Thing 19--Backpack

In looking through the web 2.0 awards, I came across an organizational site known as Backpack. While it is a 'paid' site, it offers some really neat, user-friendly tools for a small group Intranet site. It includes a shared calendar, easy-to-make pages, to-do lists, a newsroom for group communication, reminders, a journal, and many other useful features. The pricing is fairly reasonable--$99/month for up to 40 users, $49/month for up to 15 users, $24/month for up to 6 users--but with so many other tools available that can accomlish the same tasks, I doubt many school districts would choose to spend their limited budgets on a subscription. We did have an Intranet when I first started working in FWISD and it was a great way to keep our library department connected. We have since transitioned to using Outlook and while it is not as user friendly as our previous application (and nowhere near as sexy as Backpack!) it does get the job done. I could see Backpack being very useful in a situation where there was a small group working together remotely. It is a very nice, well-planned site that offers an easy-to-create and use Intranet for small groups. I would much prefer to use a site like this, with its colorful, clean layout, but alas, unlimited budgets are still a far-off dream, at least in my district!