The Monthly Newsletter for Web Professionals

Volume 7 Issue 09 - September 2005

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Letter from the Executive Editor

By Bill Cullifer

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.

For many of those devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, taking the first step toward rebuilding their lives will be difficult. They are the ones being poked on all sides by those pointing fingers and trying to place blame. And while accountability is important so we can be sure of an adequate response next time, we will leave that to others.

For our part, we here at WOW wanted to do something to help. Not being one of the richer organizations, we decided that the best we can do is to assist those in our field. To that end, we have created a new section in the Forum, http://www.webprofessionals.org/forum/default.asp titled “Help for Web professionals affected by Katrina.” This category contains two subcategories, one for those seeking work and those for anyone who can offer work.

We urge both groups to take advantage of this free opportunity (you don’t have to be a member of WOW to use this service) so Web professionals can start supporting themselves and their families once again.

It’s at times like these that we are forced to consider what’s important in our lives. Family and friends must be at the top of the list. For many people, though, family and friends are gone. Some people don’t even know where their relatives are. I cannot imagine the frustration and fears of the survivors. It must be horrendous.

As I write this, reports are coming in that the battered areas are starting to come back, and that some people, those with the means, are being allowed back in to their residences, but merely as visitors. The once comfortable place they called home is now a no-man’s land, filled with poisonous muck, crushed remnants of their lives and once-happy memories.

Now, they will have to make new memories somewhere else. Our thoughts, prayers and best wishes go out to them.

*****

A story appeared in the paper the other day about how the Web is being used to help people find family members and friends. The Web also will be used to help survivors apply for federal aid. These types of uses for the Web make it clear that this is a technology that has come into its own. It’s not only for playing games, reading the news or finding a job. It has become a tool that everyone needs to learn how to use.

Web professionals take note. Our profession is being called up to help with the biggest natural disaster ever to hit these shores. That is why it is important that Web education be taken seriously by government and the public at large.

The public – and the government – needs to know that virtually any information they need is on the Internet. The status of weather reporting, for example, has far exceeded anything we’ve known before. Plenty of warning was given that a major hurricane was about to hit. This information probably saved lives, but not nearly enough.

Now, the Web can be used to help rebuild lives. If you, as a Web professional, can figure out some way to use your skills to help another, then do it. If you can spread some of your extra work around to a colleague who lost everything, then do it. If you can refer a client or two to someone who lost all his or her clients, then do it. If you can create a Web site in your community that lets survivors know where they can get help or where someone can offer help, then do it.

You get the idea.

And while much assistance is needed now, remember that the holidays are coming. Families who used to gather at the now-destroyed family home at Thanksgiving will need…well, everything. Kids who lost all their toys will need something to keep their minds off their anguish. And when Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza arrive, these people will need plenty of cheering up.

Let’s do what we can to help.

Have a good one.

Bill