THE GALION ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

History and Scope

 In July of 2006 work began on developing a website for the Galion Alumni Association.  We knew we wanted to have something special that would bring alumni to the site over and over again.  The Association was young and trying to grow.  It was and still is staffed strictly by volunteers who want to give something back to the Galion City Schools and the Galion Community where we all grew up.  With that thought in mind, we will try to explain the purpose of the website, the benefits to the alumni and what we need to provide for an even better place for alumni to visit.

One of the primary purposes of the website is to provide information.  Ever wondered what was happening within the school community?  When is the next class reunion being held?  Who was there when that reunion was held?  Where is everybody?  Those are some of the questions we hope to provide the answers to.  One of our goals was to make the website vibrant enough that people would come back on a regular basis.  We wanted to provide stories and updates on a timely basis.  We wanted to provide the progress being made on any projects that were ongoing.  As a fledgling enterprise we feel we have done relatively well in this area. 

In an attempt to answer the question of “Where is everybody?”  we developed a user profile section.  This section allows registered users to view the profiles of other registered users.  Each user may contact other users by Email. Each user may post personal/family photos under their profiles. A couple of our registered users have done that and in doing so helped us work out some of the little problems that were encountered.  There are other possibilities in this section that we have not activated, due to the learning curve in administration of a website.  Remember, we are all amateurs at this.  Most of us graduated from high school long before the advent of the personal computer and the internet.  One of the reasons for having a registered user section was to develop a data base of alumni names and addresses that was easy to update and would be available to class reunion committees and the Alumni Association.  The information would not be sold or made available to third parties.  Some of the information that we ask users to provide is not available for viewing even by other registered users.  In this area of getting registered users, we have not done near as well as we had hoped.  As of this writing we have 126 registered users.  That’s not all that great when you consider that there are approximately thousands of living graduates.  There is no cost involved in being a registered user so won’t you join us.

That brings us to having an interesting site for alumni to visit.  This is an opportunity for each and every individual who has ever  attended Galion City Schools.  Being a contributor does not necessarily mean reaching for the wallet, purse or checkbook.  It could be as simple as bringing a classmate to the website to become a registered user, or providing a news article concerning the success of a classmate to be included with news for that class.  You could provide information concerning class reunion dates or provide names for reunion photos.  Photos taken by individuals at reunions can be posted under that class on the website. Along with the news going on the website, Alumni Association members receive a printed newsletter and articles are needed for this publication.  Becoming a member of the Galion Alumni association and being a board member is another way to contribute.  We need some of the younger people to become involved.

The last thing we need to cover is the need to appeal to any alumni who have a business and would be interested in becoming a Galion Alumni Website Sponsor.  We currently have two enterprises on our website.  Both have banners that appear randomly on the different pages. There is also, a Sponsors menu item under the main menu.  One is Photorama of Galion.  When you click on that banner you are directed to the Photorama website.  The other is Uptowne Outfitters.  That banner takes you to a page on our site that was developed for them.  If you are interested we encourage you to contact us through the website for more information.

We encourage contact through the website for questions, requests, criticism and of course if you are so inclined, praise.  Anyone having problems remembering a username or password can contact us for help in getting back in.  Thanks to all who have helped get this project off the ground.