JET Alumni Association of Canada | JETAACanadaForum / JETAACanadaConferenceChat12-Dec-2006 browse

JETAA Canada Conference Chat 12-Dec-2006

Archival transcript. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

Joe - Canada CR: hi everybody
jenny - NAJETAA: hello
Amy - Toronto: hello everyone
Mike - MB/SK: Hello from Winnipeg.
Joe - Canada CR: i think we have 5 of us on - can you please confirm?
Amy - Toronto: Toronto is here
Brandi - SAJETAA: SAJETAA here
jenny - NAJETAA: NAJETAA is here
Joe - Canada CR: HI EVERYBODY! thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules for this
Joe - Canada CR: ok so as you can see from the agenda, we have a couple things to cover:

Go over CMS presentation
Resources to be shared with JETAA-I
contact information for chapters after Annual General Meetings take place
toronto's bid to host next year's intl conf
postcards to china
canada rep election stuff
chapter reports
and possibly making the chat a regular thing
are there any other topics you'd like to discuss?
if not, just say "no" :)

Mike - MB/SK: no
Amy - Toronto: no
jenny - NAJETAA: NAJETAA is okay with the agenda
jenny - NAJETAA: as is
Joe - Canada CR: brandi?
Brandi - SAJETAA: SAJETAA
sorry doing three things at once here
Joe - Canada CR: ok cool
Joe - Canada CR: so, the main purpose as i see it is to just debrief a bit about the jetaa-i conference and to have a bit of open discussion since we haven't met in such a long time
Joe - Canada CR: first item - CMS stuff
was everyone able to see the video online?
Mike - MB/SK: no
jenny - NAJETAA: yes
Brandi - SAJETAA: no. haven't looked at it yet
Joe - Canada CR: mike, were there any technical problems?
Mike - MB/SK: yes, my computer has no functioning sound card
Joe - Canada CR: oh, i see :)
Amy - Toronto: i haven't looked at it either
Joe - Canada CR: ok well let me summarize a bit then
from what i understand, the CMS team is still forging ahead on the same course as previous
Amy - Toronto: just looking at it now
Joe - Canada CR: jenny, please jump in if i've missed anything
jenny - NAJETAA: the floor is yours
Amy - Toronto: how different is it from what they presented at the national conference in June?
Joe - Canada CR: good question amy -- i was not really able to discern any big differences :)

one thing they did emphasize this time (and which was discussed at the intl conf) was the conclusion that it would be impossible to import any existing databases -- hence, members would have to sign up again to be part of the CMS

Mike - MB/SK: What is the timeline on it?

Brandi - SAJETAA left the chat. (6:17:25 PM)
Brandi - SAJETAA joined the chat (6:17:38 PM)

Joe - Canada CR: mike, as far as timeline goes, what i heard was next january for the "beta"
actually, i think they are saying they have already achieved "beta" which means testing stage
however, jetaabc has yet to hear what needs to be done in terms of testing
Joe - Canada CR: any other thoughts / concerns with the CMS?
Joe - Canada CR: by the way: i did invite paul donovan to this chat, but i haven't heard back from him yet
Amy - Toronto: do we all have to implement this system?
Joe - Canada CR: amy, from what i understand it is intended to become "universal" across jetaa chapters
Joe - Canada CR: however, i definitely share your concerns as far as implementation goes ...

Brandi - SAJETAA left the chat. (1:19:54 PM)

