Overview
Access to GBSN Connect is restricted to individuals who are affiliated with organizations that have previously registered with the global network. (Organization registration is fast, easy, and free.) To validate that you are affiliated with a partner organization, be sure to provide an e-mail address with a domain name that corresponds to the domain name of the partner organization. (For example, students and faculty at the University of Virginia must specify an e-mail addressing ending in @virginia.edu.) Signing up to be a part of GBSN Connect requires only your name, e-mail address, and a password.
Completing your profile
Upon joining GBSN Connect, you will be asked to complete a profile about yourself, including basic information such as your name, gender, and date of birth; your current and permanent addresses; and your telephone/fax number. In addition, you may enter any relevant education and research/work experience; post a CV/resume as well as a photograph of yourself; and describe your career goals, professional interests, and specific research areas or topics in which you have expertise and/or interest.
You are not required to complete your profile to remain registered with GBSN Connect, nor do you have to complete any field on the profile page beyond your name, e-mail address, and password. However, the more information you provide, the easier it will be to connect with your peers and maximize the potential of this collaborative innovation networking Web site. For example, certain parts of your profile, as described below (see hint #4), will be visible to the GBSN Connect community under the "network" tab.
Some helpful hints
Some helpful hints for registering with GBSN Connect and completing your profile:
- When signing up, enter the first few letters of the organization with which you are affiliated. Within a few seconds, a dropdown list of matching organizations will appear. Select the correct match. If your organization does not appear, go to the organization registration page to register it. You will receive an e-mail once GBSN Connect has verified your organization, and, at that time, you will be able to sign up. (Anyone can register an organization with GBSN Connect, so long as the information that is provided is complete and accurate, and corresponds to a legitimate organization with real interest in management education for development.)
- When adding your education and research/work experience, type the first few characters of affiliated organizations. You will see a dropdown list of matching organizations. Select the correct match.
- There are four different categories of "visibility" for various parts of your profile: "private," indicating that information that you enter is visible only to you; "GBSN members," indicating that information you enter is visible only to official GBSN member schools; "all registered users", indicating that the information you enter will be visible by any registered user of the portal (i.e., the GBSN Connect community, or registered users who must log in); and "public," indicating that information you enter is visible to anyone (and may be indexed by search engines such as Google or Bing). These visibility classes are applicable to other sections of the Web site as well, such as opportunities or ideas you post or workspaces you create.
- Be sure to specify "tags" that describe your research and professional interests. As you enter tags, you will see dropdown menus with suggested matches to terms in our database. You may choose an existing tag or create your own. Tags help group individuals, ideas, opportunities, and projects on GBSN Connect and effectively connect like-minded users within the community.
- As you complete more of your profile, your profile status bar will gradually increase to 100 percent completion.
For additional help
Have any questions about your profile? E-mail help@gbsnconnect.org. Alternatively, e-mail us at info@gbsnconnect.org if you have recommendations for improving this feature.
