I assume that for most of you a website is a website and you may not be familiar with this type of website, and may already be thinking "why do we (the Association) need to communicate and, if we do, what does a website have to do with that?"  Fair enough.  I hope in a few words (relatively speaking) to demonstrate why and how.

Why Use this type of site?

 This is an interactive site. That is, the registered users (if you are reading this, you are one)  create the content. A webmaster is almost superfluous. It is anticipated that most of the created content will be in the form of discussions in the forums.  A forum is an organized, threaded discussion area.

What's wrong with just using an email list?

 Nothing, but there are several advantages to having the discussion take place on a site like this, including:

• There is a single place on the web to go and have the discussion with fellow judges.
• You don't have to try to keep an email address list for 400+ judges in your email program and have the hassle of keeping it current.
• Many people avoid this by simply replying to an old message and you know what kind of mess that produces.
• The discussion is preserved for future reference.  Not only is it there for you to come back to, but new judges or those who did not initially partake of that discussion can find it through the internal search engine on the site.
• The discussion is organized.

What else can be done here that can't be done with an email list?

 Many things that are traditionally done on conventional websites by a webmaster (read as "figure out what you need, find the webmaster, get the data to him, make sure it's done right, try to get it done in a timely manner") can be done here, but are done instantly by the users themselves. For example:

•  Upload documents you think your fellow participants might be interested in:
• Links to websites with information or resources of interest to the common audience.

Summarizing, here's what you get

•  Discussion forums organized by topic and threaded in order of the discussion.
• Controlled access (on most of the sites).
• Preservation of the good ideas that are discussed and weblinks, documents or (if applicable) forms that are shared.
• The ability to ask a question of a site user of like mind, or to just toss out a comment or idea, and for everyone to contribute to and share in the responses.