PVAMU CEDCED Tarrant CountyPVAMU Extension
Cohort Hub · How it works

One hub, two doors.

The Cohort Hub is where the B.I.D. Academy actually runs: check-in, the schedule, parking and travel, surveys, opportunities, your Vendor Readiness File, session materials, and the room where the cohort trades wins and asks. Participants use one door. Facilitators and speakers use the other.

Enter the hub Facilitator sign in Presenter mode Slide deck with notes

What the hub does

If you are a participant

Nothing to install, no password. Enter the access code once and this device stays linked until you sign out or the inactive-session limit. A one-time release is required before session content opens.

  • Dashboard and check-in

    The Today card puts check-in, the session page, an available pre- or post-survey, calendar and registration actions, and the nearby travel reminder together. When you arrive, use I am here and look for the saved check-in confirmation.

  • Schedule and session pages

    Every core and special session has its current date, time, facilitator, venue, directions, calendar link, surveys, materials, and deliverable. Special sessions are optional: attending adds credit, but missing one never counts against you.

  • Getting there

    Open Getting there before you drive for the correct address, parking lot, entrance, park-by time, one-tap directions, stadium map, and printable travel guide. Always check GroupMe for a last-minute change.

  • Your Vendor Readiness File

    Check off each item as you finish it and see exactly which required sessions have a saved check-in. The Capability Statement also appears as an item that is not assigned to a session yet. Your signed release is available here for your records.

  • Surveys and reminders

    Before- and after-session surveys have their own page. Open the survey, then mark it finished in the hub. A Reminder badge appears when staff or a facilitator asks for a response you still owe.

  • Opportunities

    See donated tickets, free registrations, tools, giveaways, and community opportunities. Join for the number of spots offered, withdraw if plans change, and see your waitlist or winner status. Random drawings are recorded.

  • Wins & Asks

    Post a win or ask, then continue the conversation in replies. Facilitators and CED staff can answer with a website resource, hub material, or useful link. You can dismiss a post for yourself, restore it later, or archive your own post for everyone.

  • Announcements and materials

    New announcements are called out on the Dashboard and may include a flyer, video, session page, travel guide, or resource. Tap Got it to quiet a regular notice; important notices stay visible. Handouts, slides, and templates remain in Materials for the full cohort.

  • The cohort directory and GroupMe

    Opt in and other participants can find you and what you do. The GroupMe invite and QR code sit in the hub, so day-to-day chatter has a home too.

  • Easy entry, with a required release

    Type the access code, then the email on your roster record. There is no participant password or name list. On first entry, sign the required photo/video release before session content opens. Add the hub to your home screen for faster return visits.

If you are a facilitator or speaker

Set a password once, then use the section menu for your sessions, parking, attendance, announcements, materials, and participant-eye view.

  • Email and password sign-in

    Set a password once and sign in with your email and that password from then on. Your device stays signed in, so there is no link to hunt for in your inbox each week.

  • Upload your materials before or after you teach

    Drop handouts, slides, and templates straight into the hub. Staff review each file and post it to the cohort, so you never email attachments around.

  • See the review status of everything you sent

    Posted means the cohort has it. Pending means staff have not cleared it yet. If something needs a fix, you can resubmit in place.

  • Post and answer with useful attachments

    Post announcements, prep instructions, and follow-ups with a photo, flyer, video, website resource, hub material, or URL. Answer Wins & Asks in the same place, and edit or remove your own posts.

  • Attendance for your assigned sessions

    See who checked in and who did not for sessions assigned to you, and add or remove an authorized manual check-in when a record needs correcting. Participant contact details remain protected.

  • Your session brief and travel tools

    Your dashboard keeps assigned sessions, check-in totals, pending materials, and announcements together. On a phone, swipe through the compact session schedule. Parking & travel shows the same date-specific venue, lot, door, map, and directions members see, with messages ready to copy and share.

  • A phone-friendly working hub

    Use the sticky Jump to section menu to reach attendance, announcements, Wins & Asks, materials, member view, questions, submissions, and facilitator contacts without scrolling the whole page. Large actions and shorter cards keep session-day work easy to tap.

Step by step

The flows people ask about most. Each one takes under a minute.

Before entering the Cohort 2 hub

Participants

Current members use their roster email. Prospective members join the Cohort 3 waitlist.

  1. 01Already in Cohort 2? Open cedtarrantcountyextension.com/cohort and use the email address on your cohort record.
  2. 02Not enrolled in Cohort 2? Open cedtarrantcountyextension.com/bid/waitlist to join the Cohort 3 waitlist. The waitlist is not a Cohort 2 hub sign-in.
  3. 03Use the same email address whenever staff asks you to confirm or update your information.
  4. 04The B.I.D. Academy is free. If any page asks you to pay, stop and email cblilly@pvamu.edu.

