Page 59 - Microsoft Word - Guiding light final version 0955 1006.doc

So my time on the Board, working with office staff and other Board members, was preoccupied with persuading our members to come up to date with email and mobiles, and preferably with their own websites - although even providing digital photographs of themselves for the STGA website proved to be - and still proves! - a challenging hurdle for many.
I’m glad to say that by the middle of this decade, the situation had vastly improved with virtually all STGA members using modern technology, at least to a workable end. The STGA has even managed to dispense with using paper cheques, which I would hazard is ahead of the game in terms of small organisations.
But the most interesting thing, for me, has not been about modernising basic communication but about staying in line with the latest major advance which is in social media. Through the office staff and marketing committee, the STGA (and many members) keep themselves ‘out there’ on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram but the surprise success has been Facebook. Along with most other of our ‘mature’ guides, I recall being extremely skeptical about joining Facebook but this modern form of communication has proven to be exceptionally appropriate to the needs of tourist guides. Nearly 300 guides now use Facebook as a vital resource for not only exchanging crucial information - is that road closed? is that restaurant any good for groups? been to that exhibition? - but to pick up jobs from guides (and tour operators) who need a qualified replacement and, vice versa, to find our own replacements, when needed (often at the last minute).
Within ten years, then, I have seen the STGA going from being a member organisation which was way behind the times in terms of modern communication to one which, in some ways, is at the frontier of information exchange for a professional organisation of disparate individuals.
STGA members training for the Commonwealth Games course in 2014
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