Website: New face and New mission, No longer a power play.
-The WSG Dr Nick Kahwaji thanks the WP Mr Eid Chedrawi for his donation of $2000 to start the work of new modern and dynamic website, and asked the world council members to look from different angle at the new website, “we should all be concerned and involved in feeding the website with news documents and archives, as Gibran said: “my mother face is my nation face “by correlations I will say “our website face is our organization face”.
WSG circulated a copy of the proposed new home page in 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, and explain the necessity to get an urgent fund to translate 150 pages to 4 different languages.
The structure of the website is inspired from the CBC.ca, (we copied a very successful institution in Canada) a template to be given to each chapter, National council or Region, to all use a homogeneous face.
A cultural page will be added, to match our cultural mission, also pages related to the Lebanese Identity, literatures, history of WLCU, Archives etc, etc.
A Visa and MC payment will be available through the treasury account or else. etc etc .
To run the affairs of the website we propose the following:
– Board of directors (formed of +/- 12 members) directed under my supervision, to update and feed the website formed by specialised peoples, each will be responsible for different subject: Language, Cultural, Lebanese identity, social, Charity, media, literature, etc .
– Technical committee to improve the structure continuously.
– Advertisement Committee: to sell spaces for adds, and to make the website a self-financed .
Our plan is for a period of 3 years to be able to cover all expenses related to the translations, and to cover the cost of running its affairs with a paid technician, hoping to make the web a little encyclopaedia about the Diaspora affairs.
The WP will access his news page directly to post his related activities…
The WSG will access his Secretarial page directly to post his related news…
In Summary: the website to function in semi-autonomous way, same as the NGO Committee.
WSG :any objections from any members to our proposals.
No objections, so please lets go to the discussion.
Discussions
WP: I suggest to keep all domain names registered for us and to point all domain names to the WLCU.org website (that is an advice from my sons who are active in this field)
WSG: This is our objective too, we will do that for now, while we are waiting to receive a new domain name from the UN system.
Roger Hani: suggested to ask world leaders to release all domain names of WLCU –registered in their own name – to the mother organization, to the WLCU.
Michel Assef: which WLCU incorporation??
WSG: we should release it to the WLCU incorporations registered in California, and at same time registered at the DPI of the UN.
WP: How many domains are personally registered?
WSG: I believe the BC council own ULCM.INFO, WLCU.INFO, ULCM.org , I believe David Abi Shaker (Boston chapter) registered WLCU.ORG, also WLCU.COM it could be under Georges Abiraad’s name, or WLCU California name. Francois Bou Naaman had some registrations too.
Roger Hani: How long it takes to get the domain name of the UN?
WSG: after being officially accepted in the ECOSOC. We should start the process, it may take six month or a year, we do not know?
Steven Stanton: you could run the WLCU.org, point all domain names to it, when you will get the UN domain, you point all domain names to it.
WSG: Soon a temporary link will be given to all of the attendees to visit the new website and to give us a feedback.
Edmond Abdul massih: try to get some work done (flashing for example) in Lebanon it will cost you less.
Juan saliba: we could help in the translation to Spanish.
Antoine Ghanem: maybe the Brazilian and the French will do the same.
Chakib Rammal: When do you plan to launch the new website?
WSG: during the WLCU Dinner in Beirut if possible.
WSG: The website shall be definitely considered out of any power control, or power play or power game in the WLCU. It will be run by a specialised committee. To prove that I practice what I preach, you should know that after 17 months as a WSG, I do not know what is the pass word or the user name of the website, I did not care if my name or my picture show in WLCU.com., Upon my return to Canada I will ask the past WSG to send me all info related to the actual website ( WLCU.com) as now we will start copying all info from the dot com to the dot org. To archives the old news.
WP you could ask Nada –Beirut Office – for help, let her work.
Meeting is adjourned.