LionWAP Group Email By Lion Enzar Tore and Lion Dan Uitti

Introduction

You have probably heard, the internet is a BUST. All those computers and all those web pages and all those phone lines, modems and wires have not delivered. 

The best way to make the internet work is to put the HUMAN back into the picture. Not by making elaborate web pages that must be updated daily; but by getting people involved in the activities by using the internet as a tool to communicate. The web page should be a basic introduction to what your club does and who wants to communicate with you about getting involved. A tiny fraction of visitors at the web page are looking for a definition of what we are, so the page should not have to deal with the very basics. Your own members should see a summary of what is going on and who has more information.  People within your community should see your accomplishments and future plans, but not necessarily an old history.  It should show WHO to reach, but not necessarily a full club roster.   

But getting NEW information out is not what a web page can do. It is EMAIL that is delivered by people that are a part of the project. Your Lions Club’s FREE web page at LionWAP now includes Group Email, which can now deliver email to your group of members. 

This is a project that is sponsored by the Lions Clubs of Turkey, MD 118. 


Webmaster (Administrator duties)

These duties are quite simple. The tools are easy. It uses the same club Username and Password as the web page. Let us use the example from Watertown, Connecticut, USA. The webpage is at www.lionwap.org/WatertownCT, so the username is WatertownCT. The password in this case is XYZZZZZ. 

Let’s outline the duties. 

1. Encourage the Lions in the club to join the group, simply by getting the name, email address. The member’s birthday is good to have also, along with some comments. This will appear at the club’s private member list. 
2. Manage the members on the Group Email system

   a. Add member to the email group

   b. Drop or Change member entries

3. Let members of the group know how they can send messages
4. Send a message about 3 days before any meeting or event, to outline the details: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY. Keep in mind that people check the mail from the mailbox every day, but do not read their email every day. 

Encouraging members to join

In general, it is common knowledge to most that email is NOT going to replace hard copy mail. Few Lions will join it to have their mail eliminated. Lions should not expect or hope that email will save money.  It should be sold on the premise that More information is Better. As previously mentioned, it is not FASTER then the old fashion mail, since it will sit for days in the email inbox; just waiting for the email to be read. The hard copy is already at the bottom of the Bird Cage by the time the email is read. So what kind of mail is “Snail Mail”? 

Be sure to encourage EVERY club member to get on the Group Email system. But pay special attention to Lions that are club leaders that have email. Get them to use this system to send safe, brief and complete email messages to everyone. Nobody has to see a list of email address, and nobody has to maintain a separate list. Using this system is safer, since it cannot spread viruses. 

Manage your Group Email 

The tools at LionWAP are quite easy. You can Add, Delete and Change email addresses. 
Login at 
http://group.lionwap.org/
As shown above, WatertownCT is my Username. The password is XYZZZZZ.
Check the BOX to indicate that you want to log in as Admin, so that you can manage members. 
Click on List Members
Use ADD to add members.
Use List Members to edit or delete members
(Members do not have to Log in to Send email)

Let Members know how they can send messages

This is the easy part. Simply tell them about these instructions. Print it out, email it, or even mail it the old fashioned way. 

To send email, just go to the email section at this address:
http://www.lionwap.org/mailtomembers.php
For the Username, use your club’s LionWAP page name, as in my example, WatertownCT
For the Group Key, use the First Two Letters of the group’s password. So in my example, use XY. This is case sensitive. 
Enter your Name, but this does not have to be accurate, so Lion Dan would be fine. 
Enter your email address, this MUST be spelled correctly; as only Group Members can use this system. 
Enter a Subject. Be sure to say what your message is about, since more people are being careful about opening email. 
Enter your message. This is TEXT only, so be careful. You might compose your message with any word processing program, then use COPY and PASTE to transfer your message to the message BODY section. 
Then click on the SUBMIT button to send your email. 

Send a message about 3 days before any meeting or event

You really should get used to using this system every week, but not too often. Keep Lions informed. If your club is very busy, try to add several messages at the same time. Keeping Lions informed is important. Getting them accustom to getting email that pertains Lions business will change habits and others will use email too. Use the system ONLY for Lions Club business.  Few are interested in passing along jokes and unrelated stories.  You may add a joke to the end of your message to keep things interesting. 

Conclusion

This email system is designed to get Club level communication working on the internet. There is no limit to the number of members that your club has on this Group Email system. This system may be used by Districts or other groups of Lions, Leos, Lioness that have a free web page at LionWAP.

For more information, check the FAQ section at LionWAP at www.lionwap.org/faq