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MASSEY SHAW

DINNER

NEW WEB SITE

The Future

Colin Simpson

PR & Marketing Committee

This annual dinner to honour Captain Sir Eyre

Massey Shaw, first chief officer of the

Metropolitan Fire Brigade, was held at the

Insurance Hall in March. The Father of the

company, Gerald Clarkson CBE OStJ QFSM was

present and the principle guests were Murray

Craig, clerk of the Chamberlain’s court and

Edward Crossley, Master of the Worshipful

Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers.

Murray Craig gave an entertaining address on his

role in giving the Freedom of the City to various

celebrities. The Master presented him with a

beautiful mounted Fireman’s axe as a memento

of his visit.

The Master took the opportunity to award

certificates to the various companies who

supported last year’s Charity Ball. He also gave a

framed photograph of the use of the hackney

cabs commandeered during the war as fire

fighting vehicles to Edward Crossley.

Overall, it was a very pleasant evening, with good

food and jazz music provided by Silk Street

Swing.

As members of the PR & Marketing Committee

we were asked to look at the Worshipful

Company of Firefighters web site and put

together a plan for the refurbishment of the site.

The site has to be simple to navigate and, above

all, pleasing to view and informative.

We have put together the first draft of the new

site using the original text but with a new “Fire

Theme” as the masthead image. It was then a

matter of putting together a navigational route

that could be followed in a meaningful way.

These common headers include The Company,

History & Customs, Charities and Events. From

these heading we can easily put in future pages

and ensure the whole site can be updated with

ease.

From an administration point of view, the

membership could find it a benefit to look online

for all notices, events and membership directory

changes. We have a “Members login” from the

public menu that will allow a member to login

using a username and password. An online

membership directory is among one of the new

features that we have provided allowing instant

updating of all members details. The member

also has the ability to change their contact

information and password if required.

Future work is to look at eCommerce

allowing members to pay online for

memorabilia and events. A number of

options are available and the priority is to

provide the Accountants and Auditors

with exactly what they require.

A history of Fire Safety and Breathing

Apparatus is shown on the website and it

is hoped that members would be willing

to add to these and maybe bring in more

areas of history that our Worshipful

Company cover making the website a

source for history and learning.

At the last meeting of the PR & Marketing

Committee it was agreed that a switch over

and go live date would be the 3rd June 2012.

The website belongs to the membership so

please get in touch with the PR & Marketing

Committee should you have any ideas or

suggestions for the site.

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