City Bar 2.0 – Samuel W. Seymour

Samuel W. Seymour

President’s Column, September 2010

City Bar 2.0

I am pleased to announce the launch of the New York City Bar’s redesigned website. As you can see, our new site is more pleasing to the eye and will provide an improved user experience for both members and the general public.

The sheer volume of information the City Bar has put online over the years is remarkable, as is the amount of news coming out of the Association’s various departments, programs and committees. At the same time, Web technologies have evolved and new tools have become available that allow organizations like ours to communicate in new and effective ways.

As you go through the site, the first thing you’ll notice is the ease of navigating by using the expanding menus in the left column. The idea is to advance logically into sections without losing one’s way. We think you’ll also find the tabbed box on the upper right of the home page a handy way to skim the latest news at the City Bar in six areas.

My favorite new feature is the “44th Street Blog.” I think the blog will be the perfect medium to get the word out, in real time, about all the things that are going on around the Association. If an important statement goes out, or a can’t-miss event or CLE course is scheduled, or the Justice Center scores another important pro bono victory, you’ll read about it in the blog.

As our members know, we have also recently transformed the 44th Street Notes, the Association’s newsletter, into a weekly, e-news format, and we have established a presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

The Association’s founding principles included promoting collegiality among members of the bar. Since “social networking” has been one of our goals since 1870, this new website and its online tools will only strengthen our mission.