The Caucus software (and the philosophy behind the software) has generated fervent users and dedicated supporters.  Here are quotes and references from a few:  

• Howard Rheingold is the irrepressible author of The Virtual Community, editor-in-chief of the Millenium Whole Earth Catalog, and founder of the online communities Brainstorms and Electric Minds. 

  I have been using computer conferencing software since the early 1980s, starting with Participate on the Source in 1982 and PicoSpan on the Well in 1985.  I have helped design and launch over a dozen virtual communities.  I've used Well Engaged, PicoSpan, and WebCrossing, but Caucus is by far my favorite.  The feature set, reliability of the software, responsiveness of the software, and availability of technical support from the original creator of the software have made it my favorite by far since 1998, when I first started using it.  I wholeheartedly recommend it.

  In February 1998, after starting more than a dozen virtual communities for fun and profit, I started Brainstorms in order to create a high-quality intellectual salon, thinktank, and social network.  I used Caucus, and Brainstorms has been highly successful, intellectually and socially, since its opening day.  There are hundreds of posts each day, in over thirty conferences, by hundreds of people.  The software is both powerful and easy to use, and almost never breaks. We've had negligible downtime in seven years.

• David Woolley is probably the foremost authority on web-based conferencing and collaboration systems.  His Conferencing on the Web site is the ultimate summary and guide to all such systems. 

  When we were evaluating discussion software for Twin Cities Free-Net in 1996, Caucus was clearly the best choice for us.  Six years later, we're still very happy with it.  Its elegant design makes it easy for people to learn and use, its rock-solid reliability makes it easy to administer, and its extraordinary customizability has allowed us to adapt it to fit our needs perfectly.

• Stuart Karabenick is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Eastern Michigan University, and was the Director of the Center for Research Support and Associate Director of the Center for Instructional Computing.  He is now a Research Scientist in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan.

  Caucus is one of the premier computer conferencing systems.  Through 15 years of development, which involved close collaboration with clients, it remains user friendly both for participants and managers.

  At Eastern Michigan University, there were at peak over 10,000 accounts.  Caucus was used either to augment or to completely deliver hundreds of on-campus and distance courses.  Responses of faculty (and administrators) to Caucus were outstanding.  We had instructors up and running with ease, often requiring only a few minutes for experienced computer users and 30 minutes for novices.

  Most especially like the linear design, which avoids the confusion of most multi-threaded systems.  The ability to upload files, automatically email participants of new activity (email notification), and search by author and content add additional functionality.  It has always been easily customizable as well.  Having selected Caucus originally and helped to develop its use at a major university, I remain an enthusiastic supporter of this product and its user support.

  I have now used Caucus successfully as a primary support tool for my research projects at the University of Michigan.

• Mark Heiman, a system administrator at Carleton College, reviewed a variety of conferencing and collaboration tools, and chose Caucus.  Mark has since added several features of his own design to the "public" portions of the software. 

  Carleton College uses Caucus extensively, with an installation supporting 2700 users and more than 400 conferences.  It is used by faculty for courses, by committees and departments, by student organizations, and as a general conversation space for the campus community.

  Caucus is clearly a mature application based on years of thought and experience with collaborative design; is easy to use, easy to administer, and flexible enough to be used in many different ways.  Plus, its extensible interface allows us to expand the feature set to meet our particular needs.

• Marcus Hildebrandt is the CEO of an application service provider located in Berlin, Germany that hosts a Caucus-based service. 

  We use Caucus very successfully for e-learning and global virtual conferences: inhouse and public ones.  We and our customers really like Caucus (and will stick to it as to my point of view there is nothing comparable on the market):

  • Because it is running under Sun solaris and can be nice and smoothly integrated in very complex environments through the LDAP compatibility of the groupware.  Thus our customers only have to authenticate once and have then access to individual created platforms including different groupware packages.
  • Because it is very easy to use even for first time visitors.
  • Because it fosters knowledge management very efficiently through the "move features" and the "notebook function".
  • Because it creates very important transparency for e-moderators and participants via the "who has seen this item" feature.
  • Because I like the people and the philosophy behind the software.