The article
reproduced below appeared in the US and Canada Branch
newspaper to celebrate the website's first Birthday in July
2010.
I hope that you have enjoyed
browsing the Clan MacThomas website this past year. There is a
wealth of information about our Clan worldwide and our fellow
clansmen/clanswomen in particular. If you haven’t spent time
browsing the website, I challenge you to make it a top
priority on your “to-do” list.
Perhaps you have
wondered who is the behind-the-scenes-Webmaster person? The
Clan MacThomas Webmaster is Jon Hedges. Jon lives in England
and was actively involved in the Clan Society as Treasurer,
Membership Secretary and on the Society Council prior to
accepting the additional position of
Webmaster.
Q.
Jon, how were you chosen to be the
webmaster?
A.
I
have actually only just been appointed webmaster. Prior
to that I had the role of website builder. The Society
Council had long recognised that the old website was
past its sell by date and had appealed for a young
member with IT experience to build a new site. Sadly
there were no volunteers so, in frustration, I offered
to find a professional to do the job. The person whom I
had in mind then had a change of circumstances and was
not able to help. I was therefore left with little
choice but to undertake the build myself. In the event
it is clear that this was the best solution because it
gives the Society maximum
flexibility.
Q.
What were some of the steps towards
developing the
website?
A.
It is possible either to build a website from
scratch with “HTML” or to use a software package.
Because of my inexperience with websites we chose to use
a package and the first step was to find a suitable one.
Fortunately my brother, Simon, had recently built a
website for his business and was able to recommend
Microsoft Office Live. I just had to teach myself how to
use it!
The second stage was to choose the best colours and
fonts. There was considerable debate amongst the society
officers and eventually the current purple scheme was
agreed.
The third stage was
to decide a logical structure for the pages on the
site.Finally
we had to collect photographs and text and add them to
the pages. In this task I was dependent upon help from
our Chief and several other
Clan
members. Since the site went live I have continued
development and have recently added a secure members’
area.
Q.
What do you do in your life outside
of Clan MacThomas
responsibility?
A.
Despite reaching my employer’s normal retirement
age, I continue to work justover three days per week on
environmental matters. On most of the
remaining four days I spend some
time working on Clan Society matters. If
Ido have spare time I will spend it
in the garden or possibly looking after
myhouse. I also take a keen interest
in investments. If I had more time I
wouldlike to spend time rambling and
visiting places of interest. Roll on
retirement!
