Feed the Giraffes

Recently, I took a vacation day from work and went to the zoo.  My husband had the day off, and we scheduled a family day.  We had not ventured to the Columbia Zoo yet with our son, and he had started taking a real interest in animals, so we decided it would be a fun day trip.  It wound up being a perfect Fall trip.  When we got to the giraffe area, there was a sign marked that you could feed the giraffes.  I wasn’t sure about it, but they decided to give it a try.  It made me think of all the feeding of the giraffes we did at ACS this Fall.  Let me explain…
Bonnie McCune has the following sign at her desk:
“Please Feed the Giraffes!
On the plains of Africa, you will notice something interesting when you see a giraffe.  There usually tends to be more animals around.  Why is that?  Well, since giraffes are bigger than most, they can see better and have a better perspective for viewing potential dangers.  Therefore, many smaller animals hang out near giraffes because they can take comfort in the fact that the giraffe is on the look out.  Organizations clients are our giraffes…”
Many that attend our Convention might remember the large giraffe that she places outside the Organizations classes.  Well, we have been busy feeding the giraffes!  With the 10.3 release of ACS, there is a new Affiliates tab for Organizations for primary affiliates, staff, and groups.  A picture tab has been added to View/Edit to help when referencing an Organization.  There is also a redesigned, easy-to-use report interface which allows you to preview reports, more easily navigate, and set up views.  In the recent update to Access ACS, users can now update Organization information to facilitate communication between the parent organization and member churches.  Security bits are available so that the Organization can define which information they want displayed and accessible.
There is more to come as we continue to “feed the giraffes”!