[SMCARA] Reflector Sundown

[Jon Sheldon]

We will be shutting down the SMCARA reflector soon.  There are a few
reasons we decided to do this, but it comes down to the fact that there are
better options such as Groups.IO, which is where we are moving to. We have
been test-driving groups.io for nearly a year now and it’s been working
great. This will be the primary place to get up to date information
regarding the SMCARA Club activities and Ham related news in St Mary’s
County.  Everyone is welcome.  You do not have to be a HAM or even a SMCARA
member to join.



*SMCARA.Groups.IO <http://SMCARA.Groups.IO>*

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.  Look below at the Getting Started with Groups.IO for how to
get started.



The SMCARA.Groups.IO site will be a place where everyone can have
discussions, share pictures, and make announcements without the need to go
through a web admin to post information on the club website.  We encourage
all Hams in St. Mary’s County to check in to see what Ham activities are
going on in the county .



There is a small learning curve but I’m sure it will be second nature in no
time.  Here are some of the groups we have started.  The structure is
simple; there is one primary group (SMCARA) with multiple subgroups for
special interest.  In addition to the message postings, each group has its
own calendar, place for photos, place for files and Wiki page to make use
of.



Primary group:

*SMCARA – Public *

- This is the primary group and is open to everyone

- This is where most general postings and conversations will take place

- Anyone can read messages from this group, but you must join this group to
post a message



Subgroups:

*SMCARA  - Club*

- This subgroup is a restricted group to SMCARA club members

- Meeting minutes and other information will be posted and discussed here



*Saint Mary's County ARES*

- This is an open group for Saint Mary's County ARES discussions,
coordinating events and ARES information posting



*Field Day*

- This subgroup is for the team coordination of the annual Field Day in June

- Public information regarding the Field Day will be posted to the primary
SMCARA public group



*St Mary's County Hamfest*

- This subgroup is for the team coordination of the annual Hamfest
(Tailgate) in October

- Public information regarding the Hamfest will be posted to the primary
SMCARA public group



Any special interest subgroups can be spun up as needed.



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.  Donations
will be optional.  This will be set up soon and a notice will be sent out.  We
will try out this option first.  If we get 100 members to donate, it would
be less than $2.50 per year for each user.



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



*Getting Started with Groups.IO*

There are two basic step to do, create a Groups.IO account and then Join
the SMCARA.Groups.IO



Create Groups.IO account

- Go to the groups.io website and select Sign Up in the upper right.

- You can sign up with and email address, or register with Google or
Facebook



Join our group

- Once you have created an account the go to SMCARA.groups.io and look for
the blue button [+Apply For Membership in This Group]



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 set up a Zoom
session to help get people started.



Here are a few links to help pages and YouTube videos.

https://groups.io/helpcenter/membersmanual

https://youtu.be/BKNZijYB-VU

https://youtu.be/ujwxtnBKx50

https://youtu.be/mI4SmVlInCc





73,

Jon – N3AK