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The Internet Working Group met in general session at the April 2006 Jahreshauptversammlung in Cincinnati. Approximately 10 members, representing five clubs of the Landesverband, were in attendance. (American Aid Society Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Mansfield Liederkranz, and Rochester). A number of topics regarding the national website and individual club websites were discussed. Following this was an open discussion and an author PowerPoint presentation was made.

The initial discussion was outlined and compared to proposals previously made in 2005 to aid in establishing the progress of the group.

In 2005 it was recommended that each club should designate 1-2 person(s) to be responsible for providing the Landesverband Webmaster (LWM) with timely information to be placed on the site. However, since that time only 2-3 clubs have put the national webmaster on their mailing lists. The (LWM) had to initiate most of the contacts regarding specific events, etc. The American Aid Society newsletter, Walter Scheffrahn, has provided some information regarding the establishment of a national newsletter. However, no contributing authors have participated in this endeavor.

A committee of volunteers was recruited at the April 2005 meeting in Detroit. However, no articles have been submitted for display on the website. Subsequently, this committee remains inactive.

The minutes from the April 2005 meeting as well as information from the Landestrachtenfest in Anaheim was received by Eckhard Blaumüller and were immediately placed on the website. Also, a Donauschwaben History section has been added to the website with information supplied by Hans Kopp, author. Presently, this section of the website appears to be attracting the most attention.

Additional sections planned for the website include:

Jugend Pages

Sports Pages

Culture Pages

Of course, additional ideas for website topics are always welcomed and encouraged.

At the Detroit meeting in April 2005 it was recommended that a number of additional items be included on the national website. These included:

a. Landesverband officers provide an activity report for each office on the website for the benefit of the membership.

b. Begin a national website newsletter and table of contents.

c. (LWM) report be added to the website regarding new additions to the site, updates, corrections, etc.

d. Landesverband activities.

e. Reader comment section. (Letters to the Webmaster?)

f. Donauschwaben speaker bureau activities.

g. Individual club activities and promotions.

h. Specific format instructions on the website for submitting information, as well as defining the clearing procedures, to the national website.

i. Solicit suggestions for an official name for the national website newsletter.

All of the above suggestions are still recommended and encouraged. Four of the nine 2005 suggestions have been initiated by the (LWM). The other items still need to be acted upon. It was also suggested that a reminder system be set up to encourage the individual club informational contributions to the national website. No consensus was established regarding this matter.

In April 2005, approximately 13 people attended the Internet Working Group meeting in Detroit. No meeting was held in Anaheim, except for what the (LWM) presented at the President’s meeting. Again, 10 people attended the recent meeting in Cincinnati. It is hoped that the group will continue to meet once or twice a year.

The present URL for the national website was established near the end of 2005. Its present URL is: (http://donauschwaben-usa.org/) . The old URL had been left in place, with a link to the present site, to allow visitors to correct their browser "favorites" list. The present site, as of April, is now receiving "thousands" of hits. For example, the old site had received approximately 600 hits in its year of existence. In the 4-5 months of its existence, the present site has received over 500 hits. The most popular 4 sections of the site include: