Diocese of Newark
Diocesan Council Technology Committee

Technology Committee Minutes
4/19/97

Attending: John Rollins, Martha Lewis, Steven Boston, Jan Paxton, Ray Anderson

Agenda Items:

Satellite Dish - 6ft. dish - $7,000 with installation costs. We're considering this because of the request for teleconferencing.
TCI shoved Steven around and didn't sound as though they're interested. Does anyone know any contact or anything. John will follow up with Marge Christie because he thinks that's where he heard about it.
The downlink schedule is increasing. Trinity is pushing this and looking to get more people involved. We should approach the Diocese to put this in the budget. Steven will ask his contact for the dish installation to come to E. House to give a firmer estimate. Then we can approach Trinity for possible grant money.

Web page: Within our DFMS site, put up technology page - include training, what Paterson does, etc.
Until we come up with a way of dealing with the volume of e-mail that would come, we can't put up a Spong page. Steve suggests that all questions be directed to snail-mail. We could put up just a bio. and links to all the other sites. Martha will provide what she has to John and he'll do it.
On our page - what would be an ideal tech. set-up for a church. Our goals, preferences, etc. Jan volunteered to put one together with any ideas she gets from the committee, with a link to Karen's list of providers.
(Martha Lewis new personal address: piccola@cnct.com)
So...anyone who has anything they want on our tech. page, send it to Jan and she will find some tasteful way to put it all in.
Summer activities: make a page for our training days and link it to our page and to the diocesan page.
Need page, flyer, mailing to all churches
Conference topic: Home Page Creation for Congregations

Content of the conference:
  • What, where, why, how
  • Finding an internet provider
  • Hosting: free by diocese, handle it yourself
  • Graphics/images
  • What to bring with you; parish info (staff, history, organization, directions)
  • Format: Reservations are limited, 3-hour consultation session
  • Due to limited space, RSVP by August 1 with a person to contact is required Please call/e-mail Steven Boston 201-760-1840, Fax 201-760-1841
John, Ray, Steve, Jan, Ken, ?Cindy?, Ray, (Martha will help) will serve as consultants

Goals for this Committee
Standards: Steven would like to have us not only establish standards but also to license them for the whole diocese. Can we go and get official license with our budget money. Issue - can the dinosaur machines run the new software. Steven wants to make sure we all have legal copies of things. We need some flexibility about choice of software. Once we establish the standards, we can look at the licensing and documentation issues. First would come the standard. Would it be useful to set that as the major piede of next month's adgenda (at Glen Rock).
Report the goals to council
Ray brought hard-copy of the goals list he had made and distributed. We discussed, revised, and prioritized it.
Ray will re-do the goals list and share it with us. We will revisit it next month and then forward it to council.
Budget: $200 for convention
Next meeting, we need to spend the $1800 Think about it and come back to the next meeting
Steven will call Larry and ask him what kind of licenses he got for Cathedral house.
Meeting with the Bishop - John is in process - call the secretary - probably a Wednesday.
John wrote the Bishop and he confirmed Steven's appointment as chairperson.
No one received a reply From Larry about this meeting
Assisting with the Diocesan lists: Michael F said he'd get back to Ray.
For next meeting - is Ken going to bring his thought on the Diocesan Survey?
Agenda for next meeting - Steven will send out his thoughts and we will add.

Goals

Short Term (by December 31, 1998):

  1. Establish software standards for the Diocese. (Discuss at May meeting)
    Word processing
    Finances
    Membership
    See about securing distribution licenses for recommended software.
  2. Hold one or two Home Page seminars this summer and/or fall.
  3. Establish a Diocesan Technology Committee Web Page with helpful information.
  4. Creation of at least a minimal Home Page for each congregation in the diocese by year-end 1998.
  5. Secure older hardware and have it re-conditioned and provided to congregations in the Diocese.
  6. Participate in Warden's Conference.
  7. Participate in Administrator's Conference.
  8. Prepare and submit a proposal for Diocesan Tele-conferenceing Facility at Diocesan Headquarters.
  9. Create a Diocesan e-mail list for use in communications.
  10. Establish hardware standards for the Diocese.

Longer Term:

  • Establish a Child / Parent training session about the Internet.
  • Establish a help desk for congregations.
  • Provide leased computer systems for congregations.
  • Create a diocesan information distribution network, probably via the Internet, for communication of reports, bulletins, e-mail, notices, etc., between the diocesan office, the congregations, and other organizations.
  • Work with other Diocesan committees and conferences to create a web page.
  • Help with Audio / Visual presentations at annual Convention.

If you have any questions about the Diocesan Technology Committee or its minutes, contact Jan Paxton.

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