able to link my Notes to Subjects and Tasks, and Exporting our Task List to Evernote have really made getting in sync so much easier.

Not to mention the “Voting” feature! A large part of the council is voting on stuff, so it’s really neat that I can just ask my question and everybody can vote on it on the message board.

Who would you recommend use the app?

It’s a great tool for any type of school organization, like clubs who just to get stuff done, because it's easy to use.

I’d recommend it to anyone who needs to get organized. It’s great for making sure that people deliver on what you need and it’s so easy to see everything in one place.

Thanks a million Cole, You ROCK!

Check him out @theothercole

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The Azendoo office has been overrun!

Yes, the Azendoo office has been overrun, but it wasn't by zombies! We’ve got a few new faces in the office and wanted to take some time to introduce everyone. So check out our new interns and what they’re all about.

  Jason Lopez

Graphic Designer

  Originally from Poitiers, a “gloomy town” between Paris and Bordeaux, Jason studies Multimedia Infographic Design at ESMI in Bordeaux, and yes, the art force is strong with this one. Bored with print media, Jason wanted to expand his creativity and push his limits with web-design. As our Graphic Design Intern, he’s all about making the web site and application awesome, not to mention helping the marketing team with banners, newsletters, event supports, and new logos.

When he’s not barefoot in the office, you can find Jason tagging a wall, hanging with his friends and doing as many cultural-hipster things as possible.

Jason’s Tumblr: http://jasonlongueville.tumblr.com/

  Simon Bonnard

Developer

  A fifth year masters student at INGESUP in Bordeaux, Simon is studying Computer Science and specializing in Software Engineering but brags that his favorite school is still the internet. At Azendoo, he’s is all about Back-End Development (Ruby on Rails)! That means he’s the guy working on some sweet new surprises coming out soon.

Working on interesting projects with a fun team is important for Simon, but even when he’s not working, you can find him in front of his computer screen reading articles about philosophy and personal improvement. Check him out at @simonbnrd

  Mathieu Alvado

Developer

  As an Azendoo intern, Mathieu is developing the native mobile application for iOS. Last year, he studied as an exchange student at the University of California Davis, and this year he’s at ENSEIRB-MATMECA in Bordeaux, majoring in Computer Science and specializing in Software Engineering.

After having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, he had a first hand experience with the fast-paced startup environment and focused on finding an internship with one in France. Lucky for us, he’s at Azendoo doing some cool stuff! During his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends, visiting new places, traveling and he’s even working on his own start-up project!

  Quentin Voirlot

Developer

  First and foremost, Quentin is our world traveler. He’s spent the majority of his life hopping around countries like Africa, Guyana and Polynesia, soaking up cultures and getting shit done. After high school graduation, he decided to come back to France and study Computer Sciences at EPSI in Bordeaux.

Here at Azendoo, Quentin is a front-end guy. That means he’s all about javascript, website creation, chrome plug-in and having fun with a great team =) In his free time, Quentin can be seen taking pictures, making goPro videos surfing, skating and sleeping.

  Dan Rock

Community Manager

  Hailing from The U.S. of A., Dan is our “typical’ American Community Manager. We say “typical” because he eats tons of peanut butter and drinks watered-down black coffee all day. After moving to France in 2010, he decided to go back to school for e-Commerce / e-Marketing, and is currently at The University of Bordeaux 4.

He’s all about social network content, fun pictures, informational videos and connecting with as many users as possible. So if you interact with Azendoo on our social pages, there’s a good chance that Dan is behind the screen! When Dan isn’t working, you can find him making youtube videos, watching movies, spending time with friends and traveling as much as possible. Check him out @danielrock_4

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Pascal Vallet, Director of the French School of Seoul, talks about how he uses Azendoo

Not only is Pascal Vallet the Director of Establishment at the French School of Seoul, he is also responsible for implementing communication and collaboration tools for the l’AEFE in the Asia-Pacific region. That’s why we’re so excited that we got the chance to talk to him about how he uses Azendoo to get stuff done.

So Pascal, how long have you used Azendoo?

