ACG Online Information and Communications – Vital Membership Tool and Resource

The role of the ACG Online Information and Communications committee that I head is to develop annual and long-range goals for ACG’s online communication initiatives. Staying current with ways to disseminate information to the chapters through e-mail and ACG.org is vital to the success and growth of ACG. In October 2004 alone the ACG website averaged more than 90,000 hits per day. ACG.org and the chapter websites are continuously updated for the benefit of ACG members. As vice president, I have encouraged chapters to provide the committee with feedback on what content chapters and members would like to see in terms of online information and communications. To date, we have invited members from 11 chapters to join the committee as well as key members of the ACG staff, with a special thanks to Catherine Hohenzy, ACG communications manager, and Daniel Lobring, ACG marketing and website manager. The technical phase of building our website is complete. We now need to make it more inviting and user friendly. To continue moving ACG’s online and information capabilities forward, we would like each chapter to identify a key communicator for us and have that individual join the committee or provide input on an ad hoc basis. Please contact me directly with any suggestions. We also intend to request updates for each member’s business profile, but only after we have updated the member profile categories. As we move forward with the updating process, please contact me with your suggestions for new categories that would enhance the value of our database. Below are a few examples of the projects being studied by the committee: Enhancement of ACG Deal Exchange : Deal Exchange: The committee is looking into the possibility of outsourcing the administration of this section. We are reviewing a proposal that will provide access to more deals. With the change, some content will continue to be free to ACG members while others who have more interest in this service may subscribe. Input into this development is requested. Knowledge Exchange: We are looking to Thomson Financial to provide additional content and are exploring the idea of having well known business schools provide content in the form of white/research papers they have written relative to corporate growth. We also like the idea of obtaining (with permission) monthly presentations from the chapters (or our summaries of them) and posting them on the Knowledge Exchange. This magazine, an archive of ACG Network newsletters, and ACG chapter newsletters are being posted in the Knowledge Exchange. Member Passwords: An ACG membership card is being sent to all new and renewing members. It includes their ACG member number and acg.org password. The login and password system are being updated to make it easier for members to access ACG.org and their chapter sites. As this process takes hold, a series of e-mails will be sent to help you acclimate easily to the change. Events Calendars: ACG is enhancing the events calendar functionality, and eventually it will include a personalized calendar for members. All major conferences will be posted and integrated with chapter events as well. The revamped calendar will make it easier to plan for and attend ACG chapter and industry events. Currently, the events of all chapters hosted by Americaneagle.com are listed on the ACG site. If your site is not hosted by Americaneagle.com, please send your event information to Daniel Lobring, marketing and website manager, [email protected]. Member Photos: For chapters and members who are interested, we are in process of preparing our systems to store and post online headshots within the membership directory. We will ask chapters for their help as we finalize this process. Chapter Websites: Most chapters have converted to the re-branded website that ACG provided. Currently only three chapters have not converted, while three chapters do not have websites. ACG Website: We have been reviewing the possibility of reorganizing aspects of the ACG website in order to increase navigability, make it more user friendly and more content driven. We presently like the home page divisions of (1) events, (2) content, and (3) internal news. For the future we intend to provide temporary sites for ACG/Chapter leadership projects. Jay Fountain VP Online Information and Communication ACG Portland [email protected] Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.majournal.com