[Chapter-delegates] Membership System

[Rosa Delgado]

Genes,

I will summary the main points discussed in this list and suggest that
ISOC and chapters should work together in the remaining issues     

>Emails in the past week show the frustration of chapter
>officers with the membership system. That is very harmful 
>to ISOC as a membership organization. To say that this needs 
>to be addressed at a Board meeting seems a bit silly to me.

Lest do it anyway and see if some of the pending issues could be solved
asap .. I think we want to channel chapters complaints.

We have to recognize the extensive dedication of Nelson, Jim and David
to work with chapters in this area that sometimes is diffiult   

Regards/Rosa

-----Original Message-----
From: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org
[mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf Of Gene
Gaines
Sent: Tuesday, 31 January 2006 12:06
To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Membership System


On Tuesday, January 31, 2006, 4:12:06 AM, Vansnick wrote:

> Dear Rosa,

> Perhaps it would be good to ask the previous list of chapters who
> participated in the testing phase. We made alrready different remarks,

> comments and suggestions. I'm willing to elaborate, as I did with 
> Nelson before, some extentions which could be used at chapters level. 
> Just let me know.

> Best regards,

> Rudi Vansnick

Rudi, all,

I was one of the chapter people who volunteered to participate in
testing the new membership system.

I'm afraid that I spent some time with the system and judged the program
to be fatally flawed. I then was embarrassed to see that the company
developing the system already was advertising ISOC as a satisfied
customer, before the system was accepted by ISOC. That is not the kind
of company I wish to deal with, and I withdrew from participating in the
testing.

This is a simple application, as we say in America, not rocket science.
The kind of application that students can write for beer money.

The failures of the new system are harming ISOC and harming its chapters
and membership.  (I could add that I believe the ISOC Board to be
largely blind to such issues, but that would be
unkind.)

I do not see why a basic system could not have specs circulated 2 weeks,
agreed to in 4 weeks, then written, tested, and placed in beta operation
within 3 months. I would not care it the work was done in Iceland,
Norway, Moldavia, France, India, Japan, or SOPAC, etc., for example,
perhaps even the U.S. or England if they could be shaken away from their
language blind spot.

Emails in the past week show the frustration of chapter officers with
the membership system. That is very harmful to ISOC as a membership
organization. To say that this needs to be addressed at a Board meeting
seems a bit silly to me.

Just fix the problem.

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines at gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia, USA




> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org
> |[mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] On Behalf
> |Of Rosa Delgado 
> |Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 9:15 AM
> |To: 'W. Majewski'
> |Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org; 'Luc Faubert'; 'Vint Cerf'
> |Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Membership System
> |
> |
> |Thanks for your input.
> |
> |We have already a good issues list to transmit to the board. One
> |thing is sure we cannot continue complaining about the same points 
> |for ever so, I wonder if to form a WG (ISOC, chapters) to discuss 
> |each of the points at once will be effective. This WG could perhaps 
> |seek to these and other issues.
> |
> |Regards/Rosa
> |
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: W. Majewski [mailto:wladek at isoc.org.pl]
> |Sent: Sunday, 29 January 2006 23:02
> |To: Rosa Delgado
> |Cc: 'Franck Martin'; 'Luc Faubert';
> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org;
> |'Vint Cerf'
> |Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Membership System
> |
> |
> |Rosa,
> |
|>> I think Wladek had this sort of list in the past, if so can
> |we have an
|>> updated list we will try to coordinate the problem at once
> |
> |Let me start with "Carthago delenda ext!"
> |
> |Current membership system is broken beyond repair options. No basic
> |functionality works up to reasonable expectations. It would be 
> |cheaper and faster to specify and implement a new one.
> |
> |Specific problems:
> |
> |(showstopper) Non-ASCII scripts (including right-to-left ones) 
> |inputable
> |
> |into ALL fields. This is a fundamental reason for necessity to dump
> |current system.
> |
> |**** chapter's membership data import / database synchronisation.
> |Chapters have own membership systems, usually much better than ISOC's

> |one. We need a distributed database instead of universal forms.
> |
> |**** Possibility to integrate membership forms into chapter's webpage
> |
> |**** Get rid of cumbersome "shopping procedure" with $0 value for
> |"chapter membership".
> |
> |**** Membership reneval policy should be customizable for chapters
> |
> |
> |Rgds
> |
> |Wladek
> |
> |
> |_______________________________________________
> |Chapter-delegates mailing list Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org 
> |http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates
> |



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