e have introduced a new system for logging on to the OL website that is designed to make it easy for members to gain access quickly yet make it easy for them to ensure that their email addresses are correct and up to date. With members changing their ISP to move to broadband or escape from the spammers it is essential that we have up to date email addresses.
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Names for Faces facility has been reprogrammed to improve the appearance and functionality of the panoramic photos of the pupils and staff. The photos are larger and the overlaid graphics have been extended in style and scope. We hope that this facility will continue to be a favorite spot for OLs to visit and browse.
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mentioned last year, it is now time for members to start thinking about the possibility of holding another Reunion. The last one, in 2004, was very well supported. Those members who did not attended can read about it in the "Reunion" section of this website. Undoubtedly we have lost quite a few members since then though we have recruited some new ones who have recently discovered our website.
We would like members to think about the matter and give their considered views on the "Reunions?" forum. Please do not send email on this issue to O L Webmaster (Maurice) or John Davey at this early stage.
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now planning for a reunion at Lewes similar to that held in 2004. In 2004 it was held at the end of October in the school half-term but in 2008 it will be held on a Saturday just before the autumn term begins either the 30th August or 6th September. There will be an afternoon event at the Priory School and an evening dinner at the White Hart as before.
The plans will proceed step by step with details and ticket booking facilities on the website. At first there will be an opportunity to express your intentions and wishes without any committment followed by a subsequent phase where intentions harden into committments. It must be emphasised that the costs of organising these functions is such that we need to have more than a certain number to make it economically viable.
If you have an interest in attending please keep an eye on the OL website to see the current state of play early in the New year.
Our changes to the logon pages for the OL website has paid dividends in terms of active members keeping their email and address details up to date. We now have a system that keeps up with the changes to email address that are so frequent these days. Now we can keep in contact with them and not allow the database to fossilise.
A bigger problem are the members who rarely visit. Lapses of several years are not uncommon. In this case we had over 250 members (nearly a third) who could not be contacted by email and did not log on to the website. If a reunion is to be held in 2008 we needed to get back into contact with these members.
Sending letters to them would have been expensive in terms of time and money and probably not very effective. We devised a scheme that would enable members to use telephone calls to get try to make contact with lost members who are still using their old numbers. This scheme PhoneSearch has been quite successful at identifying who has died, who has moved and who are still at their old addresses but have changed email addresses. We have reduced the numbers of lost members to about 100 so far. This has been achieved by the combined efforts of OL Webmaster and Eric Mears. Unfortunately PhoneSearch has had virtually no support from members and we have decided to restrict its use to the OL management. We will use it to track down the stragglers and we will soon have only a small residual group who have vanished without trace.
We hope to make available a simple "Lost List" showing names, addresses, post codes, etc and leave it to members to devise their own methods to find lost members, especially those from their own years or present location. If they find lost members they can then inform O L Webmaster or Eric Mears.
For those without email facilities (Postal Members) we shall be sending out a postal email in late spring with news of the Reunion2008 and opportunity to bid for tickets.