CSINext – A Virtual Chapter!
April 05, 2010
By Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, RAS
“The meeting’s too far
It’s not convenient,
My family comes first…”
The holidays are over and it is time for a changing of the guard… digital guard that is.
At the November 17, 2009 CSI Board Meeting, the first virtual chapter was chartered, named CSINext , 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.
The chapter can be found at http://www.csinext.org
On February 16, 2010 the acting CSINext board held its first meeting. The Board Members include: 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 Varner, Treasurer – Robert Dye. Board of Directors - Lauren Paulson and Blake Wagner.
The chapter’s goal is to establish a social network that strives to function just like a traditional chapter. 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.
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Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, CDT, RAS, is a member of CSI since March of 2000. He was President of the Dallas Chapter in 2005, Institute Director in 2006-2009 and President of the South Central Region in 2010. He is the current electronics’ chair for the Dallas Chapter. He has authored several websites for CSI chapters and businesses. He has been in Architecture over 25 years. His day job is Project Manager for MPI Architects located in Dallas, Texas.
“The meeting’s too far
It’s not convenient,
My family comes first…”
The holidays are over and it is time for a changing of the guard… digital guard that is.
At the November 17, 2009 CSI Board Meeting, the first virtual chapter was chartered, named CSINext , 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.
The chapter can be found at http://www.csinext.org
On February 16, 2010 the acting CSINext board held its first meeting. The Board Members include: 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 Varner, Treasurer – Robert Dye. Board of Directors - Lauren Paulson and Blake Wagner.
The chapter’s goal is to establish a social network that strives to function just like a traditional chapter. 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.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Daniel Hargreaves, CSI, CDT, RAS, is a member of CSI since March of 2000. He was President of the Dallas Chapter in 2005, Institute Director in 2006-2009 and President of the South Central Region in 2010. He is the current electronics’ chair for the Dallas Chapter. He has authored several websites for CSI chapters and businesses. He has been in Architecture over 25 years. His day job is Project Manager for MPI Architects located in Dallas, Texas.