Amy - Toronto: not really a concern - just asking so i have all the facts straight ;)
Joe - Canada CR: they have a demo showing how people are supposed to show up
this is included in the video
but again, without information on how to test, i'm afraid i don't have much more than what is presented in the video
Joe - Canada CR: also, if any of you have any other cms concerns / questions, please toss them out so i can forward them to paul donovan
otherwise just say "no"
Amy - Toronto: no
Joe - Canada CR: thank you
Mike - MB/SK: no - we need to wait for implementation
Joe - Canada CR: i agree, mike
Joe - Canada CR: jenny, what did you think of the cms video?
jenny - NAJETAA: I am okay with CMS, I am concerned abit about the timeline issues, and the resign-ing up. But I think it will be effective and perhaps a "fresh" start for us
as we have lots of members in our curent database who are not jetaa
Amy - Toronto: as do we
Joe - Canada CR: that's interesting ...
Amy - Toronto: i never thought of how that might affect them
Joe - Canada CR: from what i understand the CMS is intended to be some sort of contact system for "members"
jenny - NAJETAA: also we have a lot of members
from other chapters - calgary, sask and bc
who are on our yahoo group too
Joe - Canada CR: but it is not going to be the authoritative Alumni Membership List for GIA funding purposes
Mike - MB/SK: how is members defined?
Amy - Toronto: i don't think anyone really has an answer for that?
Amy - Toronto: sorry - not a question - typing too fast
Joe - Canada CR: mike -- yes, i think it totally depends on the chapter
one of the classic JETAA topics :)
Mike - MB/SK: lol
jenny - NAJETAA: yes it will be interesting to see what happens
Joe - Canada CR: bottom line is, as for GIA funding, I would guess that CLAIR is interested in alumni members, and our current system for reporting membership numbers is not going to change with the CMS
this is something the CLAIR guy himself said
jenny - NAJETAA: Yes i recall this
Joe - Canada CR: ok with that i would like to move to the next topic -- we'll reserve some time for the end for remaining concerns
as for resources to be shared with JETAA-I
Amy - Toronto: resources such as what?
Joe - Canada CR: yes, thanks amy ... this was one of those jetaa-i projects where it was realized that many of us share the same tasks, like making pre-departure materials, etc.
so it would be good to have those in a central place for people to browse
so Cindy Pitkin (JETAA-I secretary again this year) requested that we send her any resources that she can put on the JETAAI webstie
of course, most of them are already available on our chapter websites
jenny - NAJETAA: Joe, i know I asked you to take this off agenda however - i will throw it out there
jenny - NAJETAA: Najetaa is a ok with sending our resources that we have on the web
Amy - Toronto: oh right. so like P-DOT handbooks, newsletters, etc.
Joe - Canada CR: yes
that kind of stuff
jenny - NAJETAA: but for the past few years our chapter has been trying to create a marketable teachers resource manual
Amy - Toronto: our website isn't working right now so if anyone takes a look at it, it isn't up to date
jenny - NAJETAA: and so sending out teaching resources is kinda sensitve for us
Joe - Canada CR: also, sajetaa has an interesting one, they've posted their society constitution, which would be useful to chapters looking to become a society / non-profit org
Joe - Canada CR: ok sorry jenny, you have the floor
jenny - NAJETAA: so - and I havent asked my chapter yet - but would you other chapters be interested in perhaps collaboration efforts? perhaps you could toss this idea around and we could disscuss at the next national meeting?
Amy - Toronto: we are currently creating two units of lessons on Japan for Ontario teachers that fit in with all the curriculum requirement - why are you apprehensive about sharing yours JEnny?
jenny - NAJETAA: well we are trying to put together a book - for departing jets - that we could use the funds for sustaingin our chapter
jenny - NAJETAA: so if our ideas are already out there for free...
Amy - Toronto: oh teaching resources for JETs - gotcha
Joe - Canada CR: yup, i think this would be great to follow up at the next national conference
jenny - NAJETAA: so we are VERY GLAD to send our departure and reentry materials...just not teaching resources:)
Joe - Canada CR: that sounds good
jenny - NAJETAA: However in saying that we need help -
