As social networking, texting, and email are replacing phone calls and postage stamps, many of us long for the “good old days.” Surely, some of us are trying to ignore the rapid technological advances of the past decade while others are embracing it with open arms.
Book stores are closing their doors. Avid readers with iPads and Kindles are downloading their books from the Internet. Video ‘brick and mortar’ stores are losing business to Netflix and other services that mail DVDs to your door or stream video content to your television. How many have dropped their landline in favor of a cell phone? Have you seen or used Video Conferencing? With web cams and Skype, it’s no longer a tool only Dick Tracy has access to.
Obviously, there is a need to keep up, or at least not fall too far behind. One way to join the technological revolution is to build a website, which is what the Vikings of Solvang have done. The site has been re-designed over the past year and features non-Viking as well as Vikings Only content.
The non-Viking area presents the visitor with the Vikings’ Mission Statement and links to recent news articles. From the menu, you can explore several of the Viking committees like the BBQ Team and Charity, read about the annual Children’s Christmas Party, and see how the Vikings operate.
Vikings must log in with their email address and password to visit the Member Area. The goal was to have all information from the printed Viking Membership Roster available online. Included is historical data like the founders, this year’s officers, a list of Gold Cuppers, current Fledglings on their way to becoming Vikings, each member’s personal information, and sadly, a list of past Vikings.
Also available to active Vikings is the description of each committee, its chairman and the committee members. Committee chairs are encouraged to provide up to date information about their committee to include past accomplishments and future goals. An Event Calendar is posted, so Vikings can stay abreast of committee meetings and social gatherings.
Periodically the Vikings receive announcements, agendas, meeting minutes, invitations and bulletins. Usually this is accomplished through email, but some Vikings still receive the information in a stamped envelope. Any Viking correspondence is available at the website. Simply log on and visit the Viking Library. A new feature allows Vikings to update their personal information simply by filling out an online form. Once the form is submitted, the webmaster receives an email and he updates the database as well as the website with the new information.
You can visit http://www.vikingcharitiesinc.com and see how the Vikings are trying to embrace this century.