4 minute read
Introducing the DGLNINZ Lodge Companion
THE CENTRE
DGLNINZ’s own social media space. Upload images, comment on posts or send messages to other brethren
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DISTRICT NEWS
This is District’s space. Come here to see the latest news from the DGM or the DGLNINZ Executive.
FIND LODGES
Visiting an unfamiliar town or Lodge and need information or directions? Everything you need, including a map and a turn-by-turn guide to the Lodge can be found here.
CONTACTS
A list of current App users, Lodge friends and send them private messages.
RITUAL
Practice ritual at any time with the aid of your mobile phone. At the moment only the First Degree ritual is there – for obvious reasons....
NOTIFICATIONS
Check this repository for a history of notifications sent by the District to all users.
REALTIME CHAT
Join a Lodge chat room (visible to all users) or create a private chat room where you can send text messages and images to others in these rooms.
DGM MEDIA
Our District Grand Master is keen to broadcast regular video messages to the Brethren. This is where you will find them.
LODGE NOTICES
Your Lodge Secretary can post notices, summonses, and meeting minutes into your Lodge storage area. No more digging through emails.
EVENTS
Reserved for a special event that District may wish to advertise to the Brethren.
CALENDARS
This space is reserved for the various DGLNINZ meeting calendars and other representation information. A work in progress....
LISTEN
We will publish interesting audio content or perhaps Masonic lectures here. The possibilities are endless....
MORE...
Here you will find a place to remember Brethren who have recently passed to The Grand Lodge Above or visit a buy and sell marketplace. Perhaps you have a particular skill that may assist a Brother and wish to advertise it.
OTHER ORDERS
Need information about another Order? We have you covered.
BOOK
Intending to visit a Lodge and need to book a meal? Select the Lodge and the date you intend to visit, and Lodge Companion takes care of it for you. Still under test until we have contact information.
YOUR ACCOUNT
Register here as a Lodge Companion user. Your information is securely held on a private server located in Wellington.
Periodical of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand
IT’S ABOUT STAYING IN TOUCH...
What methods do we currently use to communicate with other Brethren?
When we are not at our various Lodge meetings most of us remain in touch to some extent with members of our own lodges, or with DGLNINZ officers and friends in other lodges using the following methods:
Email is by far the most common means of communicating these days, but unless one is superorganised the information or attachment that an email may contain soon becomes very difficult to find. Also, many of us prefer not to use a mobile phone for sending or receiving email.
Facebook has become ubiquitous as a means of sharing information (social media). The way most of us use Facebook however is limited to posting the occasional image or comment to a Facebook group representing our own lodge. How many of us search out or are members of more than a few DGLNINZ Lodge groups? Facebook users should be aware of its intrusive ability to monitor a user’s online activities for targeted advertising and other commercial purposes. WhatsApp is great as a mobile communications or chat tool BUT be aware that a user’s private information is held overseas, and is vulnerable to misuse. It is not really a multi-functional tool in the true sense.
What about our Lodge websites or the District website, are they not also a means of communication? Of course, but how many of us regularly visit our own lodge websites? Many sites have content that is months out of date and often they contain incorrect information. Our District website has had a recent update, and now we need to ask ourselves who the target audience is for our various sites. In many cases, a visitor to a website is a prospective member checking you out.
Isn’t Tessellated Tales also an efficient means of communicating with DGLNINZ Brethren? It sure is, and it is an important part of our overall strategy of ensuring that communications are targeted correctly. Tessellated Tales provides a creative outlet for DGLNINZ members who wish to share items of interest with other District Brethren.
Information In The Palm Of Your Hand
So where does the District App fit into the strategy?
Provided you carry a mobile phone, Lodge Companion is always in your hand. It will alert you to new messages or important notifications. It will allow you to chat with friends, upload photos, refer to documents, listen to Masonic Audio content, navigate to lodges, and refer to a wealth of user-generated material
Is Lodge Companion safe? Lodge Companion is probably safer in a cyber-security sense than other social media applications we use. We built it and we have full control of the server it runs on. The App server is SSL protected and runs on dedicated hardware in a residential situation in Wellington, i.e. it is not running in a leased, virtualised environment like most Lodge websites. Of course, this means if the power goes off then the server will go down.
Access to any information or documents on the server, including a user’s private details, e.g. telephone number etc. is password protected. Yes, it is theoretically possible that the server could be hacked, but if that were to happen it would not be the end of the world.
How do I get Lodge Companion, and then what do I do? It’s easy (and free), but you will need to be familiar with navigating the ‘App store’ on an iPhone, or the ‘Play store’ on an Android phone: Search for Lodge Companion – DGLNINZ
• Install the App (it may not work on really old phones)
• Swipe up to ‘MY ACCOUNT’ create an account. As it is our App you can be as truthful as you wish - just as long as we recognise you. Send an email to the District Grand Communications Officer (email address below) if you wish to use a pseudonym.
• Click ‘Yes’ to the enable notifications message.
Please forward any bugs or questions regarding the App or suggestions for content to: dgco@freemasons.org.nz (W.Bro Andrew Vincent)
IMPORTANT: You will not have access to some App features until your registration and your membership has been verified on the backend server.
Periodical of the District Grand Lodge of North Island, New Zealand
