[BNM] SkillSwap Announcement

[SkillSwap]

Hi SkillSwappers,

You may have noticed that SkillSwap has been quiet of late. However  
we've not been resting on our laurels. Quite the opposite in fact.  
We've been deep inside our dormant volcano lair (OK, well mostly at  
the Sanctuary cafe) plotting a new and improved SkillSwap.

With the help of our Rails henchmen over at www.new-bamboo.co.uk, we  
quietly launched a beta version of the new site a few weeks ago. Like  
most (Rails) beta sites, it still has a few bugs and the workflow  
needs finessing. However the site is at a stage where we can start  
getting you fine ladies and gentlemen involved.

The site has seen three main additions. Firstly, we've opened up the  
opportunity for other towns to set up their own SkillSwap events, and  
already have a very active cell in Bristol. If you know anybody who  
you think would like to set up a regional group, please point them in  
the direction of the site.

Secondly we've created an admin system for setting up and managing  
SkillSwap event. Hopefully this will take some of the administrative  
pressure off poor old me, as well as making the lives of new  
administrators a little easier . As well as administrating the site,  
we've added some cool new features such as the ability to nominate  
yourself as a speaker or request a particular topic. We've also  
created a top secret registration algorithm called SkillsRank, that  
works out the optimal SkillSwap attendee make-up. It rewards past  
speakers with easier access to events, while ensuring new  
SkillSwappers aren't left out in the cold.

Lastly, we've set up a simple membership system that allows you to  
define a profile, manage your attendance and receive announcements  
for future events. You can also subscribe to the events RSS feed or  
iCal calendar.

We'll be retiring this announcements list shortly, so if you'd like  
to stay up to date with future SkillSwap events, please head over to  
www.skillswap.org and sign up for a new account.

Yours

Andy Budd

  http://www.skillswap.org