It’s actually something very recent... 2 weeks at the most. Some of us are currently testing the application. I personally use many tools like Dropbox, Evernote, To-Do List, SugarSync and many others, but I can’t force my staff to do the same. This means that we are juggling different tools, which confuses some co-workers. Our goal is to effectively manage our professional exchanges internally at the school, and externally between schools across Asia and Oceania.

What were you looking for when you tried Azendoo?

Well, we noticed that we use email too much, even to organize our work and make reminders. Sometimes we even responded to people just to let them know that we received their message and that we’ll get back to them later... it's just counter-productive! Email is denatured and forces us to use it for organizing our work, our tasks and our collaborative projects.

Our goal is to put in place different tools that are revolutionizing the way we work, especially for collaborative projects that could benefit from the use of such a solution. It takes a certain exchangeable "density" for the use of a collaborative platform to overcome email.

We began by studying open source tools, but they were often limited. More importantly however, it required an initial investment and installation, plus time-costing app management and administration needs. We wanted to gain time and increase productivity, not spend more time managing an app.

So we focused our efforts on three tools:

Teambox: meets our needs, but is too messy, not ergonomic enough and therefore less suited to teams that are not used to working with a tool that requires a paradigm shift in the way we work.

Teamoffice: the extra service for document creation seems too ambitious to compete with tools such as Google Apps, besides our focus is more on project management and not document sharing, even if it’s important.

Azendoo: the last application that we tested, surely because it’s newer on the market or maybe because it’s not as heavily referenced. We found Azendoo thanks to an article that provided a comparative application study.

Did you struggle to get your team on the application?

I assigned some of my colleagues to study the product, as a test. There are 10 co-workers using the app so far. We’re planning on implementing it’s use throughout our schools starting next academic year, and then assess its impact on the way we work, our efficiency and time management. So no, getting people to use Azendoo is relatively painless.

What is your favorite feature?

The interesting thing about Teambox or Azendoo is the ability to integrate Google App Education applications in order to manage document sharing. Other than using Google like a meeting report that makes its rounds by email.

A natural way to share Google Drive documents with everyone who has the link is very significant:

Azendoo manages sharing and allows us to edit a document without sending it to everyone by email. Plus, this feature is the same with an Evernote note, Dropbox, etc., for users who prefer other file sharing tools already integrated in Azendoo. The difference between collaborative tools, all of which allow you to create projects and synchronize your staff, is the simplicity and ease-of-use of Azendoo, plus the integration of already-existing file sharing tools. Not to mention the fact that it’s financially interesting for the world of education (free).

What improvements would you make to the application?

An enhanced mobile application so that we can consolidate our collaborative and personal uses (ToDo / DueDates) in one app.

A desktop application (like Evernote’s offline mode that I adopted after trying and comparing with Springpad)

The app probably lacks an administrative management aspect, which could confuse companies that are used to giving special rights to different people using their tools. However, I understand that you’re proposing a new organization system that can be mysterious at first: the logic of Azendoo is a surprising and interesting chemistry between a professional tool, used to synchronize a team on projects, and social tool where the user is the sole master of his identity, his interactions, his profile and his account.

Azendoo provides administration control possibilities to workspaces and content organization. With business uses, administrators like to stay in control, especially when it comes to personal management.

Moreover, Azendoo allows everyone to participate or create workspaces independent of the organization (association, personal, etc.). A usage chart or guidelines should be created by the business in order to establish what can be done and in what framework.

Anyway, congratulations on what you are doing, and for the image of France that you instil abroad!

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Azendoo 喜欢 Yinxiang Biji

For those of you who do not know, Yinxiang Biji, 印象 笔记 pronounced [Yín xiáng], was developed by Evernote in May 2012 specifically for their Chinese users. The Evernote duplicate is completely independent, and was created to meet the needs of users located in China by offering a direct hosting service (faster and integrated into the local market).

After having partnered up with Evernote Business in January, the Azendoo team is now proud to announce their partnership with Yinxiang Biji and Yinxiang Biji Business, plus the arrival of Azendoo in China!

