Re: DISASTER PLAN

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

Kitty you are of course correct. Procedures, policies and protocols are only as good as how well they are used. If they are never really formulated, written out, and accepted, there is little chance they will be communicated by anyone. Disaster planning is for a worst case scenario, but just the normal transfer of duties from one individual to another in this organization is often lacking any guidance. It is interesting that we all are highly competant individuals who in our professional environments deal with transitions and protocols in professional ways but when we take on responsibilties within our "beloved" hobby we seem to forget much of what we know.

----- Original Message -----
From: "K. Loberg" <iris.loberg@comcast.net>
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 12:35:26 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] DISASTER PLAN

Thank you John for doing this, and reminding everyone of this off site 
backup.
I don't see this issue being a huge issue of establishing policy... many 
policies just get broken, lost, forgotten...
I see it as a bigger issue of Training.   No policy in the world is going to 
happen without instructions/training,
and leadership to encourage the implementation to happen.

John already has set up the off site location, and a simple FTP method to 
upload the files.   I use an FTP
for my stuff all the time, it is simple.    He probably has his instructions 
from before, perhaps
they need some enhancements and a cover letter sent out to explain... but in 
any event they
just need to be distributed to everyone again, mentioning the importance, 
and encourage all to do so.
Thanks again John!

Kitty Loberg

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John I Jones" <jijones@usjoneses.com>
To: <aisdiscuss@aisboard.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 1:26 PM
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] DISASTER PLAN


Some years ago I set up (free)  FTP sites for the Treasurer,
Secretary, and Membership Secretary use as off site backup locations.
(actually I think I offered anyone that wanted it the capability)

I don't know if they are being used. Using an FTP process requires a
utility program to manage the uploading and many of them are
available for free. But the discipline has to be in place to maintain
the backup.

There are also services available (mostly for a fee) that will
automatically backup files.

The Lowes periodically send me a copy of the registration database to
use with irisregister, but as often as the registration changes, it
should be backed up on a daily basis.  Part of the problem with the
Registrar informationis that the Lowes have a slow internet
connection which makes sending large files problematic.

A policy would not be difficult to create.

How about "Every AIS Officer, Administrative Officer,  Director,
Committee Chair,  and paid position will maintain an off site backup
of all AIS information.
(I admit to, and apologize for, being a little flip here but you get
the idea)

Having a policy is one thing. Having people adhere to it is another.

John


On Sep 9, 2009, at 12:25 PM, Rita Gormley wrote:

> Obviously, we need feedback from our Electronics Chair because the
> "offsite
> backup technology" has made great advances in recent years.  For
> not a big
> cost, there are storage sites that will take all kinds of files
> ( MemSec uses
> FileMaker Pro as does Registrar I think, Treasurer uses Quickbooks
> etc).
>
> AIS does need to have a "written policy" for backup of important
> information
> that would cause a Disaster if lost.  Each of us probably has our
> individual
> "plans" doing consistent backup but if there was a central offsite
> storage, it
> would be much better.
>
> Rita Gormley
>
> --- On Wed, 9/9/09, Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
> Subject: [AISdiscuss] DISASTER PLAN
> To: "AISdiscuss" <aisdiscuss@aisboard.org>
> Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 12:51 PM
>
>
> Redundancy Memo: Disaster Plan
>
>
>
> B
>
> An organization the size of AIS should have a disaster plan.
> Redundancy in
> some positions is one way of coping. Another is back-ups of
> critical data.
> What if The Lowes were struck by a meteorite. do we have a back-up
> of the
> checklists off site. What if California had their great earthquake
> is there a
> copy at another site of our financial records. What if the memberships
> chairbs house burned down do we have offsite a copy of membership
> records.
> What if the exhibitions chair went into a coma from a car wreck,
> etc etc. B
> It seems to me we are vulnerable as an organization if we donbt have
> suitable back-up and redundancy policies that are outlined and
> maintained. T
> HIS SHOULD BE SOMETHING WE COULD WORK OUT BEFORE THE BOARD MEETING.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
> <aissecretary@irises.org>
> The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
> http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
> <aissecretary@irises.org>
> The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
> http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/ 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/