Hi, I am Nils Christensen, and I took over administering CFFA´s website from Lou Fabrizio in December 2007. As you all know Lou did a great job keeping us informed and the website up to date, so it's Lou's busy schedule that put me in this position.

What is my goal for CFFA´s web site and our presence on the web? I would like to let people know who we are, what CFFA stands for and I hope with some promoting that people (prospective new members) can find us searching Google!

What are my qualifications? Less than they should be but I'll work hard at making the site exiting and "new". By new I mean dynamic content, new material, updated info - whatever it takes to get people to come back looking for new "stuff". The plan is to add a new forum - no ads - we own the forum and can administer it as we like.

Some of the new "stuff" will be the new forum, a gallery, and a blog. The main website that we all know will get a face lift, nothing major and by that statement I would like to invite any CFFA member to give me some input. You know the site, what is it that you would like to see here. Is there anything that can be done to improve the site. If there is one thing that you would like to see that in your opinion will make this a better site please send me an email!

The only way I can make this a website for members to enjoy is by the same members telling me what is wrong or not working. I have ideas, I have plans, I have visions, but <It's a big but> I can't see, feel or hear what you are thinking or know what your opinions are unless you tell me! If you have an opinion, let me know what it is. Maybe you have seen a feature on another website that you would love to see here on our website, tell me about it. Give me a link, describe what it is we need and if I can and it is in the clubs interest I will do my best to add it.

My vision of CFFA's website

I would like to see a dynamic website, with changing material. A place to promote fly fishing, help out beginners and "old salts" while emphasizing our motto "To Preserve and Promote the Pleasures and Traditions of Fly Fishing and to Conserve Game Fish Waters"

The main website we have now can do all that the way it is now.

What I'm suggesting is to add to the main site with additions like:

Our own "message board" Forum so that members can post and interact without the annoying advertizing and pop ups we have now. The forum will be different than the "message board" we use now and it will force everyone to register with a valid email address. Navigating the forum will be different but I think most members are already traversing similar forums on other fishing web sites.

Our own Gallery where we can post images and share fishing moments. The gallery will enable members to upload and share their own pictures with others or you can create your own private or public gallery and share it with everyone or keep it private as a repository for your own enjoyment.

Our own Blog <another bussword> but a blog can be a way of private or public diary with the opportunity to receive comments on your public blog or a way of going back looking at your own notes in a private blog.

One addition I would like to see is this site using a content management system "CMS" as a way of adding new material to the site. For a CMS to work members have to submit "news", "articles", "stories" and other material that would be of interst to the members. Anyone who would like to have their material published can ask to be a writer / publisher and have a way of adding content to the website and this will be visible to other members only after an administrator or moderator approve the submission

Some of the changes will give us the ability to create private areas on the website for members only. We can control who sees the private area because members in good standing will have to email me and let me know that they are a member and would like access to the private areas. This will be an added incentive to become a member of CFFA.

To end this monolog I would like to invite all members and I hope "future members" to contact me with their vision of this community and the website we have.

For now you have to: click here to send me an email (This will open up your email client)If this don't work my contact mail for this project is (this is a munged email)
"cffa < at >> nilsc < dot > com" (nilscatcffadotcom)
you have to replace the < at > with @ and < dot > with . (period)

Why this cloak and dagger approach to a simple email address? It's because I get around 500 spam email a day and this is a way of preventing those.

Thank You for reading,
I hope to hear from you in the near future
Nils Christensen