[SMCARA] SMCARA Groups.io Kick-off

[Jon Sheldon]

We have set up a groups.io for the SMCARA members and guests.  If you are
not familiar with groups.io, it is a forum-like space where announcements
can be made and discussion can be had, much like a bulletin board.  This is
intended to pick up some of the slack of capabilities that the reflector
doesn’t offer.



As it matures, smcara.groups.io will hopefully be a place where we have
discussion, share pictures and make announcements without the need to go
through a webadmin to post information on the club site.  Currently we have
two primary groups (Public and Internal) but will be adding other subgroups
soon such as POTA, or whatever interest there is.  Like the reflector, you
can receive emails of posts in groups that you are subscribed to and I
believe you can even post to a group by sending an email (I haven’t tried
this yet).



There is a small learning curve but I’m sure it will be second nature in no
time.  You can jump in and learn as you go or YouTube is a great place to
find information on it or googling groups.io will find a lot of content on
how it works.



This is work in progress so please bear with us while we figure out the
best way to do this.  At this point I am not sure if you are required to be
a member of the main Public group before joining  one of the subgroups so
some of you will be the first to figure it out.  The Public and Internal
are open to SMCARA members and guests.  If you haven’t received an
invitation, then you can go to the group links below and select [+Join This
Group].  You can also send me an email (N3AK.jon at gmail.com) and I will send
you an invite.



Public Page smcara.groups.io/g/Public

-          You don’t have to be a member of this group to view this group.

-          You must be a member of this group to post to this group.

Internal Page https://smcara.groups.io/g/Internal

-          You must be a member of this group to view.

-          You must be a member of this group to post a message.

-          This would be used more like the reflector was.



To have all these features does cost money.  Instead of asking the club for
support, the groups.io platform has the ability to accept donations.  This
will be set up in the next few weeks and a notice will be sent out.



I’m hoping you all enjoy this.  We all have busy lives and it is difficult
to fine the time to connect and collaborate with each other. It is my hope
that this platform helps with this.



If you have any questions, need help, or have feedback, please contact me
at N3AK.jon at gmail.com.  If there is an interest, we can setup a Zoom
session to get people started.



73,

Jon – N3AK