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NEW WEB SITE part 2

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Posted on Friday, January 14, 2000 - 12:31 am:   

(continued from Part 1)

In the past, members who had a question, concern, idea or experience to share typically had to rely on a Class Officer to provide an answer or facilitate contact with others.

The "bulletin board" within the web site now allows members to "post" questions, news, ideas, etc. directly and instantly to the entire membership! What’s more, ALL members can easily visit the bulletin board regularly to read breaking news and/or reply to posted questions with their answers or experience. All without involving the Class Officers!

But wait there’s more... it’s a much better investment than printing newsletters, buying envelopes, licking stamps, etc.

The electronic nature of the web-site also creates a permanence and perpetuity of information that print-based media could never achieve. The value here is that information is stored and accessible in ONE location where it is ALL available at ANY time FOREVER. Rather than receiving printed "tidbits" of information in a random and perishable form, members will now have UNLIMITED access to ONE source of data that contains EVERY piece of information collected by the Class SINCE ITS INCEPTION!

To facilitate this, Russ has wisely utilized bulletin board technology that enables postings to be categorized and "searched", in the same manner as search engines like "Yahoo", "Lycos" or "Alta Vista".

Members can scan a category or "search" the entire bulletin board for any information pertaining to a specific topic. As a result, the bulletin board will become the official, constantly up-to-date Class "resource archive".

While simple and few at the start, the number and nature of categories will develop over time as the bulletin board grows.

The large collection of information collected by the Class to date (currently stored in the Commodore’s files where they are not very accessible) will gradually be "posted" in an organized manner to the bulletin board over the next few months.

One other capability of the bulletin board worth mentioning is the future option for members to request automatic email notification of any new postings to the board. This will allow members, if they desire, to automatically receive notices or information posted by the Class Officers as well as contribute easily to the exchange of information by members. Again, this eliminates the need for Class Officers to stuff envelopes,lick stamps and wait for the mail to deliver breaking news.

Beyond the obvious, ongoing value of more frequent exchange and archived information, the web site will offer additional efficiencies.

A membership form is now accessible on the site that can be printed and mailed with payment of dues to the Class.

The "links" page will allow visitors to easily add and access other web sites of value to members. These will include USSailing, Sailing Magazines, major regattas, parts manufacturers, weather sites, yacht clubs, etc. Many of these sites will reciprocate by offering links to our site, enabling owners of 9.1 Meters to more easily "discover" the Class.

If this sounds like "alot" of stuff, rest assured that it IS! And that it represents a great deal of effort on the part of the Class Officers and Webmaster to deliver value to its members.

During your early visits to the site you may notice that a few of these capabilities are still in their infancy. We have, in fact, acccomplished most of the "big" stuff and the process of refining will continue, especially as members make greater use of the site. After all, our mission has always been to keep getting better!

We hope you are proud of our work!

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