Who You Calling a Jesse?

Kitchener-Waterloo Turkey drive: Every family deserves a Christmas dinner

The following is my public service post of the season…

The Kitchener Conestoga Rotary Club believes every family should have a special Christmas Dinner, including a turkey. Five years ago, the Club decided to help make that a reality and has since raised $732,000 in support House of Friendship’s Christmas Hamper Program, which shares the gift of food with local families in need at Christmas time.

What are the facts?

This Christmas, House of Friendship anticipates the need for turkeys and Christmas Hampers will increase – that means 3,500 turkeys and 4,000 food hampers to feed over 10,000 people!

What will that cost?

The Kitchener Conestoga Rotary Club’s 2011 Turkey Drive goal is $275,000 to purchase turkeys and food products. We know this is a big goal, but we believe if we all pitch in a little, we will reach this goal, and more importantly reach thousands of local families. For as little as $20 you can sponsor a turkey. Or you may choose to sponsor a food hamper with a turkey for $80. All donations over $20 will receive an official income tax receipt. How many turkeys and hampers will you sponsor?

How can YOU help?

You can sponsor turkeys and food hampers rather than Christmas or corporate gifts; honour your clients with a donation to the Turkey Drive. Sponsor turkeys and food hampers and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Better yet, ask them to volunteer with you to pack or deliver hampers and turkeys.

How can I talk turkey?

Donate securely online at www.turkeydrive.ca or drop me an email to jrodgers at uwaterloo.ca.

The Daily Bulletin Editor that changed the University of Waterloo web

On Tuesday November 8th, 2011, Chris Redmond let everyone know (at the bottom) he is no longer the editor of the University of Waterloo’s daily news publication — the Daily Bulletin. He covers some the history of the Bulletin:

I have been editing the Daily Bulletin through more than 4,500 issues now since it was created in the spring of 1993. Originally the Daily Bulletin was distributed by “gopher”. In the spring of 1995 the first Web versions of the Daily Bulletin were tried out. In 1998, the “Link of the Day” was introduced; in 1999, the use of photos became a regular occurrence. The “When and Where” events listings began in 2003, and the present graphic design dates mostly from 2006.

What he leaves out is the role that he, along with Roger Watt and Carol Vogt, played with getting “UWinfo” online and to the staff, students, and faculty at the University of Waterloo.

When I started at the University of Waterloo in 2001, hired as the campus’ first Web Developer, I was interviewed in Chris’s office atop Needles Hall. That was the first time I actually met him. I heard about this UWinfo group that was two techies and a writer that learned HTML. That writer provided the content that grew into a very rich University of Waterloo web space.

Every business day Chris published an editorial on what is happening on campus. It was easily one of the first blogs in the world, never mind campus. The difference was that before there were commenting systems the uw.general newsgroup is where the ‘discussions’ happened about stories in the Bulletin. This engaged people in the publication at an early time. This is long before they were called blogs and sure comments never found their way into the Bulletin but I don’t think that is a negative thing.

Chris’s work on the Bulletin and what became the University of Waterloo ‘home page’ (something he “edited” daily until sometime after 2007) gave the University of Waterloo a template of content rich web pages. I believe everyone emulated his content focus in the early days and still influences how the web presence will evolve in the future. He saw the value of the web early and worked to use it for good to the best of his ability.

With Carol Vogt retiring a few years back (and sadly passed away shortly thereafter), Roger Watt retiring, the last of Waterloo’s web content pioneers has left his publication that defines the university web space for so many. It’s a big deal in my mind. Yes there are a few other folks that shaped those early days still around but to me the “UWinfo” group was the web… and if I missed anyone that deserves credit for that, sorry. I can update the post.

Good luck in retirement Chris (which isn’t for a few months at least), I look forward to all the content you have yet to create!

Edit: Hat tip to @garywill — almost forgot about Simon the troll