News from the NSCC Alumni Association

NAA HEADQUARTERS - The NAA wants to take a moment and update you on what's happening in your NSCC Alumni Association. We wanted to update you on a successful agreement with our web hosts Wild Apricot, the Regional Representative Program, the Social Networking programs and an exciting opportunity for the NAA at the Regional Director's Conference this October. We hope you enjoy this update, and please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions, comments or suggestions at cbarnhart@nsccaa.org.

Wild Apricot Agreement

Wild Apricot has changed its pricing structure to be more competitive with other CSM service providers such as Zoho CRM. The NAA was paying $450/month for the WA services because once we reached 50 members we were forced to upgrade to the new plan. With a recent slowdown in new memberships, the NAA could no longer afford to maintain the $50/month for WA services. The NAA made the decision to downgrade to the Free Service. The Free Service restricted the NAA greatly regarding new members. With Free Service, the NAA database would no longer be able to support more than 50 members. Recently, WA changed it's pricing structure

Now - for $25/month, the NAA has restored all of its WA capabilities and can grow to up to 250 members on this new plan! We are excited about this because we feel it opens up the possibilities for new growth as the Regional Rep program comes online.

Regional Representative Program

The philosophy of the NAA is strong, and each of you know this. In order to grow the NAA nation-wide, we need to build a human infrastructure that provides support for the Sea Cadet Program as well as regional epicenters for Alumni activities. To accomplish this, we are building the NAA Regional Representative (RREP) Program.

We putting together a very focused committee that will oversee the creation of this program and its implementation. Our goal was originally to have the RREP Program fully operational by the end of 2009. We are revising this deadline because of the need to find qualified and motivated volunteers for these posts. Some of you have indicated that you would like to be considered for the RREP post in your local area. Each candidate will get an interview for the position by a committee. If we do not have enough qualified RREP candidates internally, then the RREP Committee will be instructed to pursue qualified external candidates such as retired Naval officers in the area.

The NAA "Regions" will align with those of the USNSCC. This ensures that there is a NAA RREP for every NSCC Regional Director. Some geographical areas are vast and large, we know this. In the future, we will most-likely add Assistant Regional Representatives as needed. If you are interested in being considered for the RREP post, please e-mail mlassen@nsccaa.org.

Social Networking

The NAA is now on Facebook and MySpace! Special thanks to Melissa Casey who made it happen, virtually overnight. With over 280 million users at MySpace and 57 million active Facebook users, we're bound to see some more Alumni in our ranks. The NAA also maintains the Google Group which has 95 registered users and a group on LinkedIn.com.

Regional Directors Conference 2009

The NSCC has invited the NAA to give a presentation to all of the Regional Directors at the 2009 RD Conference in San Diego, CA this October! Secretary Melissa Casey will represent the NAA at the conference and will deliver a Power Point Presentation discussing the Mission and Purpose of the NAA. She will also inform the RDs of the RREP Program and let them know that information packets will be sent out in the near future.

Your feedback is always welcome. Please feel free to contact any member of the leadership team:

Chris Barnhart, President

Amy Kelly, Vice President

Melissa Casey, Secretary

LCDR Myron Wambold, NSCC, Chairman of the Board

Mark Lassen, Coordinator of Regional Representatives

Thank you for your continued support of the NSCC Alumni Association. We look forward to growing the NAA with you.

NAA HEADQUARTERS - The NAA Board of Directors has outlined three major goals that it would like to accomplish by May 14th.  Under the direction of Chairman Myron Wambold, the NAA Board is working on Resolution 2009-08 to lower the prices of dues.  R2009-08 was proposed by the Chris Barnhart and later amended by Mr. Wambold.  The voting for this resolution is underway. The Board is also working on Resolution 2009-09 to Ratify the Bylaws. 

The Bylaws have been in various draft forms since 2007, and Chairman Wambold proposed their formal ratification last week.  Voting is underway by the Board at the present time. 

Further the Board is conducting as Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Wild Apricot web platform currently used by the NAA.  The President has suggested some cost saving alternatives.  Under the direction of the Director of Information Services (DIS) Mike Schaffer, the Board hopes to have this analysis also completed by the deadline. 

The Board has been recessed and is now getting the summer season underway.  For comments or suggestions to the board, please e-mail admin@nsccaa.org. 

NAA HEADQUARTERS - The NSCC Alumni Association is proud to announce that within the next few weeks, both Mike Schaffer and Brian Smith will be returning to the homeland from their assignments on Active Duty.  "We are especially proud of Mike and Brian for their courage and their dedication in serving our Country," said NAA President Chris Barnhart.  "They don't have easy jobs, Mike is a Combat Corpsman and Brian is an Army Chaplain," Barnhart said. 

 NAA Headquarters - "We are about to change the history of the Sea Cadet Corps forever," said NAA President Chris Barnhart earlier today.  "We are planning to launch a Sea Cadet Unit Wiki," said Barnhart.  What is a Wiki? 

"A Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser," according to Wiki.org.  Why would the NAA need a Wiki?

According to membership records, there are NAA members from the earliest days of the USNSCC and some from the present.  "There is history there," said Barnhart.  The idea for a Unit Wiki came from Don Gertz, a former Director for the NAA and a founding member. 

"We believe that future generations of Cadets, Midshipmen, Instructors and Officers are going to inherit a great legacy with a rich and valuable history unique to the history of the United States.  Who better to tell the story of units past and present than those who were there," said Barnhart.

The NAA Wiki would not be affiliated with the popular web site "Wikipedia" instead, the Association would support its very own, independent Wiki platform.  "We are currently looking at a system that is supported by Zoho Corporation.  Barnhart also said he and his team were looking at services provided by Google. 

The NAA says they expect to have the Wiki online in early 2010.  "The space is easy, it's the content that will present the challenge" said Barnhart.  "We want to make sure that the information created is credible, and reflects an accurate history of the unit and what it accomplished," he said. 

"We need members who believe in this program to donate to the NAA," said Barnhart.  "Membership dues keep the lights on - but this is the most unique Alumni Association in the world, and we've done things no one else has ever done before," said Barnhart.  "If I have my way, the NAA will continue to push forward and create new ways of getting the message about the NSCC out, and create new programs that assist units all over the country."  "We can't sit idly by and expect 'someone else to do it'," Barnhart said.