Grand Lodge F. & A. M. State of New York - Technology Committee

A little site cleanup...

Stu Card — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:55:56 -0400

I just started on a little site cleanup. The Scribd on-line PDF reader seems to be working out well, so I am gradually transitioning the way we publish and promote the NETNEWS to encourage readers to try it. The GM's and GS's messages should always be easy to find, even when a more recent one has appeared. The GL officers are no longer "newly elected" so there's no need to advertise them as such on the front page. Hopefully nobody will be too unhappy with the changes.

The next thing is to reorganize the Committees area, so committee/program information is not only up to date (it currently isn't), but also can be found easily, without needing to be promoted to the front page of the web site (as I am currently doing with MSAT workshop dates). This is too big a job for me, so it is the first thing I am going to ask one of our new volunteers to do. Volunteers, stand by! :-)

Back from Kentucky

Stu Card — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:08:06 -0400

My traveling companion was unwell Sunday, so we didn't get to the Lodge re-dedication, but we're back, so now I can resume going through e-mails from volunteers and trying to match up skills with tasks...

Here we are at the Masonic Care Community on St. John's Day

Stu Card — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:14:34 -0400

OK, everyone out there in Internet land, I am typing this as part of a demo to a Brother who is learning how to use our Content Management System... wish you were here to learn too!

come on out for St. John's weekend

Stu Card — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:26:02 -0400

I spoke with the Grand Master yesterday.

He would like us to record the investiture ceremony and his address Saturday, and the service Sunday, and to distribute them live over the Masonic Care Community Campus CATV system to the residents, but sees no need to stream either event live over the Internet this year (although he is open to the idea for next year).

He agreed that this weekend will provide a good opportunity for our committee to meet, welcome new volunteers and offer training.

Look for us in the Library: if we aren't there, we will leave word there as to where we are set up.

St. John's weekend activities for the tech committee

Stu Card — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:43:38 -0400

It looks like our committee may have some work to do this St. John's weekend, but so far we aren't sure.

Any of you who plan to come to St. John's weekend, and who would be willing to lend a hand with whatever we end up getting tasked to do, please let me know.

Thanks!

Attention Webmasters (new!)

Stu Card — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:47:07 -0500

The Technology Committee solicits input from Masonic webmasters as to revision of our web site policy. The current policy is based on a Past Grand Master's directive from several years ago and is need of updating. The only change that has been made to the policy as found on at attnwebmasters is the replacement of Bro. Dave McMannamy's personal address information with generic contact information for the webmaster. No substantive change can be made without the consent of the current Grand Master, which will be sought for a revised draft directive.

Bro. Mike Sukhenko assists web team

Stu Card — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:26:55 -0500

Brother Mike Sukhenko created the new banner graphic you see on our site. We look forward to working more with him to freshen our look and make other changes to return our site to the pre-eminent position it deserves as the web site of one of the world's premier Grand Lodges.

Thank You Brother David McMannamy!

Stu Card — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:10:53 -0500

The Technology Committee would like to extend a hearty public "Thank You!" to our former webmaster, Brother David McMannamy! Several years ago, Dave was instrumental in totally revamping our Grand Lodge site, which had grown stale and not kept up with technological change. He then maintained the site, managed our e-mail and various other Internet services. Due to the webmaster links on the site, he also found himself the generic contact on the Internet for the Grand Lodge, frequently receiving anything from genealogy requests to the most bizarre messages from all over the world.
Brother Dave took this in stride and shouldered a heavy load for quite some time. He continues to support other organizations including Camp Turk, and to consult with our new web team, organized to share the load that he bore almost single-handedly.

Co-Op Webmaster joins Grand Lodge team!

Stu Card — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:04:16 -0500

Patricio Castro, a Syracuse University graduate student in Information Management, has joined the Grand Lodge web team. He will serve as our co-op webmaster for the spring term. Mr. Castro has extensive experience with the Drupal Content Management System (CMS) used by Grand Lodge and many other user-driven web sites. We look forward eagerly to working with Patricio: first to make the many content updates that have been long requested by the webmasters of Lodges in our jurisdiction, committee chairmen and others; and then to embark upon more substantial re-work of our site. Perhaps the most important task we will undertake together is the development of materials for the training sessions soon to be offered to our members.

Experimental Webcast from Masonic Hall

Stu Card — Mon, 07 May 2007 01:57:53 -0400

The Technology Committee will attempt an experimental webcast from the Grand Lodge room at Masonic Hall during the public portions of the 2007 Annual Communication.

To view the live audio/video stream, point your Windows Media capable browser to http://live.upstreamnetworks.com/15605-31667