Azendoo and Evernote, two applications with the same vision of work

We were able to offer a considerable amount of autonomy to all of our users thanks to our partnership with Evernote. Now, they are able to share their Evernote content directly on their Azendoo homescreen, and can continue to use their favorite tools by simply syncing them to the application.

Azendoo also allows Evernote and Evernote Business users the ability to share their notes in context in collaborative workspaces, using their Azendoo application.

Our vision of work is aligned with Evernote because we are working hard to give our users greater flexibility in the way they work. Both of our companies have built applications that simplify and clarify the way individuals and teams get organized. Our common goal is to increase productivity and agility for our users.

It seemed obvious for us to integrate Yinxiang Biji into the Azendoo application so that we could continue to improve our users experience. China is a booming market, and a perfect example is Yinxiang Biji’s 4 million users. Therefore, we felt compelled to offer, in parallel with our existing Evernote integration, the ability for Yinxiang Biji users to rediscover the pleasure of teamwork with Azendoo!

What are the advantages for our users?

  Now that Chinese users can use Yinxiang Biji and Evernote, they can also share all of their notes directly from their Azendoo interface. When they connect to the application, Azendoo detects the language and automatically offers to connect users to one service or the other.

For users located outside of China, this integration will not be visible nor disturb the way they use the application.

Azendoo China

  This partnership is the perfect opportunity for Azendoo to expand its offer to China. Currently, the application is available in English and French. However, Azendoo plans on translating their interface in the coming months into Chinese so that they may meet the needs of every Chinese user.

Redeploying the Azendoo application on a new market like China, and alongside a partner like Yinxiang Biji, is a unique opportunity for us. The Chinese market is renowned to be difficult for Western companies because of its phonetic differences and cultural barriers. However, we decided to accept the challenge and embrace our future with Chinese users!

Azendoo is a web application that caters to everyone, no matter the industry, personal organization or culture. One of our daily priorities is to facilitate the way new users access our application, and China is our first step toward internationalization.

We are very excited about this partnership, and we'd love to interact with Azendoo and / or Yinxiang Biji users located in China! Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback with us by writing a message to [email protected] or commenting on this post.

谢谢 / / Thanks

 From China with Love !

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Sarah, from Dehorslespetits.fr, gets her own Azen-User Story

Sarah is an overly enthusiastic user of Azendoo. She’s constantly sharing her application feedback with us, and it’s always a pleasure to chat with her about ways to make Azendoo even better! At Futur en Seine, Sarah even took to demoing the app in our place! It was awesome to see one of our users share her passion for Azendoo.

So today, Sarah shares her feedback with us, and talks about how she uses Azendoo.

Thank’s Sarah!

  So, tell us what you do!

Hey Azendoo! I created the Dehorslespetits.fr website. It helps parents to find fun day-trip activities for the whole family in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France.

  How did you hear about Azendoo?

I heard about Azendoo when Katia (from Nelis) spoke about your app on Facebook. Unfortunately, I wasn’t convinced the first time I tried it. Then a few months later, Maxime (from Neiio) told me about it again, so I wanted to see if there had been any changes… and there were!

What were you looking for when you tried the app?

When I tried Azendoo, I was looking for an alternative to Google Tasks, which is just too basic because you can prioritize your tasks.

How often do you use Azendoo?

Now, use Azendoo every day! It’s a configured tab that open in my browser favorites every time I get online (Chrome of course).

Did you have any difficulties getting your team to use the application?

I had no difficulty whatsoever getting my team to use the solution. They all joined carefree and didn’t encounter any speed bumps when it came to getting in sync and using the functions.

What is your favorite feature?

Quite frankly, my favorite feature is pretty basic: I LOVE checking off a task when it’s done! More seriously, being able to attach Google Docs is really great for all of us who work with Google Drive. I also like the search function that allows me to find what I need, right away!

What would you do to improve the application?

Well, I think that getting text notifications would be nice, and also one-click task duplication.

Who would you recommend use Azendoo?

