District Web Services
The mission of District Web Services is to provide a dynamic, accurate and complete online presence for AMS&NW District 13.
Work has been underway since October 2009 to replace the District website and build an online presence on Facebook and Twitter.
2011-12 will see work continue to extend web services to provide more online resources for our Optimist members throughout the District. Efforts will include providing opportunities to club members to publish club news and announcements on our District "OptiNews" blog.
Catalog of Web Services
Here is an online catalog of District web services with explanations on how Optimist members can take advantage of those services:
Put Your Club Online | Twitter Page
District Website
Our District Website (www.amsnwoptimist.org) is our official public website. It provides a central location with lots of information on Optimist clubs and zones, programs, projects, optimist infrormation and hundreds of links to online resources for Optmist members.=. Have a look at the following PDF guides:
Zone websites/blogs
One of our goals over the next year or two is to provide an online wbesite/blog for each Zone. We are starting with Zone 5 (zone5.amsnwoptimist.org). Each Zone site will provides a means for the Zone LG and clubs to publish news articles about club activities, community service projects and fund raisers. Any LG who wants to start a Zone blog can contact Opt Gord Welling for more details.
"OptiNews" District Blog
Our District "OptiNews" Blog (amsnwoptimist.blogspot.com) is our official online news site. When an article or announcement is posted to the "OptiNews", there are background services that perform the following work within 60 seconds:
- auto post the article title to the Home page of the District Website,
- auto post an article summary to the News page,
- auto post an article summary to the Wall on the District Facebook page, and
- auto post a micro blog post to the District Twitter page.
We hope to transform the "OptiNews" blog so that 70% of the articles published come from clubs in our District. Our focus will change to reporting on what is happening at the club level, on the impact our service projects are having, on the fun our members are experiencing, and on the success of our growth efforts.
We will extend the opportunity to any club to publish articles and announcements on the "OptiNews" District blog. We are looking for volunteers to become contributing authors for their club or their zone. Have a look at the following PDF guides:
- "OptiNews" Blog Tour (coming soon)
- How Clubs Can Use our "OptiNews" Blog (coming soon)
- Join the OptiNews Team
District Facebook Page
Our District FaceBook page (facebook.com/amsnwoptimist) is an online presence that anyone can add information to ... but they need a Facebook account and they need to 'Like' the page. We invite any fellow Optimist from any club to add links to your club websites, add an event, start a discussion, upload photos from a project or fundraiser ... and the list goes on. Have a look at the following PDF guides:
- District Facebook Page Tour (coming soon)
- How Clubs Can Use our District Facebook Page (coming soon)
- How to Put Your Club on Facebook (coming soon)
Put Your Club Online
We retired our "Put Your Club Online with Blogger" and replaced it with a new blog called Put Your Club Online (putyourclubonline.blogspot.com). This website/blog is dedicated to provide articles and PDF guides on computer skills for volunteers with a particular focus on web technologies, social media, and software reviews. Have a look at our Announcement for more details.
Twitter Page
The District Twitter Page (twitter.com/amsnwoptimists) is basically configured to display all of the news articles posted to the "OptiNews" District blog, so it acts like an RSS feed on Twitter. This will make it easier for anyone who searches Twitter for Optimist topics to find us.