Getting Started Guide

5 Steps to Getting Started

This quick-start guide will help you learn the basics of IDC Network. 

1. UPDATE YOUR PROFILE

We’ve used your information from our member database to complete the basic parts of your profile (like your name and firm), but now it's time to complete your IDC Network profile with education, job history, and interests and more. This helps other members find you and get conversations started. 

And don’t forget to upload your smiling photo! This really adds to the community and helps others get to know you (and it makes it easier to find you when you're at in-person events!).

2. JOIN COMMUNITIES

Ready to take a look around? Go to Communities > All Communities to see all the possible communities available for you to join.

By default, everyone is automatically added to the Open Forum. There are also a variety of special interest groups that you can join and new communities may be added in the future.

Once you’ve looked around, be sure to subscribe to any of the communities that interest you by clicking on the Join button. You’ll be prompted to specify how you want your messages from the community’s discussion group to be delivered to you (as-it-happens, daily, or no emails).

TIP: If you don’t see a “Join” button on a community, you either already belong or the community is private.

3. ENGAGE IN DISCUSSIONS

One of the best ways to get value out of IDC Network is by participating in conversations! All communities feature integrated online discussion boards which allow you to engage with fellow IDC members. 

Want to browse all discussions? Two options:
1. Go to Browse > All Discussions to see the discussions in all communities (not just the ones you are in).
2. Navigate into a community, then click Discussion to see the latest conversations.

Want to start a new discussion? Two options:
1. Go to Participate > Post a Message and then choose the communities in which you want to post your message.
2. Navigate into a community, then click Discussion > Post New Message. 

TIP: In any discussion you can also add attachments, tag other members, or format the text.

4. MAKE CONNECTIONS

You can look for other members by name, firm or email address by using the Directory. Or, dig deeper by using the Advanced Search function to look for people by areas of community type, location and much more.

Once you’ve found the people you’re looking for you can view profiles, send messages or add them as a contact directly from the search results page.

5. ACCESS RESOURCES

When you’re in need of resources, documents, templates and more, search in the Resource Libraries. Your peers may have already shared exactly what you’re looking for. 

Return the favor by uploading documents of your own, either directly to a community library or by including them in an attachment to your post. They all end up in the same place.

TIP: Like what you found? Take the time to rate and/or comment on the document to help others in the future.