To anyone who wishes that he/she had a twin to help finish everything that they need to get done, and anyone that has trouble organizing their tasks. ;-)

[azenblog-en]

Mohamed Mahjoubi, co-founder of LanceTaBoite.com, shares his feedback with Azendoo

Today we got the chance to meet with LanceTaBoîte, a web platform that allows entrepreneurs to finance their projects through crowdfounfing. Mohamed Mahjoubi, co-founder of the startup, sat down to talk to us about the way he and his team use Azendoo.

  So Mohamed, how long have you used Azendoo?

  I started using Azendoo about a year ago, and got to experience the evolution and development of the application. I tested the app for a consulting project on collaborative management. Then, after the project was finished, I continued to use the app while I build my own project.  

What were you looking for when you tried Azendoo?

  Above all, I wanted an application that could keep track of our work. When we started the LanceTaBoite project, we were in startup mode, so each of us had another day job. At the time, we communicated mostly by email and phone, but for a team that does not meet every day, it’s hard to know who is doing what. Azendoo met our needs right away, and got us in sync. Not to mention allowing us to share information and organize our individual work with the task management functions. For heavier exchanges, we still to use email complementary to Azendoo.  

Did you have any trouble getting your team to use the application?

  Well… we’re there are eight of us using Azendoo, so it wasn’t at all complicated to get the whole team on the application. Plus, we’re a relatively young team that you could call early adopters. The whole team understood very quickly the value of Azendoo. In addition, because of its resemblance to social networks, learning how to use Azendoo was super easy.  

What is your favorite feature?

  It’s without doubt the very ergonomic timeline, and for someone like me who likes to be informed about everything, this fits my need to know what’s going on!  

What improvements would you make to the application?

  It would be nice to have a clearer instruction guide at hand to show and explain all of the new functions when they are released.  

Who would you recommend use the application?

  I recommend Azendoo to two types of people:

Entrepreneurs, because they often have small and flexible teams that can easily embrace this type of application,

Students who need to manage group projects, organize events, co-write articles and papers, manage schoolwork, etc.

[azenblog-en]

Azendoo is using a surprising 4-letter word to celebrate their birthday

What on earth could the Azendoo application be doing to celebrate its first birthday, and more importantly, why would we be using a four-letter word to do it? Well, one year ago today, the Azendoo application made its first web appearance, and birthdays are a big deal for team Azendoo. That's why we have chosen to express our happiness with a four-letter word: FREE !

From today until July 12th 2013, we are offering you the possibility to invite as many people as you want into all of your Azendoo Workspaces, free of charge!

How to take advantage of this unbelievable offer?

It couldn’t be any simpler: connect to your Azendoo account (or create one) and invite as many collaborators as you want before July 12th 2013.

For your convenience, you can even use your Google Contacts directly from your Azendoo invite page, and invite anyone and everyone with one single click.

  But I don’t have an account Azendoo

Simply sign-up for the application, and invite as many people as you want into your workspaces before July 12th 2013. At the end of the offer, you’ll keep your free workspace, including everyone that you invited to collaborate with you. The workspaces that you created will stay exactly the same, unless you want to enjoy the Premium features (Team or Business Accounts), or add more users after the offer expires.

I already have an Azendoo account with Free Workspaces (Starter Version)

Well, you are no longer limited to 5 users per workspace! You can invite as many people as you want to join as many workspaces as you’d like. All invites are unlimited and free until July 12th 2013. At the end of the offer, you’ll keep your free workspace, including everyone that you invited to collaborate with you, no strings attached. The workspaces that you created will stay exactly the same, unless you want to enjoy the Premium features (Team or Business Accounts), or add more users after the offer expires.

I already have a Paid Workspace (Team Plan)

Just like with your Free Workspaces, you can invite as many colleagues as you want to join your Premium Workspaces at no extra cost and without limitation… seriously, anyone and everyone until July 12th 2013. At the end of the offer, your Workspaces will remain exactly the same, including your newly invited collaborators, without changing the price of your initial subscription.

  I’ve already subscribed to the Unlimited (Premium Business) Plan

You can invite as many colleagues as you want into all of your Premium Workspaces until July 12th 2013, at no additional charge. At the end of the offer, your Workspaces will remain exactly the same, including your newly invited collaborators, without changing the price of your initial subscription.

