1. United States Coast Guard Auxiliary District Nine Eastern Region 1 COMMUNICATION SERVICES 2005 Fall Conference October 1, 2005 Daniel A Stearns DSO-CS

2. 2 INTRODUCTION Sign-in on the Worksheet Form DSO-CS YOU Name Flotilla Office Interest/Experience

3. 3 OVERVIEW Duties & Responsibilities Guidelines Content & Interactivity Marketing Resources News Demonstrations Question & Answer Conclusion

4. 4 DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES CS Officers Common FSO-CS SO-CS DSO-CS

5. 5 Common Duties & Responsibilities Attend Meetings Reports Personal E-mail Internet Access National e-mail directory. Website Webmaster Promote among units and members. Monitor all e-mail NETs Monitor national website Distribute information. Coordinate and cooperate with PB & PA Officers Maintain records. Transfer property and records

6. 6 DSO-CS Supervisor is VCO Know contents of all sources that p ertain to CS. Know Auxiliary resources. Supervise and coordinate ADSO’s Oversee flotilla and division websites Maintain list existing websites Evaluate BOW. Work with DVCs and SO’s Request monthly reports Collaborate with other Districts. Facilitate training Increase awareness with articles. Other duties as requested/assigned.

7. 7 SO-CS Supervisor is VCP Work with DSO and FSO’s Request monthly report from FSOs Oversee flotilla websites

8. 8 FSO-CS Supervisor is VFC Responsibility and supervision Keep Flotilla informed of developments Facilitate the information relay process Distribute electronic information to members without access. Monitor your district, division and flotilla websites Work with SO

9. 9 GUIDELINES Unit Responsibilities Auxiliary Internet Web Sites Policy Site Notification and Approval Site Identification Links Content Privacy Policy Website Review

10. 10 Unit Responsibilities Unit Approval and authorization Notify DVC–IW of existence. Independent Sites. Locally Operated and maintained.

11. 11 Site Approval & Authorization Notify SO-CS, DSO-CS, DVC-IW. Only Authorized websites Display the Auxiliary Logo. Identified as a USCGAUX. National will approve or require changes Questions should be sent via the chain

12. 12 Site Identification Identification in the code. US Coast Guard Auxiliary - Ninth District Eastern Region Proper Identification USCGAUX & Unit Graphic or Text Recommend ALL graphics and links use ALT/TITLE

13. 13 Links USCG & USCGAUX Links National Web site, Relevant district, division, and flotilla sites. Internal Site Links Legitimate business objective. No endorsement Good taste, and not discrediting Value added source of information Service directly related to activities. Link Disclaimer Functional External Links Ensure they depict the purpose and intent of your site

14. 14 Content Developed and maintained for level Further objectives Accurate, current, concisely stated, and understandable Indication of original source. No approval for Reproductions of official information intended for public distribution. Approval required for all other information. No posting of inappropriate information No use of the Official Auxiliary Seal. Pages Load Quickly Email address or MAILTO

15. 15 Privacy Policy Statement Personal Data collection. Surveys, Questionnaires, or Registration Forms Inform users Reason to collect data. Limited access and use

16. 16 AUXILIARY INTERNET WEB SITES POLICY

17. 17 Review Process Auxiliary Internet Site Checklist. Overlooked Requirements Title Tag ALT Tag on title graphics Privacy Policy Timely follow-up on changes Work Together

18. 18 CONTENT & INTERACTIVITY “Original content is the most important trait of a great Web site” “The second most important trait a Web site should have is interactivity”

19. 19 CONTENT Would you read a publication each month if every issue was identical? Our unit publication needs articles to be successful, so do our websites.

20. 20 CONTENT Keys Timely, Fresh, & Relevant Content. User Interaction. Credible, original content. Valuable, not lots of data Customize and target your content Responsive. Easy to read. Think "one-to-one" Web sites

21. 21 CONTENT - Ideas News Events Calendar Weather Photographs Articles Schedules Search Guestbook Discussion Forms Documents Links

22. 22 CONTENT - Sources Concepts and trends that will reduce duplication of effort. Answers to common questions Where to obtain content? Elected Officers Members PA & PB RSS/XML Syndication Staff Officers Discussion Forms Documents Links

23. 23 CONTENT Many sites are lists that someone else has already done. Dominate a subject area; become the site for that subject. Have a secure and automated server Tracking Automation Searching Security

24. 24 INTERACTIVITY Do we learn better from a preacher or a facilitator? Interaction helps us focus and retain more, as our websites become interactive, people will reside and realize more.

25. 25 INTERACTIVITY Keys Good interactivity engages the user makes your site memorable Be well-organized Use an appropriate metaphor Fill a niche “Users equate poor organization with poor site design”

26. 26 INTERACTIVITY - Ideas User Interaction Voting Polling Discussion Q&A Photographs Articles Registrations

27. 27 MARKETING “The Web is an interactive, dynamic, and rapidly changing novel communications medium; that should reflect your website in a well-organized, edited, and timely original content set in an attractive, interactive, and consistent format.”

28. 28 MARKETING On-going Campaign Who are we targeting? What are we trying to accomplish? When will they get the information? Where do people find us? How do we send the message? Professional Image Our Conundrum?

29. 29 MARKETING – WHO? Who are we targeting? New Members? Current Members? Public? Boaters/Aviators? Others?

30. 30 MARKETING – WHAT? What are we promoting? Public Information Member Information Recruiting Aux Services

31. 31 MARKETING – WHEN? 24 Hours per Day 7 Days per Week 52 Weeks per Year

32. 32 MARKETING – WHERE… Where do we find your site? Search Engine Crawler-based Human-powered Meta Tag Research and Linking Pay Services

33. 33 MARKETING – How? How do you find out about web sites? Search Engine Other Web Sites TV Shows Periodicals People E-Mail

34. 34 PROFESSIONALISM We are representatives of the US Coast Guard. Our Websites need to represent the professional image of our organization.

35. 35 PROFESSIONALISM - GUIDELINES Templates Formatting Your Storefront Navigation Fonts Colors Graphics

36. 36 CS Officers Conundrum What do people think when we say USCG or USCGAUX? What about the other activities: Photographers, Writers, Computer Professionals, Cooks, Medical, Environment, Aviators, Communications… So the dilemma is: How do we target skilled individuals who would be a tremendous asset to our volunteer organization and the USCG, that may not have interests in “water”?

37. 37 RESOURCES CS Guide http://csguide.auxservices.org/index.php AIRS http://www.uscgaux.org/~airs/ AUX-04 “C” School http://cschool.auxservices.org/aux04/ Web Support Directory Public Affairs Guide Publications Guide

38. 38 NEWS Unit Website Migration 2006 Best of the Web DHS Logo Reports

39. 39 DEMONSTRATIONS Technical Concepts? HTML PHP SSI Software Tools? FTP Frontpage Other?

40. 40 QUESTION & ANSWERS

41. 41 CONCLUSION Please ensure you have signed the workshop form.