Internet Interests

New Policies and Guidelines for ASIS Chapter Websites

Several years ago, a few brave and innovative ASIS Chapters began to turn to the Internet to provide their members with additional benefits from their ASIS association. Without any clear direction or supervision, these visionary Chapters created websites and then began to learn how to make them more helpful to themselves. Some Chapters took great care to analyze and prepare their websites, while a few other Chapters simply posted “freebie” webpages that lacked professionalism and did not reflect well on ASIS. These widely different approaches became a matter of concern and ASIS International decided that the time had come for ASIS websites to conform to a set of standards that denoted professionalism and which established content guidelines and security.

The 2002 ASIS International Chapter Internet Development Committee consists of Chairman Allan Wick CPP (Senior RVP Chapter Internet Development), Steve Duell (Webmaster for ASIS Chapters San Francisco Bay Area, Minnesota, and Columbia River), and Anthony J Rizzo. This taskforce reviewed current ASIS website best practices and then began putting together their report. Many of the best practices that were incorporated came from the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter website.

It was discovered that a well-developed Chapter website provided its local members with many benefits including:

  • Cost effective solutions that allowed Chapters to spend their money on bigger and better events
  • Offering members more valuable information than would otherwise have been possible
  • Secured ecommerce transactions
  • Instant information updates and security alerts
  • Improved Chapter and member collaboration
  • Shared website technologies and methods between Chapters
  • Coordination in conjunction with the Office of Homeland Security through the use of Homeland Security Advisory status updates displayed on local Chapter website homepages
  • Improved efficiency and increased productivity

The committee faced several challenges. One of the main goals was to find a way to allow Chapters to build websites that would reflect their local needs and personality while at the same time staying within guidelines that would be applied to all Chapter websites to ensure professionalism and security. Another important goal was to create documents that gave clear direction and purpose to both ASIS Chapters and to the webmasters that Chapters may wish to hire. Lastly, all of the documents needed to be written in such a way that allowed Chapters to create their own websites without forcing them to first become webmasters.

The documents that were created and which will be presented at the 2002 ASIS International Seminar and Exhibits are:

  1. Preliminary Chapter Website Analysis
    Helps to determine whether or not a local website would help a Chapter’s current situation, which content would be most beneficial, and cost considerations.
  2. Planning & Preparation
    A ten-point action plan that steps a Chapter through their website’s development process. Includes discussion and helpful advice.
  3. Choosing an ISP
    General discussion of a wide range of issues to be considered when choosing website services including many security issues.
  4. Chapter Website Development Issues
    This large document includes standards for Chapter website content, administration, security, development tools, and more. There are policies for most aspects of the actual development and maintenance of the website. Packed with answers for most situations.
  5. Suggested Website Content
    Based on the best practices found in current Chapter websites, this is an extensive list of website features that Chapters may wish to incorporate into their websites.
  6. Sponsorship & Advertising on Chapter Websites
    In keeping with IRS restrictions and our own code of ethics, this document clearly defines the acceptable methods of advertising and announcing sponsorship on Chapter websites.
  7. Chapter Website Security
    This document deals with specific Chapter website security issues including public/member access, website administration, e-commerce, sensitive website content, website architecture, and more.
  8. Newsletters Via the Internet
    Discussion of, and guidelines for, the three primary methods for distributing an online Chapter newsletter; HTML only, Microsoft Word documents as an email attachment, & Adobe PDF files either as a download or as an email attachment.
  9. Gauging Chapter Internet Success
    Discussion on how to determine whether or not a Chapter website is serving the needs of its local members and some other methods of gauging the website’s success.
  10. Potential Website Developers
    A short list of website developers and website hosting companies offering discounts to ASIS Chapters for development and hosting of their website.

Following the ASIS Senior Leadership meeting in June this year, it was decided that the committee had produced enough information to warrant establishing these documents as global standards and to actively promote this concept through the following methods:

  • A presentation at the pre-seminar Chapter Officers Training Session on September 9th, 2002 by Steve Duell and introduced by Allan Wick CPP.
  • A new Internet Development section to be added to the ASIS International Virtual Chapter website that includes all of the documents listed above.
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  • A booth in the ASIS International Exhibitions section of the annual seminar in Philadelphia, PA.
  • Several MS PowerPoint presentations that will be shown in the booth and included on a special CD-ROM.
  • A CD-ROM containing all of this information and the MS PowerPoint presentations to be presented to attendees of the Chapter Officers Training Session
  • Ten full-version copies of Microsoft FrontPage 2002 to be given away in drawings during the seminar (Donation from Microsoft arranged by Steve Duell)

Since the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter already has a great majority of the new website standards in place, it will be prominently featured in the ASIS International booth hosted by Steve Duell with assistance from Connie Vaughn (SFBA Chairman), Brad Minnis CPP (SFBA Vice Chair), Ken Fauth CPP (SFBA Secretary), Patrick Sharkey CPP (SFBA Treasurer), Allan Wick CPP, and if his schedule permits, Alex Dourov (SFBA Website Committee Chairman).

I would like to take a moment to tell you that it is an honor to serve as a member on this ASIS International committee and to represent the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. The generous support and invaluable assistance from the officers of the SFBAC has been more fantastic than I could possibly have ever asked or hoped for. I fervently believe that ASIS International is evolving into its next logical phase of development and that the SFBA website will be remembered historically as the website that led the way.

For more than four years it has been my honor to serve as your webmaster and together we have continued the “maverick” reputation earned by the SFBAC. Our SFBA Chapter has a well known history for coming up with new ideas that have revolutionized our organization and very soon our website will join in with the likes of these previous innovations. I am very proud to be a part of this “maverick” reputation and I welcome your website suggestions and feedback.

Respectfully submitted by Steve Duell
SFBA Chapter Webmaster
Send replies to webmaster@sfasis.org