February 2023 - Creative Administration

[Most] Web Apps are not “Official Websites”

In a recent discussion of with webministers from around the Known World, someone asked a question, my answer to which I am re-posting here:

If an [officer] creates a google form […] is that form considered “an official website […]” and is the webministry accountable for making sure it adheres to the elements of a[n official] website required in the handbook?

This is a great question.

My take: No.

Membership Database Privacy Policy

The SCA recently transitioned its online membership database from a service run by Members Only to one operated by Neon One.

The Members Only platform had been in use since 2012, but the software had become stagnant and the very small company that offered it appeared to be wrapping up operations. By contrast, the new Neon CRM platform seems much more technically capable and the company appears to be much larger and more dynamic.

As part of the SCA’s announcement, they encouraged people to contact their membership email address with any questions we might have, so I inquired about the interaction of the two privacy policies at sca.org and neonone.com.

Release Forms Handbook Published

Well, it’s been a long and painful trip, but I’m pleased that the SCA has published a new handbook covering the use of release forms for recording permission to publish photos, creative works, and personal information.

Given that there are only a few areas of substantive policy changes compared with the vintage 2010 status quo, the process was surprisingly arduous. I spent months convincing folks in Society leadership that having an updated guide to this policy would be valuable, and wrote the first draft of all of the handbook text, then sent dozens of follow-up emails chivying it through the process. (It shouldn’t be this hard!) And now that the final document has emerged, I’m pained by the many little details that got mangled along the way.

But all of that is a matter for another day — for today, I’m going to try to bask in satisfaction of having gotten my first piece of Society-wide policy lead-authorship over the finish line.