The holidays are over and it is time for a changing of the guard… digital guard that is. At the November 17, 2009 Board Meeting, the Institute Board chartered the first virtual chapter. CSINext is the brain child of CSI Member Brent Williams. With social media storming through the internet like wild fire, CSINext is the next evolution of the CSI chapter. You may be familiar with Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter which is social networking. This is where CSINext comes in, taking the traditional chapter model to the digital world via social networking. Basically, allowing access to potential CSI members all over the world.
On February 16, 2010 the acting board members held its first meeting. Daniel Hargreaves, Joy Davis, Bryan Varner, Robert Dye and Blake Wagner were present. Not present were Robert Mallory, Lauren Paulson and Brent Williams. Brent Williams resignation in writing as president was regretfully accepted. Bryan Varner made a motion to appoint Daniel Hargreaves as President for the rest of FY2010. Robert Dye seconded the motion and the motion passed. The other officers are President Elect – Robert Mallory, Secretary – Bryan J. Varner, Treasurer – Robert Dye, Board of Directors (2) – Lauren Paulson and Blake Wagner. The next Board meeting is set for March 1, 2010 at 1:00 pm PST.
The chapter’s goal is to establish a social network that strives to function just like a traditional chapter. Just like any traditional chapter to function there are two things needed, members and dues. Chapter dues are set at $25 plus the Institute current dues, paid to the Institute. Any new member wanting to join CSI can select on their membership form CSINext as their home chapter. They could also select a traditional chapter as their home and CSINext as a secondary chapter. Existing members of CSI are welcome to do the same, add CSINext as a secondary chapter.
Instead of going to a location once a month, the member visits the web site. Once a member logs in, the first thing each member needs to focus on building is their profile. This is a snapshot of the members information that they will need to fill in as they see fit, including a place to upload a picture of themselves. Just like any good chapter, it always helps to place a face to a name. The user list lets each member visit each other’s profile; also the last five members to visit are listed on the home page. Each member has access to the Private Messaging System. Think of this as a local email account. This is feature rich and integrated with the member’s profile. What this does is if the member visits the User List and clicks on a name, there are several new options for sending a message to another member. They can use the Quick Message or select Private Message. Then just type away and hit send to begin communicating amongst each other. They can also post comments on the Wall, basically a way to talk out loud in the room for all to hear (or in this case to be seen).
Another feature is Article Comments. At the bottom of each article is a comment box. Sharing of comments, thoughts and ideas is one of the best ways to interact with each other. All the user will need to do is login, go to the article and at the bottom add their comment. Then hit send… have you noticed in the computer world everything requires you to hit send. There are other features such as an event calendar, photo gallery, guest books, and article and web link submission.
The focus of the chapter is communication and networking. Having a web presence allows for everyone to access the CSI community.
and now for something completely different...
The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. It comprises 1.25 million acres and was the first ranch in the world to be completely fenced in. At one time, its borders were guarded by armed patrol.