It's been a good year for the Honourable Cordwainers' Company and the Crispin Colloquy.

This time of the year we tend to look back and remember not just the past year but Christmas' past.

Sitting by the fire, sharing good times, good whisky and hopes for the future is a way of "driving the cold winter away."

On behalf of all of us...both staff and membership...I would like to wish us all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

May we have enough...to share.

Emmett

Seems like as good a place as any to address an issue that has just recently come to my attention.

I addressed this issue, gently, in another thread and as much as I hate to rehash it, circumstances make me suspect it needs some clarification and reinforcement.

The Guild was formed as a scholarly..."educational"...organization. Everything follows from that simple and abiding fact.

The Forum was founded as an adjunct of the Guild to present and promote the Guild's philosophies and mission. In a very real sense the Guild and the Crispin Colloquy are one.

In that regard let me underscore several understandings:

The Forum was created to address the needs of serious students of the Trade as well as those more proficient members who can, and do, represent a reservoir of knowledge and skills...the which needs to be preserved and respected..


Current and prospective members who can accept these principles as given...regardless of skill level, work habits or ultimate goals...and who can respect those who articulate that perspective, are welcome here.

Those members who are made uncomfortable with passion and unflinching dedication to the Trade, past and present, may need to rethink their association here.

Yr. Hmb. Svt.

This is a major announcement, but it will not be repeated anywhere else on the board.

The Crispin Colloquy is undergoing a major rebuild and moving to new digs. New software, new usability features, new host.

While these changes may not be apparent yet, within a week or two the forum will probably be off line for several days. Please be advised.

Admin also cautions that posts made within the transition period...ending (hopefully) around May 1st....may not transfer to the new forum.

Because of the impending move to a new server and new software, the memberlist as been pared down. Members who have never accessed the board, members who did not activate email notification for System Announcements, as well as members whose email addresses keep returning an error message have been deleted.

Self registration for the Crispin Colloquy has been shut down until the upgrades have been completed and the new forum is online.

If you feel that your registration has been incorrectly deleted, please feel free to re-register when the new improved Crispin Colloquy goes live.

If everything goes well and as planned (when does it ever?), we hope to go live with the new iteration of the Crispin Colloquy sometime today...Friday 26 April, 2013.

Everyone will need to confirm their registration, but as far as we can tell, all valid registrations made the conversion successfully, so most if not all your preferences and profile information should already be in place.

Members may need to re-subscribe to favourite topics...more on that as we get up and running.

There will be glitches and even some lost links. It's inevitable...sorry about that--"every form of refuge has a price." We'll work those out as we come to them.

Rest assured we are doing everything in our power to make this as smooth and seamless a transition as possible.

Emmett

So...we have lift-off!! Many thanks to protech--an extremely affable and knowledgeable developer at the phpBB website.

If you are getting this (because you are subscribed to System Announcements) you know that the transition to the new forum software and to the new server is complete!

If you are not seeing the new face of the forum, you may need to clear your cache on your browser.

Everyone will need to log-in and confirm their registration. This should be a one time deal, especially if you have your browser set to accept cookies from this website.

Those who have not confirmed their registration within 90 days are subject to having their registration deleted.

As always if there are any questions that are not answered by the FAQ and the Formatting instructions please feel free to contact Admin.

Some things are new, somethings are just the way there were...like a comfortable pair of slippers.

Enjoy!

This is to announce that the forum conversion and transfer to the new server is now complete.

Remember, to receive email notification of System Announcements or any other topic that you are interested in following, you must subscribe to that topic (upper left hand in topic).

Anyone who is having problems or doesn't understand something about posting or using this board is welcome to contact admin@thehcc.org.

I will do my best to help or direct to help.

Yr. Hmb. Svt.