HOW WE USE TECHNOLOGY
Your Guide to Connecting with Us Online
Click on an Item in the Quick Guide Outline to Find Info Fast
We Use Technology to Include Everyone, NOT Exclude Anyone
Our club is so blessed to have people from all walks of life and several generations. So those of us creating new ways to do things are aware that there are many levels of comfort with various technologies. We endeavor to add options that some find easier rather than replace options to communicate with and provide information to you. So please do not misjudge our enthusiasm for new ways of doing things with a lack of concern for keeping traditional ways of doing things.
If you hear or see us taking technology steps that negatively impact your club experience, let your Communication Secretary or a Board Member know. Knowing more about each member’s needs and preferences is quite useful to us as your club leaders in achieving our goal to provide a fun place and to learn and share about all things gardening and to serve our community.
How We Gather Your Preferences About Technology
This idea is in its infancy, but the Board aims to discover more about how each member wishes to receive communications, events and activities calendar information, our Yearbook, and more. A survey is planned that will be conducted over the phone.
Listen for your call!
How We Use Our Website
The website has a public part and a private (members only) part.
Public Website Content
ACCESS: https://www.columbusgardenclub.org/
This general website shares information about the club, how to join, and bigger events that the public has interest in. It is a great way for prospective members to learn more about what we do and then click the button in the footer to access the membership application form to join.
How You Can Participate
Open your favorite web browser on your phone, computer, or tablet and enter the website address above.
Share the website address with friends and new arrivals to our community who might be interested in learning more or joining.
Private (Members Only) Website Content
ACCESS: https://www.columbusgardenclub.org/members-page
If you need the password, please let your Communications Secretary know! We put members-only content such as meeting minutes, Yearbook, and forms here. These are items the public is not interested in or should not have access to. This offers online access via a computer of phone to helpful things like the Membership Directory and Pledge in the Yearbook. For those comfortable with this method of Yearbook distribution, printing that information is not required so it saves the club money (and saves the planet!).
How You Can Participate
Access the website address above and when prompted, enter the password given to all paid members.
How We Use Facebook
Public Facebook Page
ACCESS: https://facebook.com/columbusgardenclubtx/
NOTE: Be sure when you share our Facebook page with someone or access it to like the page, that you are on the page that has the “tx” on the end of the website address URL. The other one without "tx" is an old page we lost control of years ago and is not updated.
On this public page, the Communication Secretary Committee and Board Members post information to announce events and information of interest to the community such as the Plant Sale and other important events like Trash Off and when the City and County proclaim National Garden Week. We also post pictures and information about activities we do in the community like keep our Square, Visitor Center, Midtown Park, and more beautiful and inviting. And, we invite people to learn more about us and join us.
How You Can Participate
Log into Facebook and enter the website address above.
Follow/Like the page! This will result in our posts on the page showing up in your feed and notifications.
Invite your friends and other locals to follow our page. It is an excellent, easy way for community members to stay up to date on what we are doing and go look up the Plant Sale date since so many know it comes in April!
Private (Members Only) Facebook Group
ACCESS: https://www.facebook.com/groups/columbusgardenclubtx/
NOTE: Notice that the website address URL is almost the same for the public page and private group. This makes it easy to remember!!! To go to the members-only group just insert "/groups/" in the URL of the public page, see highlighted part in access URL above.
Don’t use Facebook but want to? Let your Communications Secretary know. We might be able to help!
This group is your place to share without anyone but our members seeing what you are bragging about, interested in, etc. There are no limits here! Well, except good manners, but that is a given with our group!
Share pics of your garden, interesting insects you see, and you and your fellow club members tending to the gardens and planters around town or making flower arrangements for special people in our community. Note that our Historian and Publicity Committee will use the club activity pictures from this Facebook group to complete their duties. So they no longer have to remember to text or email members to ask for people who attended an event to send pictures! Very exciting.
How You Can Participate
Log into Facebook and enter the website address above.
If you are not already a member, click the “Join” button and a group administrator will approve it usually within a day.
Once a member, share, discuss, participate!
How We Use Email
ACCESS: Check your email!
Check your spam/junk folder and if you find club email in there, tell your email system it is not spam and do not block in the future. (Let us know if you need help with that.)
How You Can Participate
Check your email once per day or at least every couple of days.
Since this is a primary means of communicating to our members, please:
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Let your Communication Secretary know If you are not receiving the newsletters monthly as this is an indication that our email system is not working well or perhaps we can assist you in preventing club emails from going to your spam folder. Or we may need to do somethings on our end. In any case, let us know!
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Let us know if email is NOT something you utilize and you prefer a different method of communication. Your use of email is helpful as it takes very little of our volunteers’ time to send it out to all members, but we do want to ensure all our members receive the information they need to fully participate in club activities.
How We Use Texting
ACCESS: Check your smartphone!
No official business or club communications are conducted via text, but we are open to changing that!
As you make new friends in the club share your preferences about being emailed, called, messaged on social media, or texted. As of right now, texting is between you and your fellow club members.
How We Use the Phone
We hope our members use the phone frequently to call fellow members to say “hello”! But, as far as official communications from the club, there are a handful of members who have requested that they be notified of some communications via the phone because they find the other methods of email, website, and social media unhelpful to them.
How We Use Printed Materials and the Postal Mail
We print updated portions of the Yearbook for every member for them to pick up at a meeting.
No official communications from the club are automatically sent via postal mail. But there are a handful of members who have requested that some items like the newsletter be printed to give to them at the meeting and then we often hand deliver or mail them if the printed material does not get picked up at the meeting.
If you utilize other methods such as email, website, social media, etc. please do NOT request this as it takes volunteer time and club money to do it. But, if needed, to ensure you get the full benefit of your membership, we are happy to do so!
LET A BOARD MEMBER KNOW IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
