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The Official website!
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Post The Official website! Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 1:46 am
James Rooney
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Interesting News today at the BRA bro!


Cary Epstein announced he can no longer afford to finance his <http://www.jblifeguard.org> website @ the approximate $3,000 a year cost. He plans on shutting it down as of February.

Mike Defina's website here at <www.jblc.net> will continue to be maintained by Mike as it funds itself hence the "free" in the jblc name.

He will continue to provide the Forum for FREE Jones Beach Lifeguard discussions of topics. The Union section will continue to provide Union members with a place to discuss issues that effect our Union members.

The Executive Board plans to start up an Official website at a standard $25 a month cost and use it as a Bulletin Board for Union News.

They don't want to maintain a Forum as they are against allowing free discourse of the issues. As Bruce put it; "It allows people that disagree with the Executive Board to BASH their policies and OUR Organization."

We are definitely moving forward............await the latest Meeting News in the coming issue of the Bucket and Bouy.
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Post Re: The Official website! Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:34 am
mike_d
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Just want to clarify - this site DOES NOT fund itself. The ads made a whopping total of $37.94 for all of last year (2009).. Which does not even come close to the real cost of creating and maintaining the site.

I do it (basically for free) because computers are my business and it's my small contribution to the Corps I love. Regardless of what happens to other sites, this one will always be here to rely on and never come down. I do the best I can to update and moderate with the spare time I have.

The foundation of this site was originally the idea of Ben von Pentz (rip) and Adam Kofod. In this day and age it is critical for members to have a voice on issues and communicate. All comments are welcome and reasonable requests will be granted. There will always be a select few in a group who do not approve, but that is the beauty of a forum, if you don't like something, get on it and voice your concerns.

Best, Mike
FreeJBLC@gmail.com
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Post Re: The Official website! Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:51 pm
Dennis Kane
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Jim is inaccurate in several ways.

1) The JBLC EB is NOT against the free exchange of ideas. Just come to a Beach Rep meeting and see the proof.

2) His "quote" of Bruce is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading.

What Bruce said was that the NEW YORK STATE LIFEGUARD CORPS EB, not the JBLC EB, would not approve funding for a NEW YORK STATE LIFEGUARD CORPS site that allowed for criticism of those whose dues were funding the site. There are liability issues in play here. That's quite different from his claim.

We are going to "bulletin board" style for the official JBLC site because of:

1) Simplicity: No more questions as to which site to access.

2) Ease of Access: No more problems with User Name or passwords. Anyone can log on simply by typing in the URL.

3) Full Control: Cary didn't own "his" site, and did not have full control over content. That caused problems, and could have caused other serious problems down the line. We would NOT own the site we were paying for.

With the new site, we will have full ownership, and have full control over content.

4) Cost: Cary's site cost $2800/year. We can't afford that. NYSUT will set up our new site, and we will pay $25/month for maintenance. No muss, no fuss.

4) NYSUT Recommendations: NYSUT legal informed us this style of website is used state-wide. Bruce's liability concerns came from THEM. That's why the two sites (JBLC and NYSLC) will both be bulletin boards.

5) As Mike stated, his site will remain operational, and those who wish to can still use the Forum.

6) It's a New Day: The JBLC must have a change in consciousness. Because ANYONE can log on, we need to present ourselves in the best light, while still doing our job. To quote one of our members, "We are no longer this rag-tag band of outlaws raging against Big Brother. We're a real union, and we have to start acting that way."
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Post Re: The Official website! Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:54 pm
James Rooney
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Thanks for the clarification Dennis, it will be nice to see an "Official" site put out by the "Official" Union.

I'd also like to Thank Mike for all the effort he puts in maintaining his freejblc website.

Yours in solidarity and Let's Keep Everyone informed!
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Post Re: The Official website! Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:16 am
mike_d
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Just some comments and opinion: An official bulletin board separate from this site is a welcome idea since it would relieve some stress of maintaining this site and can still be accessed from here.

some additional clarification. This entire site including the forum no longer requires a sign-on to access, only if you want to post do you need to create an account. I did give administrative access to a few key people on the executive board for both sites (NYSLC.net and JBLC.net), but it appears the software is too complicated. Currently the forum actually "is" a basic industry standard bulletin board system with additional features. I think what the Executive Board is looking for is a very simple "announcement" board or simple notice board type of setup - even using Twitter could be a very easy solution.

The CMS (content management system) being used here at http://jblc.net and http://nyslc.net can easily be modified to display Twitter posts or include a simple noticeboard feature component.

Thanks
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Post Re: The Official website! Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:00 am
James Rooney
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Maybe the Eye-Tee "IT" committee can comment?

I don't think we have to worry about BIG BROTHER watching, and only bona fide lifeguards can actually post information on the FORUM.

I've been getting some very positive feedback from members of the corps.

I know Joe Scalise and Steve Agostinacchio are monitoring the information being presented.

I hope the Executive Board is taking note of the various issues being discussed.

Lets ALL work together to come up with improvements!
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