Getting into the hub the first time

Participants

Access code, then your email address. About twenty seconds.

  1. 01Open cedtarrantcountyextension.com/cohort, or scan the QR code on the room screen.
  2. 02Type the cohort access code shown on the screen or read out by staff, then continue.
  3. 03Type your email address and continue. There is no name list to scroll and no password.
  4. 04If you are on the roster the hub greets you by name and opens. If not, a short card asks for your name — phone, business, and industry are optional.
  5. 05If your release is not already on file, print your name, sign, check the affirmation, and accept the photo/video release. Session content opens after it is saved.
  6. 06Walk through the short tour, or skip it — you can return to it anytime.
  7. 07In your browser menu, choose Add to Home Screen so the hub opens like an app next week.

Checking in on a session day

Participants

Use the hub when you arrive and confirm that the check-in saved.

  1. 01Open the hub from your home screen or the Cohort Hub menu item.
  2. 02On the Dashboard, find the Today card and choose I am here if the hub has not already recorded you.
  3. 03Look for the saved confirmation. If a check-in was added by mistake, use That was not me or ask a facilitator to correct it.
  4. 04Use the same card to open the session page, take the available pre- or post-survey, add the date to your calendar, or open registration when a session requires it.
  5. 05Read the nearby Getting there reminder before leaving for the venue.
  6. 06If this device is not linked yet, enter the access code and your email address first.
  7. 07Only the nine core sessions count as required attendance. An optional special session adds credit when you attend and never counts as a miss when you do not.

Working your Vendor Readiness File

Participants

Your working file, attendance record, and signed release in one place.

  1. 01Open the My File tab in the hub.
  2. 02Check anything you already have — SAM.gov registration, insurance, a pricing sheet.
  3. 03After each session, check the deliverable that session produced. Session 1 produces Your Brand Foundation and The Ninety-Second Decision Framework.
  4. 04Use the Resources library for the matching template when you need a starting point.
  5. 05Capability Statement is listed separately as Not scheduled yet until it is attached to a session.
  6. 06Review Your check-ins for each required and optional session, and download your signed release when you need a copy.
  7. 07Uncheck anything you want to redo. Nothing is locked.

Finding parking and the right door

Participants

Check the session-specific directions before every trip.

  1. 01Open Getting there from the hub menu, or open cedtarrantcountyextension.com/cohort/travel from any phone without signing in.
  2. 02Choose the correct date and venue. Spark Arlington, the Arlington Sub-Courthouse, and the Fort Worth Plaza Building have different parking instructions.
  3. 03Use Start driving directions, then read Where to park and Finding the door before you leave the car.
  4. 04For Spark Arlington, use the stadium map and allow time to walk from the approved lot to Suite 305.
  5. 05Check the cohort GroupMe before leaving home for a last-minute parking, room, or schedule update.

Surveys, opportunities, and announcements

Participants

The Dashboard tells you what needs attention next.

  1. 01Open a survey from Next Up or the Surveys tab, complete it, then select I finished it so the hub can mark it done.
  2. 02Read new Dashboard announcements. Select Got it for a regular notice; an important notice remains visible until staff changes it.
  3. 03Open Opportunities for tickets, registrations, tools, and giveaways. Choose a quantity when offered, then join or withdraw before the deadline.
  4. 04Open Wins & Asks to post, reply, or read an answer. Staff and facilitators may attach a resource, hub file, or outside link to their response.

Facilitator sign-in

Facilitators

Email and password, and the device stays signed in.

  1. 01Open the Facilitator sign in item under Cohort Hub in the menu.
  2. 02Enter the email CED has on file for you and your password, then select Sign in.
  3. 03First visit and no password yet? Choose Email me a sign-in link instead, open the message, and tap the link.
  4. 04Once you are in, the hub offers a one-time Create a password card. Set it, and every visit after that is email and password.
  5. 05Forgot it? Choose Forgot your password? and follow the reset email.
  6. 06Your device stays signed in. On a shared computer, use Sign out in the hub header.
  7. 07Use the sticky section menu or the phone Jump to section control to move between Dashboard, parking and travel, attendance, announcements, Wins & Asks, materials, member view, questions, submissions, and contacts.
  8. 08On a phone, swipe the assigned-session schedule sideways to review each date, venue, and check-in total without leaving the dashboard.
  9. 09If nothing works, email cblilly@pvamu.edu and staff will reset your access.

Uploading a handout so the cohort gets it

Facilitators

Upload, staff review, cohort sees it. Usually same day.

  1. 01Sign in to the facilitator hub and open your session.
  2. 02Choose Submit material, pick the file, and give it a plain title participants will recognize.
  3. 03Add a short note if the file needs context, then submit.
  4. 04It shows as Pending until staff approve it. You do not need to follow up.
  5. 05CED staff uploads post to the cohort immediately, with no review step.
  6. 06Once Posted, it stays in the cohort's materials queue for the rest of the program.
  7. 07If staff ask for a change, use Resubmit on the same item so the history stays together.
  8. 08Staff can later rename, move, update, or delete an approved material when its placement changes.

Looking up or rotating the access code

Staff

For CED staff who need the code in the room.

  1. 01Sign in and open Cohort Admin > Cohort setup.
  2. 02Find the Hub access code card and select Reveal to see the current code.
  3. 03Copy it, or open the room screen to project the code and the QR side by side.
  4. 04Rotate the code only between cohorts — rotating it does not unlink devices already in the hub, but anyone entering fresh will need the new code.

Helping someone who cannot get in

Staff

Most problems are the wrong email address, and take a minute to fix.

  1. 01Open Cohort Admin and search the roster for their name.
  2. 02Confirm the email on their record. If they entered a different one, use the recovery tools to merge or correct it.
  3. 03Use Member view to open their hub as they see it and check them in or check a deliverable for them.
  4. 04For a facilitator, reset their sign-in from Cohort Admin so they can set a new password.

Running the current hub from Cohort Admin

Staff

Use the section menu to move between live operations, communication, records, and reporting.

  1. 01Open Cohort Admin and use the top section menu to jump directly to the working area you need.
  2. 02Review waitlist signups and drop-offs, then draft an individual or group follow-up without leaving the dashboard.
  3. 03Use attendance and engagement tools for audited check-in corrections, deliverable progress, survey reminders, and member follow-up.
  4. 04Post or update announcements, attach files or references, and share the public Getting there page or a date-specific travel message.
  5. 05Place, rename, move, or remove cohort materials; manage opportunities; and open member or facilitator view for a walkthrough.
  6. 06Use waiver, report, export, recovery, facilitator access, and hub-code controls for records and administration.

What we need from facilitators, and when

  • Two weeks outConfirm your session date, time, and venue with CED.
  • One week outSend your slides or handout through the hub so staff can review it.
  • Two days outPost any prep instructions to the cohort feed.
  • Session dayArrive fifteen minutes early; check the room screen for the access code.
  • Within two days afterUpload anything you promised in the room and answer open asks.

For CED staff

  • Live attendance and engagement

    Cohort Admin shows check-ins, missing required sessions, survey progress, readiness progress, waiver status, and first entry in real time. Staff can make an audited attendance correction when needed.

  • Materials and announcements

    Approve, request changes, move a file to another session, update its title or link, or delete it. Post announcements with files, video, hub materials, website resources, and travel information, then edit or remove them later.

  • Access control

    Grant or revoke facilitator access, reset a facilitator sign-in or password, rotate the hub access code, and open the room screen for the projector.

  • Member and facilitator views

    Cohort Admin opens either hub as that person sees it, without signing the administrator out, so staff can walk someone through a task or make an authorized correction.

  • Reports and nudges

    Session reports, survey results, engagement, waivers, attendance, and the deliverable board can be reviewed or exported. Post targeted survey reminders in the hub and draft email follow-ups for the people who still owe an action.

  • Waitlist, recovery, and filing

    Review Cohort 3 waitlist signups and drop-offs, draft individual or group emails, correct participant records, merge duplicates, restore removed records, and download signed release PDFs for headquarters filing.

  • Parking, travel, and Today

    Share the public Getting there page without making anyone enter the hub again, or post the same date-specific parking guidance in an announcement. The participant Today card brings check-in, the session page, an available pre- or post-survey, calendar and registration actions, and the travel reminder into one place.

  • Cohort Admin workspace

    Use the top section menu to reach waitlist activity and email drafts, attendance overrides, engagement and survey reminders, announcements, travel sharing, material placement, opportunities, member and facilitator views, waivers, reports, roster recovery, and access controls.

Forgot the access code? It lives in Cohort Admin under Hub access code, behind a Reveal button, with a copy button and a link to the room screen.

If something is not working

Email cblilly@pvamu.edu or call 817-884-1945 ext 6822. Tell us the page you were on and what happened, and we will get you in by hand. The Help & FAQ page covers the rest of the site.

Enter the hubParking & travelResource library

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