Revised User Agreement (New Bylaw A)

Our new Bylaw A has 2 Articles: 
Article 1 is the User Agreement, it sets the basic rules and expectations for ALL users of ImmInst, whether members, registered users or browsing guests. Everyone using the website will need to abide by and respect every provision in the revised User Agreement. 
Article 2 lists some general guidelines that we expect from users in our forums. Users who do not adhere to these guidelines, may get a warning from a Moderator and repeated flaunting of Article 2 may get a user suspended from the site. 

Revised Membership Conditions (New Bylaw B) 

After almost a decade of leaving the guideline amount for membership donations unchanged, we have now instituted a small change: the guideline amount for student membership donations has been raised from $20 to $25 per year. Obviously this change will not affect those with a currently valid membership donation in place. Another review of membership donations is likely later this year.

Revised Management Structure (New Bylaw C) 

The revisions to Bylaw C  are an effort to improve ImmInst management. Over the years, ImmInst has grown to an ever more complex organisation and the revisions in the leadership structure are an attempt to formalise some tacit arrangements and hopefully to establish more effective, transparent and accountable structures.

Creative Writing Contest - WINNERS

The Winners of ImmInst first story writing contest were determined by membership vote. Twelve entries were submitted and in the end it was very close.

First Place: "Post-apocalyptic resurrection" - by 'Wandering Jew'
Second Place: "Follow your heart and your dreams will follow" - by 'JediMaterLucia'
Third Place: "Paviki" - by 'Jimmy'

Congratulations to the winners and a warm thank you to all participating authors! All stories remain available for reading in the Members forums. The winning stories will soon be published as a 'featured article' on the Front page, accompanied by illustrations from the ImmInst Art team. Stay tuned!
ImmInst will continue to recognise and foster the arts and humanities alongside the science of life extension. Another example of this is the current call for 'Elders advice' videos: ImmInst.org/elders

VOLUNTEERS/APPOINTMENTS

The March 2010 volunteer prize-winner is Matthias, an ImmInst member from Germany. Matthias, who previously organised a German chapter of ImmInst, has been an indispensible pillar of the Moderators team for a long time. His activities are mainly behind the scenes, dealing with reported posts, spammers etc. 

The $25 prize is randomly drawn each month. For a trial period starting this month, the board has agreed to widen the volunteer prize to 2 winners of each month. See this topic for all past volunteer prize winners. 

Chapters: Would you like to meet people interested in life extension in your city? Why not register your interest on our regional forums? You could join, or even help organise a local chapter in your area. Check out: http://imminst.org/chapters

Teams: A new forum function should help to make volunteering at ImmInst more easier and transparent.  Check it out here and stay tuned for further news on this feature.

If you have other ideas or suggestions regarding new initiatives, please visit the ACTION forum to share your thoughts. For more long-term plans, you could contribute to the brainstorming on mid-term goals and strategies for the next few years.