The Azendoo Evolution

  This anniversary is a great opportunity for us to share the highlights of our first year reinventing teamwork. Check out our infographic that traces one year of the Azendoo application’s history, and don’t forget, it’s just the beginning!

A Growing Team

  A web application is first and foremost a team that builds and instills values. For us, nothing could be more gratifying than to see the Azendoo team grow progressively with the evolution of the application.

As of today, Azendoo is comprised of 15 professionals who participate in the creation of an application that’s constantly changing the way you work.

Everyone knows that pictures often speak louder than words, so check out our Thank You video !

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/68197544[/vimeo]

Thank you so very much for trusting Azendoo with the management and organization of your team’s projects! We’re preparing tons of surprises for the coming months; so don’t hesitate to share your feedback with us in order to help improve your application! Be sure to leave a comment!

[azenblog-en]

Think of Subjects as Tags, Not Folders!

Attaching content to topics isn’t anything new. We’ve been adding hashtags to messages for years, but the real question is why? Tagging your content allows you to associate it to several different topics at the same time, #definition #oldnews #reasonwhy. That way, if someone is looking for information related to one specific topic, your content is automatically in the basket. The idea behind the Azendoo Subject is the same as the idea behind hashtags and labels. Attaching multiple Subjects to content (messages, tasks, files, notes, documents, etc), associates your info with different themes and allows you to link relevant topics together using your content.

@azendoo

The Side Effects of Tagging

Believe it or not, tagging has revolutionized the way we organize information. Linking several subjects to content means that we no longer need to organize items in a single specific folder, filed in another folder, that’s filed in another (like on your desktop). So what do you do with content that belongs in two folders at the same time, like "Advertisements" and “New Ideas”?

Ideally, we should be able to assign both Subjects ("Advertisements" and "New Ideas") to the same content. This type of organization allows you to find your content in both topics, simply by opening the "Advertisements" Subject or the "New Ideas" Subject individually.

  Why use an Azendoo Subject?

1- Information is easily accessible; you can use any one of the attached subjects to access what you’re looking for, directly.

If someone adds Subject A and Subject B to the same item, each Subject enables a direct access path from anywhere. Lets compare this to the classic folder method of organization. Before, everyone had to know the "unique path" in order to find what you’re looking for. It’s just like the folders on your computer; one stacked on top of another, where you have to open four folders just to get to what you’re looking for. Subjects allow you to tag your info so that you can find it right away from multiple starting points.

  2 – Access to information is group-managed; once you have access the Subject, you’ll have access to all of the information inside.

Every member of the Subject automatically has access to the Tasks, Messages and Documents inside. You no longer need to ask and wait for an administrator to grant you access to certain items depending on what you’re doing. Everyone is able to see whatever pertains to the Subjects he or she is using to get stuff done. However, for all of the James Bond users out there, you can create a Secret Subject if you want to keep the lid sealed on any possible information exchange.

  Advantages:

Subjects are like Community Tags that people can create, join or follow

Content can be linked to different Subjects

Subjects are made by users, depending on relevancy

No more sub-sub-sub folders for organization

Get where you want to go right away

Stay connected with your co-workers

The Big Picture

With the hierarchy system, you’re limited to one location for your information. In reality, one piece of info is usually relevant to MANY different topics and may be used for one particular reason in one subject and something totally different in another. Subjects allow you to have access to the same piece of info in more than one location depending on its relevancy. Finally, an easy way to organize your work based on the methods that you already use!

  Read more about the advantages of using Azendoo from a like minded writer: http://pro.gigaom.com/blog/azendoo/

[azenblog-en]

Lean startup, The Dokker Recruit Example

Creating a startup means having an idea, a business model and the right people. Then, launching the product or service on the right market, and getting your model validated by potential users. This process is called Lean development. But sometimes (even often) it’s during this stage that you need to adjust what you’re doing to better meet the demand and adapt to your users needs.

This phase can be critical because it takes time to reposition yourself, enrich your product, and change your strategy or your business model. These are all questions that confront many entrepreneurs on a daily basis.

