DISTRICT INTERNET GUIDE FOR INCOMING PRESIDENTS

(For Instructions on the District Email System, click here.)

WEB SITES:

1) The R.I. Web Site: www.rotary.org

Almost all Rotary documents and Rotary information are available here.

2) The District Web Site:

District 3450 has a web site whose internet address is www.rotary3450.org here you can find much useful information, including:

a. District Governor's Newsletters
b. Online Speaker Bank
c. District Bulletin Board
d. Club Attendance Reports
e. Links to Club Web Sites
f. District documents and event registration forms

3) The District Web Server: The District has its own dedicated computer, which is connected to the internet and can serve as the host computer for your club web site, or for any other materials you would like to put on the internet. There is no charge for the use of this computer, and there is no limit on the number of web sites that can be established.

4) Club Internet Addresses: A series of Internet addresses for each of the Rotary, Rotaract and Interact Clubs in our district have been created and registered. This means that your club can set up a web site quite easily without having to go through any confusing or time consuming name registration process. For example, the address for the Rotary Club of Kowloon North is:

www.rotary3450.org/kowloon-north

5) Technical assistance is available: The District Webmaster is ready to give technical assistance to any club which would like to establish a web site. Please email to webmaster1@rotary3450.org with any questions that you have, or contact District Webmaster Bill Benter at 2893-7056.

DISTRICT EMAIL SYSTEM:

The District has created a series of email addresses which all end with "@rotary3450.org" to help make communication within our District more efficient.

1) The president2001@rotary3450.org email forwarding list. Any email sent to this address will be forwarded to the list of the 49 personal email addresses of the incoming club presidents. This list is a great timesaver, as it enables District Officers to contact the Presidents without having to compile a list of all of the president's email addresses. However, such lists can be overused, and we urge all Rotarians to use the utmost restraint, and to only use this list to send important messages of unquestioned district-wide interest. The overuse of email is now a recognized problem throughout the Rotary world. R.I. has produced a set of guidelines for the proper use of email, which can be viewed at the following Internet address:

www.frankdevlyn.org/technology/email.htm

2) Club Email Addresses: Your club has an email address. This address can be configured to forward mail to another address. Currently it is set to forward messages to your President's personal email address. When you assume office it will be reconfigured to forward messages to your email address. For example, the email address of the Rotary Club of Kowloon North is knl@rotary3450.org This address is now configured to forward any messages received to the personal email address of Kowloon North's current president. This address can be used as a permanent Internet point of contact for your club and it can be put on your club letterhead. Each year you will change the forwarding instruction to point to the email address of your new president.

3) Club Email Forwarding Lists: There have been two email lists created for your club. One for all members, and one for the board of directors. These are similar to the presidents2001 email forwarding list described above. For example, the two lists for Kowloon North are:

knl-members@rotary3450.org (all members)
knl-board@rotary3450.org (board of directors)

Such lists have been found to be extremely useful, and they help avoid the duplicated effort of each member trying to maintain his own up-to-date lists. These lists are intended for your club's internal use only, and the addresses on these lists will remain private. In order to start using these lists you will need to add the current email addresses of your members. There is a simple procedure for doing this, and instructions can be found on the District Web Site at:

http://www.rotary3450.org/service/update/email.asp

4) Electronic Club Bulletins: Many clubs are now using email to keep their members informed, and many clubs are also switching to electronic club newsletters. These have the advantages of immediate distribution, reduced use of paper, and they are easily archived on the club web site.

5) Dangers of Email:

a. Computer viruses: Viruses spread through attachments to email and these attachments usually end in ".exe". A good policy is never to open or save email messages which have ".exe" attachments, unless you absolutely know what the attachment is and why it was sent to you.

b. Unsolicited email advertising, or SPAM: Unfortunately, certain companies and individuals collect email addresses into lists which they then use to broadcast commercial advertising or other messages. The use of email forwarding lists helps to prevent this, as it hides the individual addresses of the recipients, but it is not 100% reliable. Your involvement in Rotary increases the chance that your address will end up on such a list. Some Rotarians have established a separate email account for use within Rotary.

c. Overuse of the email lists internally: This is perhaps the most serious problem that will arise. It is essential that each Rotarian reads the R.I. guidelines, and limits their use of these lists to essential email only. When replying to a message which has been sent to you using this list, be sure to use "Reply to Sender" and not "Reply to All", otherwise your reply may be sent to all 49 presidents. The use of email as a means of communication is here to stay, with or without the District Email system. The mail forwarding lists help to prevent the spread of viruses, and the misuse of individual email addresses, but the lists tend to worsen the problem of internal over-usage.

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION

ESSENTIAL

1) If you do not have an email address, please consider getting one, or designate a member of your board to be the official recipient of club email.

2) Make sure your email address is correct on the presidents2001 list.

3) Get your club's username and password for the District Email system and learn how to change the forwarding instruction in your club mailbox.

4) Read the R.I. guidelines for the use of email.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

1) Establish and learn how to use your club's "board" and "members" email forwarding lists

2) Switch to emailed rather than faxed club newsletters and bulletins.

3) Make use of the R.I. and District Web Sites as a source of Rotary information

4) Make use of the Online Speaker Bank and District Noticeboard

OPTIONAL

1) Establish a club web site if you don't have one.

2) Make fuller use of your website if you do have one.