Re: DISASTER PLAN

[John I Jones <jijones@usjoneses.com>]

John, please foward this to AISDiscuss. AMW
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Mr. Hager said:

<<I know that when Anner Whitehead was membership secretary, she went  
to great lengths to document exactly what the job detailed.>>

Yes, this is correct. It had to be done. I also backed up routinely,  
and secured files off site.

True story:

When I took the job of AIS Membership Secretary, on the eve of the  
annual renewal season, accepting the baton from a fatigued ten-year  
incumbent, I took delivery of a wonky geriatric computer running the  
databases which in large measure sustained the Society in an archaic  
software, and a collection of truly superbly maintained membership  
and financial records, but I received no insights into the  
practicalities of the office, nor any written instructions whatsoever  
about how to do the job.

No calendar of duties. No compilation of AIS policy as regards  
Membership or the prerogatives of the Membership Secretary. No  
description of how the several databases were structured or deployed.  
No pointers as to the fiscal aspects of the office. No insider  
overview of how the Membership Secretary supported the Regions, the  
Sections, the Board, or other AIS departments. No instructions as to  
how to, for instance, enroll a new member, or maintain the Judges  
Roster, or compile the mailing list for the Bulletin.

The Treasurer made arrangements for my predecessor to be available to  
me for a while, and we made it through a hellish three months without  
dropping a stitch, but I resolved no one else would ever have that  
experience, and I understood clearly that AIS was vulnerable to  
meltdown if anything happened to me.

When I was able, I banged out a manual of policies and procedures of  
such specificity that, with it, a chimpanzee could have run the AIS  
Membership Office. It was not a polished document, for available time  
was short, but it did what had to be done.

Anent backups:

I always backed up the active member database at frequent intervals,  
typically daily. The most recent backups were stored on a zip disk in  
the office, and also emailed to my husband's office computer across  
town. He was the systems administrator at work so I knew that was  
secure. A complete archives on zip disk, including all databases, and  
also notes of enrollments of life members, Bulletin mailing lists,  
financial deposits, etc. was kept in my safety deposit box and  
updated as appropriate. I also stored a backup copy of the precious  
archaic software itself. Although there were hard copies of all  
financial records in the office, I scanned every check that passed  
through my hands, and also stored a scan of every bank deposit. Any  
email which needed to be archived, which was not much, was backed up  
in hard copy.

Redundency makes for enhanced peace of mind.

I believe there have been many changes, but it seems to me that if  
the AIS Membership Office could manage this during what was arguably  
its most overburdened era in recent memory, then it is reasonable to  
suggest that all AIS departments be held responsible for ensuring  
continuity of their core knowledge base, and security of their  
critical records.

Cordially,

Anner M. Whitehead

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