Welcome to our new website!

It is with great pleasure that I write the first President’s Message for our brand new website. As you can see, the site is completely redesigned, allowing us to grow and develop it for many years to come. The initial form of the site is static, and has limited new content on it. In the next phase of its development, already started, we will be adding dynamic features to allow us to update and change it, and for you to access its features, with greater ease than before.

Among the first things to be added will be the online membership registration/renewal system, which we hope will markedly enhance your experience as a new or renewing member. We will also be adding a forum and potentially other networking tools that will allow likeminded members to meet and interact in a safe virtual space. We also plan to facilitate the formation of Local Member Groups in those more isolated communities where such parent groups are not easily established. Please look under “Local Groups” to see if there is an active group in your community. If you would like to start one please email to LMG@gcabc.ca.

Topic

In parallel with the addition of technical sophistication to the site, we will be developing new content as well. It is our goal to inform you about the very latest understandings of giftedness, to report to you on interesting studies, and to help you find resources in your community. We hope not only to write a great deal of original material, but also to point you to places where you can find the information you are looking for. In general, we intend to strengthen our website in order to optimize our connections with you, our members, and our links to the most accurate and relevant information about gifted development and education. We are optimistic that as our technological capacities advance, so too will our ability to provide timely and reliable support to gifted children, parents, and teachers throughout the province.

Another important development will be the new format and content of Bright Connections, our newsletter. Once in possession of the dynamic website, we plan to publish the newsletter online only, more frequently than in the past, and with greater variety in content. For example, we plan to invite submissions of children’s work, we hope to prompt and publish more submissions from our members, and brief you on interesting research findings. If you would like to get involved with the editorial group for the newsletter, or have something you would like to publish, please send an email to newsletter@gcabc.ca.

I hope you will take the time to explore our new site, and to help us develop it in the right direction by emailing us your comments and suggestions to website@gcabc.ca. Please let us know about things you were happy to see, or about topics or answers you expected to find but did not. All the changes we have made, and plan to make in the coming months, are the fruits of many hours of volunteer work. To ensure that we will be able to improve our services and strengthen our organization, I invite you to provide TECH support (Time, Experience, Commitment, and Help), as much as you can.

If you would like to get involved in our renewal initiatives, please contact us at president@gcabc.ca.

Thank you for reading, and for supporting the GCABC through your membership.

Melinda Meszaros

GCABC President 2008-10