Changing of the Guard

by Robert Andrews

In the late 1980’s Bob Hirschfeld started the Greater Phoenix Mensa BBS, which featured programs, jokes, games and much more to the world via a new technology taking the world by storm. The first BBS was operated at 300 baud - nearly 200 times slower than most modems coming as standard equipment on current computers. Growing quickly to 1200 baud, that faster-than-snail modem speed was state-of-the-art. With the advent of the Internet and a platform-independent language called HTML, the BBS slowly lost its place in the technological mainstream.

At the time that Robert Andrews started the Greater Phoenix Mensa web site in 1995, there were very few official Mensa web sites throughout the entire world. As one of the first chapters to have its own web site, GPM was participatory in helping over a dozen other chapters establish sites of their own. These days, it is unusual for a chapter NOT to have a web site.

The web site, hosted for free on Robert’s equipment since its inception, was the point of contact for an estimated one hundred potential members. It also acted as a portal for information about Regional Gatherings, member e-mail addresses, humor and much more.

In 1997 Alan Gore took on the nearly insurmountable task of making the MAAM newsletters available online. Eventually incorporating JAVA technology, the newsletter site was a testament to the forward-thinking concepts that have kept the GPM web site at the cutting edge of technology. Currently the calendar is NOT online, but with the use of JAVA technology, enough security is available to make even the most concerned feel more comfortable. (After all, the entire newsletter is in the public libraries.)

Now, after six years, it is time for Alan’s JAVA skills to spill over onto the main pages of Greater Phoenix Mensa. Effective by the time you read this article, the new web pages will be in effect. Alan will officially take the title of Webmaster, while Robert moves to a position as Assistant Webmaster, maintaining a site he calls “The Lighter Side of Mensa,” which consists of jokes, puzzles, picture pages, and more.

There is plenty of room for opportunity within the GPM Electronic Community. If you have an interest in maintaining an Assistant Webmaster position, contact Alan Gore at agore@quest.net. Regardless, be sure to visit our new web site at http://www.GreaterPhoenixMensa.org