so we wanted to put it out there - it could be a Canada JET teaching resource manual
?
Amy - Toronto: i think sharing resources is a great idea
jenny - NAJETAA: no pressure to respond- just thinking
Amy - Toronto: why reinvent the wheel as they say...
Mike - MB/SK: This sounds like a good fundraiser. Just like our shirts and bags, if you design the book, we can buy it off of you to resell...
Joe - Canada CR: Jenny, I think that's a great proposal, thanks for coming forward with that idea. Is it OK to talk about it at the next conference?
jenny - NAJETAA: sure
Amy - Toronto: i've had lots of comments about your bags mike!
Joe - Canada CR: great. Ok, so for the "sharing resources with JETAAI topic" -- may i propose that I gather up stuff from your websites, and if you have anything else you wouldn't mind passing along that you simply email them to me -- and that i send out a list of the stuff i intend to forward, allow 2 weeks to pass, and if there are no objections i will send them to Cindy Pitkin. Is that OK?
Mike - MB/SK: I agree, lets discuss it at the next conference....
Amy - Toronto: lots of people wanting to know where they can get one at every JETAA event I go to!
jenny - NAJETAA: OK
to Joe
Mike - MB/SK: Amy - If you need more bags, let us know.
Amy - Toronto: ok
sorry off topic
Joe - Canada CR: that's great ... actually also offtopic, but a minor one: right now we still have blank slots for prices for the jetaa merchandise on the wiki -- should I just take that out?
here http://jetaabc.ca/JETAACanadaForum/JETAACanadaForum#merchandise
Mike - MB/SK: WEll, we just need to update the email address. I'll do that now...
Joe - Canada CR: thanks mike
ok
ok to move to next topic?
Amy - Toronto: yes
jenny - NAJETAA: Yes
Mike - MB/SK: ok
Joe - Canada CR: thank you. amy, any update from tornoto as far as the possibility of hosting next year's JETAA-I conference (not canada conference)
jenny - NAJETAA: I think we have lost brandi?
Joe - Canada CR: i'm trying to get her
she just dropped off again
i'm working on it :)
Amy - Toronto: no update yet. just a bit of background for everyone - jetaa toronto put in a bid to host the 2006 international conferece
it ended up being held in Australia and we were then asked to host the 2007 conference
it is between us, Germany and Russia, I think. correct me if i'm wrong joe.
Joe - Canada CR: amy, did you hear back from michelle morita from sydney, who was responsible for organizing this year's conference?
Amy - Toronto: all i kow is that jetaai is supposed to contact us when they've made a decision
Joe - Canada CR: amy, yes, that is correct, germany and russia also expressed an interest in hosting
Amy - Toronto: i never heard back from michelle
Joe - Canada CR: oh ok, i will see if i can prod her a bit :)
Amy - Toronto: sasja suggested that you might know when we will hear joe.
any ideas?
Joe - Canada CR: actually, my understanding is that jetaai is waiting for some sort of "bid" from toronto -- so I'm glad we talked!!
Amy - Toronto: nobody ever contacted us
Joe - Canada CR: last year, did you submit some sort of written bid?
Amy - Toronto: we did
Joe - Canada CR: can you polish that up for this year and send it along?
Amy - Toronto: yup, but not this week
i hope that's not too late
Joe - Canada CR: that's fine, i think that's all jetaai needs to move forward
maybe by the end of dec?
Amy - Toronto: who do i need to contact about this at jetaai?
to clarify?
michelle?
Joe - Canada CR: ali bond -- jetaai.chair@googlemail.com
Amy - Toronto: ok - ahh jetaa communications are as great as ever
;)
Joe - Canada CR: yupyup, glad we got it straightened out
that's fine becasue i think they were just hoping to hear back from potential hosting chapters by the end of december
so we're right in line with the timeline
Mike - MB/SK: btw, shirts and bags info is updated
Joe - Canada CR: mike - looks good! http://jetaabc.ca/JETAACanadaForum/JETAACanadaForum#merchandise
Joe - Canada CR: ok thanks amy for the info
Joe - Canada CR: next topic: canada rep election stuff
i have brandi in the other window, but somehow she's not able to join the multi-chat
let's table that until brandi comes online - mostly we need to know when we will have a "Returning Officer" to run the election
and thanks again amy, for reminding me about sending out a reminder :)
Joe - Canada CR: next topic: postcards to china
Joe - Canada CR: this is from Ali Bond, Dec 11