Change your Strategy

As you can imagine, changing your original plan is easier said than done. At the event “B2B Rocks”, Gautier Cassagnau explained how he had switched from Voisineo  (the facebook for neighbors) to Geolid, (a media agency that generates leads for artists and merchants). This strategy change really paid off in the end! Not only did it change the business model, but also the product. He went from a B2C model to a B2B model almost immediately. Today, Geolid has over 200 employees and announced 100 job openings for 2013-2014.

A change in strategy is an integral part of a startup’s development process. We must learn to question, and then listen to, the market demand so that we may offer a product or service that will be adopted by as many users as possible.

And believe me, the first time we planed the development of Azendoo, it wasn’t exactly the same as it is today. ;-)

Offer a New Service: The Dokker Example

A few months ago, I told you about Dokker, a startup from Bordeaux that developed an application for creating and sharing your portfolio on professional social networks to enrich your profile and improve your chance of getting hired. Well, not so long ago, the two founders, Frederic Chesnais and Hubert Ducrot, decided to take the company in a new direction and offer a completely new type of service, Dokker Recruit.

To hear more about their strategy change, I went to meet Frederic Ducrot, the CEO of Dokker.

Hey Frederic, Tell me about Dokker’s new service

Well, since the end of March, we offer a recruitment management service called "Recruit". The service is aimed at SMEs and allows them to use an innovative “web 2.0 solution" to replace the management of applications by email and Excel. Like Azendoo, we believe that email is inefficient and goes against what collaborative work should be. This is especially true for medium-sized companies that have neither the budget nor the time to upgrade to an HR solution provided by a major market publisher.

Why did you change your strategy?

We don’t see this as an actual strategy change, but as an extension of our existing service. We reused the majority of our existing technological building blocks to build Dokker Recruit. On the other hand, Dokker.com was created to give candidates an advantage on the web, and Dokker Recruit is the other side of this proposal, the recruiter side.

Can you explain how your repositioning took place?

It was very fast actually. We developed the major functions for Dokker Recruit during the holidays last Christmas. The development began in late January, and thanks to our agile technology, we were able to have some customers test the application in February. When it was all said and done, we used feedback from more than 50 recruiters. Fortunately, we were very "lean" in our approach.

What does this means for your new offer?

Well, the targeted commercial user has changed. We went from a B2C model to a pure B2B model. This means using "classic" commercial techniques to inform potential users, while still focusing on our social network marketing presence.

What state of mind are you in today?

We are in a totally exciting phase where the first customers are registering and giving us their feedback. Today, we have a wide range of companies such as Internet companies, consulting firms, advertising agencies and even law firms that are registered and use our product to manage their recruitment.  

  We look forward to launching Dokker Recruit in English (in a few weeks) in order to tackle the international market.

So I tried Dokker Recruit when we wanted to recruit a web design intern. The platform is easy to use and allowed me to put our offer up online in minutes.

Once the offer is published on the platform, it’s relayed through several sites specialized in employment and job openings. Dokker Recruit then collects the profiles of all the candidates who applied to our opening. No need to follow the results of each individual site. Plus, I have access to all the information I need on one single platform.

Personally, I love this service! Their new offer is really complete and powerful, and I urge you to try it.

And thanks to the code AZE-DOK-0413 you can even have a 60-day free trial!

The Dokker guys at Web2Connect 2012 :-)

[azenblog-en]

Lionel Myszka, founder of Webpatron, shares his Azen-Story

Here at Azendoo, we're lucky enough to have a stellar social community. Our users don't hesitate to share their feedback and help us make the application that much better. One of our extremely active commentators is Lionel. He has been an avid Azendoo user since the beginning and participates regularly in our user discussions. Naturally, the last time we spoke with him, we jumped on the chance to hear all about his Azen-Story.

    Hey Lionel, can you introduce yourself?

Sure, my name is Lionel Myszka. I founded Webpatron in September 2010. I’m a consultant and I coach, train and advise companies (VSEs and SMEs) on how to effectively communicate using social networks. My clients are mainly from Brittany (the northwest of France), and I am based in Rennes.

How did you discover Azendoo?

