From the Editor, January 2014

Happy New Year!

Well, this has been a very busy year for us. In addition to a good program year, we are four months into the development of WSJSociety.com, our online community center. Greg Pascucci, VP Membership, has put in some good work going over our membership roster and supporting new member registrations. Checkout his report at Members Only/Member Directory. We have 534 active members, 12 new members joining this last quarter. We have members in most of the U.S. States, Canada, and Australia.

Over 28% of the active members are registered at WSJSociety.com, a good start. We are building our online community slowly, but with continuing progress. You can view the online activity by going to Members Only/WSJ Society/Newsfeed. There you can have the site Show Updates, Group Memberships, and Connections. Checkout the User Guide available in the User Group to see how to use these features.

The impact of social media is measured in terms of “meaningful engagement, participation, and value creation” (social media author, Erik Qualman). For our community, value creation is how we enjoy and help each other, and, contribute to our communities. So, I am thinking that our effort in the coming year will be well placed if we focus on meaningful engagement and participation to enjoy and help each other, and enhance our contributions to local communities. What do you think?

Of the 39 members who have answered the poll, see Connect/Poll, most important features of WSJSociety.com are:

  1. Connect with other members,
  2. Info Links on Benefits & Retirement Planning,
  3. Society News & Events.

Those seem to fit well with that focus.

Have you entered your vote yet? Please do so. And, please let me know what you think will help us develop as an important community – engagement, participation, and contribution. You can use the email Help@WSJSociety.com, Suggestion Box, or by discussion in the Open Forum Group.

Remember, this year is our Reunion year – Saturday, September, 27th – we can get together then to review our progress in person, and, of course, have a great time!

Happy New Year and Best Wishes,
Jude Anders, Editor