Subject: Christmas card to China

Hi everyone
You will remember that, at the IM, we decided it would be a great idea to keep 
in touch with China JET reps and that it would be great if each CR could send a 
Christmas card to a chosen rep on behalf of their country. 
Victor has let me know the contact details of the best person to send the cards to. This is:

Mr. Fan Ying Long
Information Office of Beijing Municipality
10, Fuhuananli Block, Chongwen District, Beijing, China 100061


I do hope that you will feel the festive international spirit and send a card as soon as you can.

Many thanks
Ali Bond

Joe - Canada CR: basically, the story is that china has an increasing number of jet alumni, and it was suggested that the existing chapters encourage them to form an alumni chapter
it's a small thing, but if you happen to have time to send a wee postcard, that would be nice
Amy - Toronto: why are they hesitant?
Joe - Canada CR: amy - i think they are just not organized yet
Joe - Canada CR: in china, all JETs are alreday public employees
so they have jobs waiting for them when they return from japan
however, if they get organized into a jetaa chapter, that's one more little networking opportunity for us
Amy - Toronto: ok
jenny - NAJETAA: will try - we are trying to keep our own chapter alive this year :( all of the executive - save me has resigned:(
we need postcards too
Amy - Toronto: everyone resigned?
jenny - NAJETAA: ;)
yes they have been on the exec for 7 - 8 years
Amy - Toronto: even kirk?
get jacquie involved
jenny - NAJETAA: they are burned out - our chapter does too much
jenny - NAJETAA: NO I am sticking around to keep it alive!!!
you'll see me
cool
Joe - Canada CR: anyway, i sent a postcard on behalf of BC the other day. it looks like this:
Joe - Canada CR: no big deal, but if you have time, that would be nice
Mike - MB/SK: What does it say, Joe?
Joe - Canada CR: mike -- i don't know, our president wrote that in chinese!
Mike - MB/SK: ok
Joe - Canada CR: probably something like happy new year :)
Joe - Canada CR: next topic: chapter reports
Joe - Canada CR: has everybody been getting the messages from Sharon Bignell?
they are coming out via the "aadelegates" email list
jenny - NAJETAA: Yes and I beleive Joe, Gretchen sent NAJETAA report last week
Joe - Canada CR: yup, i got the CC :)
Amy - Toronto: yes - but i don't know what this chapter report template is that she is talking about
does anyone have it?
that could send it to me?
Joe - Canada CR: amy - sure, i will send you a copy of the template

Edit: template attached Attach:JETAA_Chapter_Information_for_2006_CRJ_Canada.doc

Amy - Toronto: Thanks!
Joe - Canada CR: ok that takes care of it then, she is only missing sajetaa and i will follow up with brandi in the other window
Joe - Canada CR: amy, great to hear that you were FINALLY added to "aadelegates" :)
Amy - Toronto: it is nice.
it took a loonnggg time
but now i know what's going on!
Joe - Canada CR: yeah that shouldn't have taken so long ...
Joe - Canada CR: that reminds me, i think i'm going to make a checklist of stuff that needs to get updated at the Canada and JETAAI levels when a new exec comes on board
Amy - Toronto: that's a great idea!
Joe - Canada CR: stuff like making sure someone at your chapter is subscribed to "aadelegates" and "jetaa_cdn_reps"
will send it out in time for the january AGMs
Amy - Toronto: i've been forwarding all your updates to our executive
Joe - Canada CR: thank you, i appreciate that, amy
Amy - Toronto: and they actually wanted to talk about it at our last executive meeting
jenny - NAJETAA: And I will forward you NAJETAA new executive in a day or two
Joe - Canada CR: i also wonder whether we should reconsider our decision to put only ONE person from each chapter on "jetaa_cdn_reps" -- but i don't want to open that can of worms again until the next Canada conference :)
anyway
that pretty much takes care of our scheduled agenda items
Joe - Canada CR: just to recap: action items for joe are to send amy a copy of the report template, and to create a checklist for exec changeovers
Joe - Canada CR: optional action item for everyone is to send a postcard to china
Mike - MB/SK: Just wrote a postcard to China...and its a CLAIR postcard, no less
Joe - Canada CR: WOW that was fast, mike! thanks!
Joe - Canada CR: let's see, did i forget anything?
Amy - Toronto: i liked having this update, but is there anyway that we can having it with audio instead of typing everything?
on skype or something?
Joe - Canada CR: amy, i thought about that
it's a good suggestion
and it's possible to have the audio transcribed, so that's not a concern
but mainly, i am concerned about the technical issues associated with audio over internet
Mike - MB/SK: That's a good suggestion, except I have no sound on my computer for the forseeable future
jenny - NAJETAA: i think i like this better though - the text record
Mike - MB/SK: I agree that the text record is best and the conversation seems to move quickly.
Amy - Toronto: it's just more personal with voices....
jenny - NAJETAA: i think we will be to chatty :)
Amy - Toronto: but as long as it gets the job done it doesn't matter how we do it!
Joe - Canada CR: would you all like to have this type of conference again?
jenny - NAJETAA: yes
Mike - MB/SK: yes
Joe - Canada CR: yay :) ok let's see now, when would be a good time to have another chat?
jenny - NAJETAA: Joe will you email us re elections
since Brandi is having tech issues
Joe - Canada CR: jenny, yes, i have her in the other window
Joe - Canada CR: FYI - my conv with brandi: the jetaa canada rep election needs a returning officer ... could you please nominate one from your chapter

