e-Bulletin, March 2009

A message from Roster Services: Get on board!

By Nicole Gold, Roster Manager

The IT conversion is now taking centre stage in CESO’s Roster Department and its implementation is a priority.

We are almost prepared to go live with the Roster Management piece of the new system. The CESO programs will be integrated into the system throughout the remainder of the year. As we reported to you earlier, once we are working with the new system, we expect the impact on both CESO operations and Volunteer Advisers (VAs) to be significant and very positive.

All VAs who have access to e-mail received a message from me on March 6, 2009. (Others will be contacted by regular mail later.) With that message, you received a resumé template as an attachment to complete. This new resumé will become part of your file in the new system and will ensure that the format is standardized for current VAs as well as new CESO volunteer candidates.

Thank you to those VAs who have already sent theirs in. Some of you wrote in with questions. With the volume of e-mails we’ve received, it may take a few weeks before we get to everyone.

I must emphasize the importance of providing us with your resumé in this new format–as much for volunteers who have historically been very active on assignment as those who have yet to go on assignment. The old classification system with which many of you are familiar will no longer be used to identify your background or to search for your skills. The new improved and more sophisticated system will search through your actual resumé for keywords. There will be no limit to the number and variety of these “descriptors” that can be discovered and exploited from your resumé. However, in order to be able to carry out this search function, we will need your resumé in the prescribed format as soon as possible.

If, for some reason you have missed or misplaced the above-mentioned e-mail, please contact the Roster Department and it will be sent out to you again. While we are on the subject of e-mails, this would be a good time to remind you to ensure that we have your most current e-mail address.

One of the very appealing features of the new system is that Volunteer Advisers will have access to and be able to update their own personal data and other information such as availability, through the internet. As we move forward with the IT conversion, your proficiency with and access to the internet, and our ability to correspond with you by e-mail therefore becomes critical.

We are embarking on the most exciting times and we invite you to join the ride!

Update on the Aeroplan Beyond Miles partnership

By Josie Marchese, Communications Manager

Four years ago Aeroplan contacted CESO with an invitation to join an innovative on-line donation program which gave people the opportunity to donate their Aeroplan Miles to one of seven charities via an on-line portal.

CESO was fortunate to have been chosen to be part of this amazing initiative called Beyond Miles. Since its launch on May 17, 2006, a number of Volunteer Advisers have donated their Aeroplan Miles to CESO.

However, donations to CESO were low compared to the other six charities and Aeroplan was forced to inform us that, at the end of December 2008, our on-line donation linkage was being suspended.

Still, CESO will continue to have an Aeroplan account and people may donate their Miles using a pledge form that is available on the CESO Web site at: http://www.ceso-saco.com/english/supporting/sup_aeroplan.php. 

CESO has benefited greatly from its involvement in the Aeroplan Beyond Miles partnership program and while we have lost our privileged position in the on-line portal, we continue to have Aeroplan’s support and interest in our work. For this, we thank them.

If you have any questions about the program or would like more information on how to donate your Miles to CESO, please feel free to contact Josie Marchese at 416-961-2376 or 1-800-268-9052 at extension 253, or by e-mail at jmarchese@ceso-saco.com.

Updates

For internal news and information about CESO staff and programming, Login to the Bulletin Board on the CESO Web site. Also, see CESO Clubs for more information.