BarTalk December 2000
Volume 12, Number 6

CBABC launches its new website

by Caroline Nevin

There are few things more exciting than being involved in making new technology work - and work well. For that reason, this has been an exciting time for the BC Branch Office, and the Member Services Committee, as we have worked hard to create and deliver an extraordinary new service for our members.

Everyone's heard about how technology will revolutionize our workplace. We've read too many articles preaching, ad nauseum, the "New Way" of doing business. We're told to either get on the information superhighway or get run off the road. At the same time, we have intense demands on our professional time and resources, leaving little left over to learn about, never mind master, the new technology and its tools.

CBABC has, in a way, done that for you. We invested in finding the right people, the right software, and the right website functions to make it easy for you to use the best of Internet technology to your own advantage. And getting online to your newest CBABC member service is simple: go to www.bccba.org and use your CBABC Member Number and the password "welcome" to get in. This will take you immediately to the place where you can set your own sign-in name and password, which you will use from that time forward (hint: don't use "welcome" as your password).

Here are some of the highlights of your new online legal community:

• Members Directory: Online and searchable! Look up a member and paste the address information into your letter or label.

• Check your own listing: Have any changes registered online and updated within 24 hours.

• Personalized reminders of your own upcoming CBABC section and committee meetings.

• Searchable Section Minutes and BarTalk issues

• Discussion Groups and Chat Rooms: Share concerns, issues and ideas with your colleagues.

• Stay Current: CLE's new feature of the week's events within law.

• Chat Room: Meet and chat online with colleagues.

• Members' Classifieds: Buy & sell anything and everything online.

• Research Links: The best research link collection - direct to the CLE site!

• Legislation and Report on Current Issues and Legislative Reform

• CBABC Boutique: Everything from section papers to CBABC latte mugs!

• Preferred Supplier Network: The best member services discounts.

• NetMeetings (online meetings between members) are currently available with online video-conferencing coming soon!

• Web Pages: Also coming soon: create your own law firm Web page at no charge, from existing templates that make it easy.

• Post a job or resume: A free service provided by Counsel Network to the members of the CBABC.

• Support and Links: Links to free support sites for hardware and software questions.

Take your new website for a "spin", and let us know what you think. Any suggestions, additions, or comments are most welcome.

Caroline Nevin, Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia

This article was published in the December 2000 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.