Simon Helton here. I’m the Cayuse Connect Community Manager. This week marks the first anniversary of the Connect Community, and it feels like an appropriate time to reflect on the community and the incredible people who make it what it is.
A need for connection spurs launch of Cayuse community
At the end of spring 2020, the gravity of the pandemic was sinking in and many of the ways research professionals came together in person were being put on hold. Cayuse recognized the need for research professionals to continue communicating with each other and learning how to adapt to all the changes.
This prompted us to create a space for research professionals from around the world to come together and ask questions, get advice, post job openings, and share ideas, regardless of whether they used Cayuse products or not. Our mission is to empower organizations to conduct globally connected research and sponsored projects, advancing their impact on science, discovery, and society and the Connect Community is a key part of empowering that globally connected research. After several months and many hours of work by a small but mighty team, Connect Community was live.
Now a year in, the community continues to grow every day. Here are a few community highlights:
- We have members representing 325 institutions.
- We have members in nine countries and 48 states (if you’re in Vermont or Hawaii, it’s a great time to join!).
- There have been 376 discussion threads.
- 177 job openings have been posted.
More than anything, though, I’m excited by the camaraderie and expertise I see on display every day. For anyone in the world of research, there’s no better place to learn.
What’s next?
I’m excited to help continue refining the community to make it as useful as possible to everyone. Just as Cayuse products are designed to reduce administrative burden, I want the community to help you accomplish your work faster and more easily.
To that end, we’ve begun posting a tip of the week on Cayuse products to help you get even more out of our solutions. If you find the tips helpful, please respond and let us know to keep them coming!
We also now share the latest release notes (visible to customers only) for Cayuse products. We saw that the top search term on the community was ‘release notes,’ so we figured we should give customers what they want.
Our next big project is one you might not even notice but is one that’s important to me and our whole company–making the community as accessible as possible, whether you’re using a screen reader or find it easier to read web pages with strong color contrast. We want this community to be easy to use for every research professional, end of story.
To wrap up, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a tip of the cap to our all-time top contributors: Andrea Buford at Oakland University, Terri Hall at Notre Dame, Lisa Churchill at Salk Institute, Pamela Vargas at Southeast Missouri State, and Jennifer Mills at the University of Alabama. Pay attention when you see their posts because they offer a wealth of knowledge!
Thank you to everyone who has made the first year for the Cayuse community so special, and if you haven’t joined yet, it’s not too late!
Simon Helton, Cayuse Community Manager
