BY MIMI MOFFAT, Kansas Chapter Web Diva
If you’re reading this, you may be among the 20,000 plus members and supporters of the Kansas Chapter who receive Waypoints, our monthly newsletter. But have you ever visited our website? Maybe not. The question is, “why not?”
I hope we figured it out. You’re one click away from our new address, sierraclub.org/kansas. This site is as lean and green as we could make it. Our top priority was to make it as user-friendly as possible so that you could find out who we are, what we believe in, and what we’re working on. And it should be easy for you to find our donate button to support what we do.
Some of us have talked for years about moving from a commercially-hosted WordPress site to join the Sierra Club’s Drupal domain. Those terms may mean nothing to you. What matters is that the Sierra Club and its 63 chapters are one Sierra Club. We’re not autonomous and we follow national policies. Now our website is hosted by Sierra Club and that’s as it should be.
Changemakers often give a nod to the past when announcing new developments. And that is entirely appropriate. Consider it done. But we don’t always stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. As the site developer a/k/a/ web diva, I jumped off their shoulders and hit the ground, walking, if not limping, ahead through the fog. I’m a lawyer by trade, not a web developer, and I’m a volunteer, not an employee or paid contractor. So maybe someone else would have done this differently or better. We had this opportunity for change if I was willing to take the leap. I’m glad I did.
My chief partner in this project is our Chapter Chair Elaine Giessel, my fellow Chapter Editor, whose background in marine biology and long history of Sierra Club activism have helped me work through the creation of a new structure. We expect to have ideas for enhancements, present and future. Websites should be dynamic, not static, and if you have suggestions, let me know. You can find me on the website.
But for now, we did it, you should be able to find that donate button, and I’m Walking on Sunshine, Katrina and the Waves.
P.S. Did you wonder why I’m the Web Diva and not the Webmaster? My pronouns are she/her and like RBG, I’m a self-confessed “flaming feminist.” Just saying.