Google Drive

Other Benefits

• • write as much as you want (eg 100 pages w/250 picasa photos and slideshows, etc.).  You would never say this with another type of letter package.

  • easily read on smartphone, tablet, downloaded as PDF or word, etc.

  • web based - so, you can read some on your iPhone and later some on your laptop, you are not storing images of your friend's children, etc on your laptop that might get stolen.  If you buy a new laptop, you still have access to the multi-year package.

  • only letter author can add, delete, edit, format letter - these actions can be taken by the author 24/7 even years later.

  • easy to coordinate - make a yearly directory, email just the link and tell folks to drag their letters into the directory.

  • no need to resize images because they are too big, merge PDFs or Docs into one monster file, set up servers and security, etc.

  • security is good so people write more freely and are more liberal with including contact info or photos.  For more information about security with the Google Drive solution follow this link.

Drawbacks

• • coordinator cannot assist authors to drag their letters into the correct directory (authors must do it themselves).

  • it is not super-easy to explain to the group how to add the letters

  • in any given year, authors can see who already added their letters and may hold back until some magic number has been added.

Note that in early testing, before adopting Google Drive, these drawbacks were not an issue.

You can find more detailed information in subpages shown below.