C.O.C.A. Times

C.O.C.A. Has a New Web Site
Discussion Forum for C.O.C.A. Members
Have you visited the C.O.C.A. web site lately?
If not, go to http://www.CoinOpClub.org now and take
a look. Click on Register and we'll send you a User Name
and Password so you can access all the Member Only fea-
tures. Let us know what you think of the new site.
How did this new web site get created and what are
some of its features? First, a little background
If the Discussion Forum is not live by the time you
read this artic le, it should be coming real soon. The web-
based Discussion Forum will allow C.O.C.A. members to
ask questions and share information with other C.O.C.A.
members about coin machine collecting, Internet scams,
buying and selling tips, and many other topics of inter-
est. It will even have a polling feature that will allow
C.O.C.A. members to cast their votes and then see how
other C.O.C.A. members voted.
Background
In January 2006, Bill Petrochuk formed a Web Team
to design a new web site for C.O.C.A. The members
of the Web Team are Ken Durham, Jason Sholar, Greg Help Us Enhance the C.O.C.A. Web Site
McLemore and Al Fox, all with many years of web expe-
The Web Team can design a web site, but only C.O.C.A.
rience. Jason Sholar is the person primarily responsible members can provide the content that makes the site a fun
for designing the new C.O.C.A. web site look and creating and useful place to visit every week. We need the help of
some of its special features. Greg McLemore concentrat- every C.O.C.A. member, even those who do not use the
ed on modifying his highly successful message board so web:
that C.O.C.A. can have one of its own.
Post a Classified Ad - at least once a month
The goal was not only to give the C.O.C.A. web site a
Please place a For Sale or Wanted ad on the site each
new look, but also to provide a Members Only section with month. Be specific. A classified ad section is useful if it
new web features. All of this had to be accomplished by contains specific parts you need or if you have a specific
March 3 I, the date of the C.O.C.A. meeting in Chicago.
item for sale. Don't list a general list of wants. That gets
The Web Team devoted over I 00 hours to the effort. If boring.
C.O.C.A. had hired a commercial web designer, it would
If you don't use the Internet, then mail us your For Sale
have cost over $5000.
or Wanted ad and we'll post it for you. Send it to C.O.C.A.
The web team unveiled the new site on March 30. 909 26 Street NW, Wash DC 20037.
All C.O.C.A. members with an up-to-date email address Provide Us Pricing Data from Auctions,
on file received user names and passwords to access the
Shows & Ebay
Members Only section. The new web site was announced
We need volunteers to help us collect pricing data. We
and described at the March 31 C.O.C.A. meeting.
plan to design the web site so that you can post pricing
What was Accomplished? Below are some of the new
data even if you have no computer knowledge. We'll cre-
features of the C.O.C.A. web site.
ate a form, just like the classified ad section that automati-
New Web Features
cally posts the information you provide.
A Classified Ad Web Section
Other Volunteer Opportunities
Anyone visiting the web site will be able to place a clas-
sified ad, but only C.O.C.A. members will be able to see
the classified ads. This feature will give C.O.C.A. mem-
bers an opportunity to buy or sell an item before it is of-
fered more widely to the public.
- Become a Discussion Forum facilitator
- Create a photo album - What's wrong with this Ma-
chine?
- Collect Repair Tips from C.O.C.A. members and post
on the Web Site
- Collect Information on Internet Scams and post on the
Web Site
- Ask C.O.C.A. members questions & post answers on
the Web Site
- Ask C.O.C.A. members how they display their coin ma-
chines and post on the Web Site
- Scan ads from old issues of Replay, etc., and post on the
Web Site
Variety of Other Member Only Features
-Photo Gallery to help identify machines
-Sources of Supply and Repair page
-List of C.O.C.A. members and their phone numbers
-Web links that provide useful information
-List of upcoming shows and auctions
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