Brandi - SAJETAA
sure

Joe - Canada CR
everybody misses you over in the other chat window
jenny - NAJETAA: Our first executive meeting is Jan 9th - could we do it after that?
with our new skeleton crew exec
Amy - Toronto: how often are chapter reports due joe?
Amy - Toronto: could we perhaps schedule these conversations a few weeks before that so that we all have a reminder?
Joe - Canada CR: amy, that's a great question ... umm, personally i'm not requiring chapter reports as i prefer to just talk with you rather than give out homework ... but as for CLAIR I suppose this "conference for returning JETs handbook" is going to be a yearly affair
Amy - Toronto: ok, so maybe that won't work
Amy - Toronto: bi-monthly?
Joe - Canada CR: brandi says: I don't know why I can't get back over, since I was there before...odd. Have one of the others tried?
Joe - Canada CR: can someone please send her an invite to this chat?
Joe - Canada CR: amy, ok that sounds good
Mike - MB/SK: I think that it is best to schedule these long in advance so that we can have an agenda set out beforehand and then the meeting flies by.
Joe - Canada CR: let's see now, according to the JETAA Canada Calendar: http://jetaabc.ca/JETAACanadaForum/JETAACanadaForum#calendar
Amy - Toronto: good idea
Mike - MB/SK: bi-monthly works for me
Joe - Canada CR: canada rep platforms are due feb 15
Amy - Toronto: you are so handy with that WIKI, Joe ;)
Joe - Canada CR: how about we have the chat around the first of february then?
jenny - NAJETAA: Good with NAjETAA
jenny - NAJETAA: can't add Brandi
sorry
Mike - MB/SK: good...please send a reminder next month?
Joe - Canada CR: Yes.
brandi says: no worries. stupid computers, eh? Tell everyone I'm sorry I missed out on the chat
jenny - NAJETAA: no i'm good - i have to go - 30 page paper due tomorrow - finsihing touches left :)
Amy - Toronto: time for bed....i had to come to my parents because their computer is faster than mine
have a great week everyone and merry christmas!
Joe - Canada CR: thank you so much, everyone, for taking the time to chat
jenny - NAJETAA: take care happy holidays
Mike - MB/SK: nice chatting with all of you. Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, and all the rest
Joe - Canada CR: talk to you again in early feb
Amy - Toronto: bye
jenny - NAJETAA: see you then
Joe - Canada CR: thank you -- good night!

Amy - Toronto left the chat. (7:11:33 PM)

Mike - MB/SK JETAA left the chat. (7:11:49 PM)

jenny - NAJETAA left the chat. (7:15:22 PM)