The concept is pretty simple: create an automated system that will enable Guild members to have a World Wide Web presence. Many people don’t need a full blown website. They just need a web page; a place where they can publish a bit of information, and a few pictures, about themselves and their work. Now, as it happens, your humble editor is also the Guild’s webmaster, and so the project fell to me. A project like this, simple as it may seem, is in fact pretty complicated. It is tricky enough to cre- ate a website ‘by hand.’ It is quite a bit trickier to write a program that allows normal people to make a webpage by filling in a form. Cyberspace is a very inconstant sort of space. What works here doesn’t work there. This can be a problem. But also, in cyberspace, there are very many dif- Member Web Pages ferent ways of doing anything. If you're stuck with this approach, then maybe that approach will work. Well, I created a program that worked perfectly on my own system. So | uploaded it to the Guild’s webhost (ie. the company that provides the facilities that support the Guild’s website) and it worked there too. Early users of the sys- tem revealed a problem - they could make their webpages just fine - but they couldn't change them! Not only that, but I couldn't change them either! Turns out that the webhost had, due to securi- ty concerns, configured their system so that my program could create pages, but not modify them. We geeks have an expression that we use in a situation like this. We say “hmmm”. This means “Geez - what do I do now?” Another expression we have is “hehe”. It’s a response to a challenge meaning “It may seem like I’m stuck but I can get unstuck by doing .. .” So, I’ve said “hehe” to the webhost problem. Saying “hehe” to the webhost meant rewriting the whole Member Web Page system. A geek has to be tough. So give it a try! If you don’t have a pres- ence on the internet, you can get it through the Guild for only $15 a year and the hassle of filling out a webform. What a deal! It’s not hard. A short bio, a short artist’s statement, a few pictures and you're ready to go. The form provides ample instructions, and is easy to use. There is a link on the Guild’s website to the Memberwebpages data entry form. Martin Hunt BC Tajimi Exhibition Update The BC-Tajimi in Japan has been well received with a lot of interest. 50 works from our Guild are being exhibited along- side 50 from Tajimi potters from Aug. 13 to Sept. 23. In 2006, we will be having a return exhibition when the Japanese potters will send their work over here. The exhibition is at the Tajimi Creative Plaza. Keith Rice-Jones October 2005 Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter