The homepage has changed a little in preparation for a new look and new functionality.

If your looking for a link in the left side column of the homepage and the link is missing, try looking in the banner tabs. The homepage redesign is slotted for some time in April. The banner will stay the same and MEA news will be easier to find.

We are also working on a new member portal which will help you keep up with MEA news and events in a simpler fashion (all on one page).

While we are updating the website you may experience odd graphics, links that don't work, etc. and I apologize for the inconvenience.

One change that you might notice is a change in the URL.

Currently, you always see www.midwestenergy.org and in the future you may also see  http://m360.midwestenergy,org. They are just two different ways to display our website. The www site hosts our basic pages, forums, and knowledge management. M360 will host your member profile, our internet forms, and calendar of events.

You may also receive warnings about a security certificate being invalid or not "matching". Don’t worry it’s valid – there just may be a few bugs in the system while our two URLs learn to work together.

I will update this blog as more information becomes available.

Elizabeth ~ 
The Web Master

T Think v Believe T Conscience v Feel T

04/19/07 ~ The following site forms have been changed to m360:

Annual Operations ACCIDENT PREVENTION Submission Form
Annual Operations ELECTRIC Product Showcase Application
Annual Operations HALL OF FAME Nomination Form
Annual Operations LIFE SUSTAINING Nomination Form
Rodeo Feedback & Suggestions
Becoming Involved
B31Q Comment Form
B31Q Demo Request
Energy Industry Pharmacy Consortium
Successful Practice Submission Form
EnergyU Interest Form
Leadership Development Interest Form

You will get a security certificate warning when trying to access these forms - don't worry they are secure. It's just that the two sites are not completely in sync yet.

There are still 3 forms on the www site which need to be moved:

• Annual Operations GAS EXHIBITOR What's New Application
• Speaker Checklist
• Sponsorships - Energy Delivery News & Solutions

04/17/07 ~ A few more committees have been added to the m360 site. The www links have not been changed but the links from the Staff page are becoming active.  We hope to activate the new member login process this week which also means changing over to the m360 calendar of events. The m360 calendar of events will change the meeting registration process just a bit.

04/13/07 ~ The MEA Staff page has moved to m360 and the other committees have not been set-up yet.

When you click on "Staff" from the "About MEA" tab you will be taken to the new staff page. All the committees listed with links on the staff page are empty - no committee members are listed. You can still find the committee/board lists by going through the links on the "About MEA" tab. Thank you.

04/24/07 ~ Changing the member portal/profile editing to m360 from www is taking a little longer then we had hoped. When our service provider makes the connection between m360 and www everyone with email addresses will get new logins and passwords through an email.

In the mean time, please just ignore the login message on the m360 forms.
The Speaker Checklist can be found on both servers. If you are a speaker and received the link in an email you can still use that link or you can use the new form here.

04/24/07 ~ The following committees have been moved to m360 (thanks to the efforts of Kara, John, and Stephanie):

• Board of Directors 
• Gas Ames Exhibit Committee
• Gas Safety & Training Committee
• Gas Associate Advisory Council 
• Gas Codes & Standards Committee
• National Gas Rodeo Committee
• Gas Distribution Committee
• Purchasing & Materials Management Committee
• Gas Measurement & Controls Committee

The new format will pull the member's data right from our database keeping it accurate on a timely basis. We are requesting that our service provider add the ability for us to display the committee in any order we wish - at this time they display in alphabetic by last name order only.

Thanks for your patience as we continue this process.

4/30/07 ~ Some of the new m360 form submissions have been getting error messages. The error message appears to be because the MEA staffer is not getting the email notification when a form is submitted not because your form submission is incomplete. If you have any questions about a form submission, please don't hesitate to call.

952-832-9915

• Gas Events; Sandy x119
• Electric Events; Kara x111
• National Gas Rodeo; John x105
• Database concerns (logins and passwords to MEA website); Larissa x115
• Other website concerns; Elizabeth x108

Elizabeth ~ 
The Web Master

T Think v Believe T Conscience v Feel T

05/02/07 ~The website is linked to MEA's database, but there is a bug with login names and passwords. Our service provider is working on a solution. (The login names and passwords did not sync with the rest of the data.) Members with email addresses will receive an email with your new login and password once this bug is fixed.

05/01/07 ~ The sync between 360 and www did not occur last night. We are still planning on this being done today.

All forms from www have been moved to 360 as of today.

UPDATE - The website is being linked to MEA's database tonight. Members with email addresses will receive an email with your new login and password Tuesday, May 1, 2007.

You will be unable to register for events until you get the email with your login and password. Sorry for the inconvenience.

~~Also, more of the committees have been moved to the M360 site. Thank you Larissa.~~

Elizabeth ~ 
The Web Master

T Think v Believe T Conscience v Feel T

MEA has been attempting to sync our database and website. To do so our service provider had to dump all the data, including our old login names and passwords. The sync may not be completed this week. When our database was uploaded to the website server (www) all of our non-member (Affiliate) data did not transfer. Also, the login names and passwords for all records did not transfer. This Affiliate issue needs to be fixed before the login name and password issue can be addressed. It’s looking like this will take several days to fix.

When both databases mirror each other, our provider can turn the sync on which will activate the online login process.

You can still navigate the site and learn all about MEA's great products and services, however, our online event registration process is down because it requires the user to be logged in to register. We are sorry for any inconvenience. We are providing links on the homepage for all fax/mail registration forms.

How the systems work together:

m360 and www are both web site tools (sort of like a wiki). They are housed on different servers and are two different entities which speak to each other. www hosts the URL www.midwestenergy.org, it consists of many modules allowing us to have a Store, Knowledge Management, Photo Galleries, Career Center, Conventions, web pages and much more.

m360 is a database driven web site tool (instant communication between the web and our database). m360 will eventually replace www completely, for now only the Events Calendar, Forms/Surveys, and the Board of Directors/Committee modules exist in m360.

How can you tell what is on www vs. 360?
Check the URL on the web page:
• All www hosted pages are on www.midwestenergy.org
• All m360 hosted pages are on m360.midwestenergy.org

The login process is working!

Emails with login and passwords are in the process of being sent. If you do not receive an email by May 9, 2007 and wish to login to register for an event complete this form;

Request for MEA Website Access

You can navigate the site and learn all about MEA's great products and services without a login and password, however, our online event registration process is requires the user to be logged in to register.

If you wish to change your login and password complete this form;

Login and Password Change Request

Elizabeth Fischer
MEA

• We are in the process of clearing up the Security Certificate warning.
• Some of the new m360 forms are still getting error messages (this is being looked into).

952-832-9915

• Gas Events; Sandy x119
• Electric Events; Kara x111
• National Gas Rodeo; John x105
• Database concerns (logins and passwords to MEA website); Larissa x115
• Other website concerns; Elizabeth x108