Via Frenchweb I think... At first, it was the look of the application that attracted me, the "face" if you will. This is especially important considering I use it daily. Secondly, and more rationally, the Evernote integration caught my attention. It really makes the difference. And last but not least, because it’s French!

What were you initially looking for when you tried Azendoo?

Well, I use Evernote a lot. The application is always open on my Mac. It might be a slight exaggeration, but if something doesn’t connect to my Evernote, it just doesn’t exist. Evernote is the central reactor for my entire activity. I was looking for a tool to coordinate my activities in fonction with my Evernote. I loved the simplicity of Azendoo application (there aren’t 40,000 options) and its “Zen” side.

How and how many of you use Azendoo?

I use Azendoo Premium with four other people, including my top 3 clients that I support and council on a daily basis.

All of these people are in different companies, and each are on a separate Azendoo Workspace. I also discovered that it’s possible to have as many workspaces as you want, each accommodating up to 5 different people for free!

Not long ago, an intern joined the team and when she arrived she created an Evernote account to share her Evernote notes. However, without an Evernote Premium account, she could not share her content or write notes on a shared notebook.

That’s where Azendoo saved the day! We can share everything in our Azendoo app. It does have a cost, but the price is well worth it because it offers much more advanced collaborative features than if we had gone through Evernote.

What would you do to improve the application?

The Subject list! I wish I could go directly to the small list that can be filtered without having to go through the screen with large thumbnails.

I often use the same subjects for each new client such as; configuration tools, schedule implementation, mission animation, etc. So, I'd like to avoid having to recreate the same set of subjects for each new customer… Maybe have a catalog of my subject models that I can pick from.

Also, It would be nice to have a Chrome plug-in that I can use for creating tasks and posting messages directly. A desktop version would be a plus, but I know I'm a little greedy...

Who would you recommended the application to?

Azendoo is a product that’s constantly being updated. In its current state of development, and considering the Orange server crash last month, I would say that it’s not yet prefect for every company to make the switch. However, the truth is that I already recommend the app to ALL of my clients, and I use it with them daily... 

[azenblog-en]

Hermann Kratochwill, man of many trades, shares his Azen-Story

A few days ago, we got an email inquiry from Hermann Kratochwill asking about our non-profit organization offers and if we could help him set up a Premium Account for his team. During our exchange, we didn’t hesitate to ask him to share his story with us for our Azen-User blog. Hermann graciously agreed to answer a few questions, opening the door into his world and showing us why he's the man!

@iamkswift

Hey Hermann, so… where do you work?

Well, during the day I work at HP as an Operations Manager, and next to that I co-founded my own media company (The K Lifestyle Group), and non-profit organization (Verendus), the latter of which we have thankfully teamed up with Azendoo.

  What you do at Verendus?

Our catchphrase is "A non-profit to better mankind". We want to invest, help and support in various projects wherever our resources allow. There are thousands of organizations that focus on a single thing like Cancer, Research, Eradicating AIDS, animals, human rights, etc., and I believe this is fantastic. However, with Verendus, we want to support those in need regardless of the issue. A cause to change humanity as a whole.

How did you hear about Azendoo, and why you decided to try it out?

Our small team actually used various other methods for team collaboration and task management, and a few months ago I came across Azendoo through online research. I literally put a selected number of task and team management tools next to each other, registered and began demoing. Azendoo was one of them because of the simple homepage. It explains everything you need to know about the tool and thats what I love. Simplicity at its finest!

  What makes Azendoo different from what you were using before?

Azendoo is easy to use and I love the simple user interface. Today most products tend to overcomplicate their features and functions to outbeat the competition by adding feature X and ability Y without forgetting that you can also integrate Z. Who needs all that? Seriously! We used Bitrix before moving over to Azendoo. The competition just over does it. I love the fact that you can split everything into workspaces and from their into subjects. Each workspace has easy task management and team communication capabilities. Everything is already integrated. Things I (we) use on a daily basis such as Evernote, Box, Dropbox, etc. We can easily communicate within the team, add files, delegate tasks and best of all, it’s so simple that my mom even knows how to use it! That means something!

  What is your favorite feature?

I love being able to sync with my Evernote and Box accounts. Being able to simply attach a file straight from Azendoo saves me so much time. I also love the way tasks are handled. Quickly adding a task, dragging and dropping it to when I plan to work on it, and then simply checking it off when I’m finished.

  What would you change or add to make the application to make it better?

I would enhance the mobile version and make it a bit more user friendly. That's the only "downside" so far. And perhaps when checking off my completed tasks having them disappear somewhere where I can then see all the tasks I or my team has completed.

  Who you would recommend Azendoo to?

Anybody and everybody. Seriously! The Azendoo team has been super friendly and helpful. Exactly what I would expect of awesome customer service. I am already sharing and showing everyone I encounter how I work with Azendoo. I've become a non-paid evangelist for this product because I believe in it! Its one heck of a fantastic collaboration tool.

Keep up the excellent work guys. ("pondering - maybe I should send them my CV? :)")

Thanks again Hermann! You're the man, and we're glad to be a part of what your team is doing. 

[azenblog-en]

Azendoo + Box : Teamwork never felt this good

Azendoo’s mission is to help your team get things done, at work and in your life. Our web application is all about task management, team synchronization and data centralization.

That’s why we’ve chosen to integrate Box into our app. Box works for you like an external memory. It allows you and your team to upload, store and share documents online, securely. This way you keep all your files in one place so that they’re accessible from any device. Your Box documents become an important source of information for your team.

As Bill Gates would say (not that we’re fans of Bill, but we do respect any words of wisdom from such a successful entrepreneur!): “The winners will be the ones who develop a world-class digital nervous system so that information can easily flow through their companies.”

Azendoo and Box are working together to improve your work environment and let you share content with your coworkers in a highly productive project environment.

Get productive, upgrade your work-life

According to a study by McKinsey Global Institute; an employee spends an average of 19% of his workday searching for information (on his computer, in his mailbox, on an external device, etc.). In addition to a lack of team-based info sharing and the time spent reading and answering your email, the modern workplace encounters many difficulties. This model definitely has to be improved to respond to the modern demand of real-time communication.

It’s time to use great web apps like Box to manage your content, and Azendoo to organize your work and collaborate easily.

Share content easily

Once your files are stored in Box, you can share them in context using Azendoo. Start by connecting your accounts, and in just one click, you can share any file in a message to let your co-workers have access to the information.

No need to worry about who sees what; Azendoo seamlessly takes care of the sharing for you, depending on the project, the people you work with, and according to how you organize your teams.

This way, your team is smarter as a whole. They can easily access all the information needed to efficiently achieve their task.

Get things done

Ok, so you can share a document in an Azendoo message, but that’s not all! You know how hard it can be to assign tasks with the necessary information attached? For example, you want John, your co-worker, to correct the X Report according to a note your manager sent you.

Well, nothing is easier than an Azendoo task with a Box file!

Simply create a task, add a description with whatever information is necessary, and attach any related documents directly from your Box account. Now, the information is centralized in one place and accessible to everyone. Once the task is finished, you’ll be notified with the link to your updated document in the task window!

Getting things done with the right information in the right place is the best productivity tip we could ever give you.

Keep everyone on the same page

We know how time-consuming communicating with team members can be… You send emails, you organize meetings and you pass notes. But when it comes to communicating knowledge and information, it’s really difficult to get everyone on the same page.

With a Box file shared in Azendoo, you can comment on the document and have a discussion in one single environment. Everyone has access to the same information and can easily share his or her ideas. To put it simply, Azendoo gives context to your Box content. Plus, Box feeds your teams projects with content. It’s one of the best function integrations a team can have.

Your work and data is 100% secured

Box and Azendoo adhere to the highest security standards in the industry, so you can share, access, and manage your content with confidence.

By connecting these Cloud services, you can now do more with your content and enhance team collaboration.

“Box is an ideal integration for us because it aligns perfectly with our philosophy of creating a business ready work environment.” says Gregory Lefort, CEO of Azendoo. “ Box enables secure content access across teams and improves knowledge sharing among our users.”