On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA April-May 2016 | Page 27

New look, new tools, new changes at gardenwriters.org BY ASHLEY HODAK-SULLIVAN Y ou may have noticed that our website has undergone a bit of a facelift. We are very excited to welcome you to the NEW gardenwriters.org! So what has changed? NEW MOBILE-RESPONSIVE, BRANDED DESIGN Our members are constantly on the go, and we have built a design to meet you where you are. View it on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop at home, in the garden or on the tradeshow floor. NEW COMMUNITIES All GWA members now have exclusive access to our new MemberFuse community platform. Join a GWA community for your region, special interest or events. Members can ask questions, give advice, share news or just say hi. To get started today, find the portal under Member Resources. Member login is required. We recommend joining the GWA Members General Discussion Community, starting a conversation in your Regional Community and updating your profile. NEW (AND IMPROVED) PUBLIC DIRECTORY, GWACONNECT NEW NAVIGATION Why should you have the wade through useless and outdated pages to find what you’re looking for? The new streamlined navigation gets you to where you need to go fast. There are new portals for member recruitment, events and resources. New tools, pages, resources and galleries are being added every day so check back often. NEW MEMBERS PORTAL Gone are the days of three separate directories for writers, photographers and speakers. If an industry partner, garden club or members of the public is looking for a writer, blogger, photographer, speaker, graphic designer, marketer or artist, all they need to do is pick a location, communicator type and search. Launched in February, the new GWA Members Portal is a central database for all your member information and activity. Update your information, register for events, search the membership directory, view and pay your invoices and much more, all in one place, all in real time. Member results include name, location, website, blog, expertise and enhanced speaker information. Coming soon, users will also be able to search by expertise. The best part? Your contact information such as phone and email are protected. If a user wishes to contact you, they submit a request via a contact form that comes directly to you. Can’t log into the website? Visit MyGWA under Member Resources. A login screen will appear. Click “Forgot your password?” Enter your email address. A message will be sent with a secure link to set or reset your password. Click the link and choose a new password. Once complete, you may login using your email as username and your new password. For issues, please call 212.297.2197. Once you’re logged in, you can access all the exclusive member-only benefits, including the legal advice portal and the job center. Be sure to update all your member information, including your garden communicator types, expertise and speaker information. We would like to recognize and thank GWA’s stellar Website Committee, whose hours of thought, insight and recommendations were the foundation of this new and exciting project. Thank you to chair C.L. Fornari and committee members Daniel Gasteiger and Katie Elzer-Peters. Because of all of their work, this project was completed in a matter of weeks — not months or even years. HOW TO LOGIN We want to hear from you! Have comments or questions? Contact the GWA team at 212.297.2198 or [email protected]. Ashley Hodak Sullivan is Deputy Executive Director of GWA. 27