[Tech] Tech article and two little pull out items

[Jamie O'Keefe]

Hi Bill,

There are three things here:

1. the tech article (I think it is less than 400 words)
2. how members can network with us at the various social networking sites
3. how we should have periodic blog updates during the convention for
those who cannot make it

the last two are just snippets.

TECH ARTICLE:

Title:  Green-Rainbow expands its offerings on the internet

Text:

The Technology committee is working on a number of projects to improve
communication between members and between the party and voters.

For our voters

We are working with the Communications committee to increase
communication between the party and our voters by starting a blog for
party announcements, events and user comments.  Please check out
green-rainbow.org to see what we have setup.  This new functionality
is made possible due to a generous donation of a new server by one of
our members.

We have also started expanding our presence in a number of social
networking and sharing sites including:  mySpace, Facebook, Flickr and
Orkut.  We also hope to have a YouTube page and the capability of
doing live blogging by the time you read this.  Please check
green-rainbow.org for the latest info.

For our members

We are upgrading our site's web software to make it easier for members
to submit content to the site, and allow editors to review that
content before it appears on the site.  We believe that this change
will help members share their knowledge and events and will increase
communication between members.

We are also exploring alternatives to our e-mail lists and would love
your feed back on what works and what doesn't.  E-mail
techhelp at green-rainbow.org or call 617-447-0210 with your comments.

For our activists

Our activists find it hard to find members in their area.  To fix
this, we launched an effort to cleanup our database, update addresses
and phone numbers and make it accessible over the web to activists in
a secured manner.  We will be using an open source system that is very
effective and is highly recommended by the Green Party of Canada and
several state parties.  We will train members in how to use the new
database at the convention and will hold trainings over this year and
next.

How you can get involved

It is very easy for members to get involved and there exist many tasks
for people to do who have little time.  Indeed, not all tasks are
technical, such as moderating our pages on various social networks,
writing articles for and moderating our blog, or sharing photographs
or videos of Green-Rainbow events.  However, on the technical side we
do need people with experience with web design, databases and
administering UNIX servers.
Please e-mail techhelp at green-rainbow.org or call 617-447-0210 if you
want to help.


SOCIAL NETWORKING SNIPPET

Network with the GRP

We are expanding our presence to a number of social networking and
sharing sites including:  mySpace, Facebook, Flickr and Orkut.  Please
check green-rainbow.org for how you can join us on those sites.


CONVENTION BLOGGING SNIPPET

Cannot make the convention?

We know there are members who cannot make the GRP convention, but
still want to know what happened.  Check green-rainbow.org to find out
about the latest developments at the convention.