Since the last reunion I've not done much to the website, so apologies to those of you who were hoping for something new to read.
The Privacy and T's and C's stuff is further down and it's a depressing read but a necessary one to remain consistent with all the legislation that happens and to recognise the fact that we're all getting older and there is no plan in place for how to deal with a situation when one of you - or I - succumb to the flow of time.
We are doing planning for a reunion in 2026 but don't yet have a firm date - so there's not a lot to be said about that.
What I have been thinking about is what to do with the website over the coming years. There has been a lot of effort put into it over the years so I certainly don't want it to just wither and die but maintaining it is becoming a bit of a slog at times. This year a lot of the underlying software will need to be updated which will take a lot of time, effort and testing with probably very few benefits that will be visible. I haven't done enough planning on it to know just how much needs to be done so its hanging over me at the moment.
The other thing that has been concerning me is what to do when one of the members dies nor what will happen to the site when I die or am no longer capable of managing it. (This was mostly in the winter months when the weather was grim and blue skies were a rarity - I feel a bit more optimistic again now!!). Anyway as a result of that thinking I have revised the Terms and Conditions and Privacy notices for the site (which come into effect immediately for all new users but you have some time to opt out of some of the changes.
The primary changes relate to what happens when someone dies.
If one of the members die and I am informed about it (and sought to confirm it as far as possible) then I will change the account page for that person to reflect their death. The page will remain open so that other members may post memories on it and if I have the details in time I'll also post a bit about funeral arrangements. To do this I'll need help from others who are much closer to the individual and are informed about what the arrangements might be. If you would prefer something else to be done to your account on the site then please let me know.
Any photos that have been added to the site by the deceased and they have not opted out of the arrangement will continue to be displayed and the rights to them will belong to the site. (Currently any photo you upload is yours and if I want to do anything with it other than display it on the site I have to come to the photo-owner). If they have opted out of the arrangement then all the photos will be removed.
If I die or become unable to manage the site then I would like to gift the photo collection to the College Archive to add to the general archive they hold. So if this happens and you've not opted out then the College Archive will get your photos. Naturally I hope my death does not happen suddenly and there is time to tidy up all the arrangements but this is really to stress what will happen if you don't opt out of this being the way your photos are handled.
It is likely that the site will continue to run for a while until the hosting agreement runs out or the underlying software just stops working but unless someone else is happy and able to take out the running of the site it will slowly decline.
I am hoping that no-one opts out of these arrangements - and hoping that they will remain totally irrelevant for many years to come - but it is a scenario that does need some planning.
I will be putting out a mailshot to draw everyone's attention to these changes and to put some dates in it for people to opt out if they want to. You will be able to change your mind on the option as long as I'm around to implement it but that's impossible to put a date on!!