Exciting changes have arrived on the daCi global website. Since a new site was launched in 2018 there has been work happening steadily behind the scenes to develop the secure Members’ Area and improve the flow of the site’s navigation. These changes make the site much easier to move around and you should be able to find the information you need in just a few clicks. It also contains more information than ever before to engage prospective new members. A new online membership form is now active which, when completed by prospective new members, will be emailed directly to the appropriate country National Representative to prompt them to process payment. This should hopefully expedite the new member process and ensure the right person is contacted immediately. More information on daCi core initiatives is available on this refreshed site with examples and a greater explanation of key projects such as Twinning and the Rights of the Child to Dance as well as both the Copenhagen and Adelaide Declarations.

Members’ Area updates

The most exciting developments to the site have taken place within the secure Members’ Area. All Members (new and existing) are requested to complete the Member Registration Form via the ‘Become a Member’ button. This will prompt you National Representative to take your 2020 Membership fee but more importantly, it will also set you up with secure access to the Members’ Area. Once you complete the form it will prompt you to log in and from there you are free to access refreshed member resources such as links to journals, videos, and information of interest. There is also a vast amount of archival information previously called the daCiReader and now found in the Members’ Resources section which you can search to discover research, past conference presentations, and other valuable content.

Our final update to the Members’ Area is the introduction of anew secure networking and social platform for Members to interact on a global basis and seek and share opportunities to collaborate. daCi Connect is born out of a desire from Members to understand more about one another - our skills, our experience and our willingness to collaborate. Within daCi Connect you will be asked to edit a profile (similar to a social media profile) where you can upload a picture of yourself as well as a cover picture that demonstrates your areas of interest or work. There is space for a short bio so you can describe who you are, what you do and what, more importantly, you would like to do in the future. You will be asked to nominate your key areas of interest so that other members know whether you have shared interests when they are searching through the Member Directory page. You will be able to post in forums/Groups based on those interest areas to let others know about projects you have completed, are working on, or to seek expressions of interest from potential partners. And finally, you will be able to privately message one another and begin to make our daCi world that much smaller, making valuable connections far and wide. We hope this new platform will encourage you all to step outside of your local and national networks and find a safe and positive space to interact beyond our conferences every three years.