I created a Group for alumni in my high school , Peddie. It helped me get back in contact with people I hadn't spoken to in years, including someone who moved to Europe.
IMHO he best feature is "Ask a Question". I recently needed to get a recommendation to find an online email service for a client. One that would let us push/pull info from the mailing list into the clients Customer Management System. I posted the question through LinkedIn and received a dozen great suggestions within the first few hours. When I closed the question the next day I had 28 responses. Many people emailed me their responses directly others posted their responses on LinkedIn.
I could have done the same thing by doing a"Send All" from outlook, but I was more comfortable doing it through linked in. These were people who agreed to join my network and not just people I deal with through email and work.
My only complaint is that I wish there was an easy way to separate my professional and personal contacts LinkedIn. I think I'll go and post this request as feedback on LinkedIn.
FYI - The services recommended to to me were:
- http://www.campaignmonitor.com/ - 6 people suggested it.
- http://www.exacttarget.com/ - 5 people suggested it.
- http://www.jangomail.com/ - 3 people suggested it.
- http://www.jangomail.com/ - 3 people suggested it.
- www.constantcontact.com
- www.icontact.com
- www.myemma.com
