The following is a repeat of the email blast we sent out several weeks ago.
The new Chemical Consultants Network (CCN) website is built upon and hosted by the member management system Wild Apricot (WA; almost 7000 other organization members) and will help us grow CCN and serve members better. We have worked to transfer information from the old website to this new one, and customized features for consultants.
New features include
· Easy, intuitive navigation. Just explore and click.
· Login with secure individual ID/password (temp will be sent by email) to premium member-only area.
· But public view allows potential clients to find the right consultants.
· Once you log in, individual premium members can now edit/modify their own profile pages, including photos, contact updates, external webpages and more information about services
· External searches for consultants via Google or other search engines, using the same URL's you had previously, or your new WA URL. New members henceforth will just have the new WA URL. Google ranks CCN highly for searches for chemical consultants, and this will continue.
· Internal searches for consultant expertise by category and geography
· Areas for posting presentations, including past meetings
· Event announcements, including upcoming CCN meetings. We can more easily collaborate with other chemically related groups, and extend our communication reach
· Blog areas, covering topics of interest to premium members interested in growing a chemically-based knowledge community of microbusinesses. This can include sharing ideas, organizing and now a weekly job board for chemists, biochemists and chemical engineers
· A resources section that provides advice to premium members, such as tips on starting/maintaining a consulting business.
· Facile online payment for either meetings or website dues, either through Paypal or using a separate non-Paypal associated credit card
· Other premium member services which we'll develop during 2014
· Administrative advantages
· Finally, we have a complete, portable database of paid premium CCN members including all contact and expertise information . Easier to communicate with and update all members
· Easier posting of relevant material
· Automated reminders of upcoming events and payments and payment acknowledgements
· All online payments integrated with the member database, making it easier to track your payments
· Automated software upgrades and backup of all data, ensuring data loss prevention
· Overall, we can divert more energy to serving ongoing members, as well as reaching out to new members. Also, ensures integrity of member transactions with CCN.
CHEMICAL CONSULTANTS NETWORK