[Businessmtg] Webmaster Resume Answers to Questions

[Anne K]

Hello!

I decided to try and answer all of the questions so far in this email - please let me know if there are more questions or if further clarification is needed. I’ve re-arranged the questions a bit to go from general to technical.

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From Karen C: 
1.  Can you tell us what other " trusted servant"  positions you have filled on asp.   (as we know from the last position of secretary, we had to overlook the business meetings as experience regardless of how long we participate in them.  We had issues with accepting committee participation as service.  We were also told that daily chairing does not qualify for time as a trusted servant.)  I am just looking for clarification here.

2.  This question might need to be addressed by others in charge....we know this is not considered  a f2f group.  There are a great many of us on this site that attend and participate in our f2f groups, including service positions, but those groups are not ASP.  Are we allowed to count that as service towards ASP trusted servant experience since it was not part of ASP. 

My answer: 
I consider this the most important question because if “daily chairing does not qualify for time as a trusted servant” then I may need to withdraw my resume. I thought - and I must not have been in the business meeting where this was discussed - that serving as a daily chair in ASP for 6 months at least twice - would qualify as the one year of participation required for a trusted servant position. Granted it has been a couple years since I chaired one of the weekly meetings here at ASP; but I have chaired at least three different six-month periods or at least a year and a half. 

In the f2f groups I have been in, chairing meetings was more of a ‘single occurrence’ than a weekly or monthly commitment so I wasn’t relying on that service as qualification for ASP. 

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From Beverly and Jerry
I was wondering what your understanding of the webmaster position here at ASP, is?  What do you think you are responsible and not responsible for? 
Every person brings something different to the Al-Anon service positions they stand for. ASP has defined responsibilities for our webmaster position at http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-elected-trusted-servants/ <http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-elected-trusted-servants/>.

My answer:
I reviewed the defined responsibilities for the Web Master before I decided to apply; so that is my understanding of the position. Having been in the last couple business meetings, though, I also am aware and in agreement with the Business Meeting approves all major changes to the website. By major changes I mean changes in content or placement. Changes I would expect to make on my own are fixes for broken links, spelling errors - that sort of thing. 

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From Beverly:
And in regards to the answer to the question about what changes do you not want to see at ASP, are you able to be more specific?  Besides not wanting to depart from the steps, traditions, and concepts.  Relating to the webmaster position and the KDBM process that is used in this particular Al Anon on line meeting to implement change.  How do you see yourself fitting into this process?

My answer: 
While I personally find the KDBM process to be rather long, I do think it is an excellent way to encourage discussion and achieve consensus. I think there is a big difference between an f2f business meeting and an on-line business meeting, which is why I think the KDBM process works well in for the online business meeting format.  On-line not everyone is in the “same room” at the same time, so to me KDBMI  is good for thoughtful consideration of the topics at hand. The Web Master role in this process is to set up the voting and publish the results - so that’s how I see myself fitting in. 

Regarding the changes I do not want to see in ASP - I think the breakdowns in communication are easier in email than in person. I think in email it can be difficult to convey tone, and misunderstandings are easy. I think that the website - especially the members section, can be - and is already to a fair extent though the FAQs specifically - a place to find some … equilibrium. Kind of like a reminder of sorts that we are all doing our best in following the steps, traditions and concepts. I don’t have anything specific in mind right this second - but I do think that is worth emphasizing. That would probably be a future topic for a business meeting :)

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From Jerry and Karen C
My question for you, Anne, is: beyond the primary website maintenance and upkeep responsibilities listed, what skill sets and insights do you have which could add to the security of our website and in turn to ASP and its members as a whole?

3.  How much experience do you have doing actual web page work in this type of group.  As for your cybersecurity degree, how  do you see that adding to the security of the web page.  How do you think your work on your internal work pages will lend to your knowledge for the current ASP website.   

My answer:
It’s funny to me what I recall when asked a specific question. So not only do I put together “web pages” at work,  but I also maintained a web presence (and a facebook presence) for a local alumni group I was in, and for a local chapter of a professional group I was in. To me, the point of a web page is to provide information in an organized manner so that the user can find what they are looking for quickly. So as a skill set I have created web pages or web sites. I am familiar with the analytics “behind the curtain” - knowing how many visitors have hit the site and how much time they spent there can show potential strengths and weaknesses in content. One of my strengths is data analysis - getting meaning out of the data and using it for improvement.
At work we have multiple user groups for the pages so it can be a challenge to merge the competing information sets. Here at ASP, we also have several specific user groups - new members, and current members - and we have specific sections for each. The challenge is making sure it works for everyone. I’d say offhand that the new member part seems to be working well, based on the number of new member welcomes I see in the recovery meeting. It does seem like current members are either not sure where to find information or are unaware of the website (even though it is at the bottom of every email)  As Web Master I’d like to come up with some potential ways to get the membership to remember that we have a members only website - again I do not have any specific solutions in mind right this second - I think a better definition of the problem is needed - what do members ask about the most - sponsorship? Acronyms?   And then coming up with some starter solutions (I’ve found that when solving a problem it is often easier to start with at least one viable solution for discussion - from there additional solutions seem to flow).

As for security (my favorite topic!) if there is one thing I learned in school, it is that everyone gets hacked. There is no “we’re too small” or “we’re not important” or “who would want our data” - and the hackers are not usually the lone kid like in the movie WarGames anymore - they are criminals or nation states or someone looking to make a statement. Sadly, ransomware / blackmail is still a good way to make money (and no, I don’t do that - just sayin’!) Our pages and list are, I believe, externally hosted. So from a security standpoint, while it is likely the hosts responsibility to protect the data; it is also our responsibility to make sure our data is protected as well. If you think of the host as ADT or some other physical security company you can have in your home, they take responsibility in notifying the authorities if someone breaks into your house, but it’s still your job not to leave all the doors unlocked and a stash of gold coins out on the table. I cannot prevent us from being hacked. But I can look into encryption where appropriate and redundancy where appropriate to give ASP more cyber resilience - or the ability to absorb an attack and bounce back. 

LOL I can go on for days - so I will stop - please let me know if there are more questions or if I’ve been confusing :)

Thanks!
Anne K