Yesterday, I was presented with a pleasant surprise. As I was wrapping up my day's work, I was instant messaged by Brother Simon R. LaPlace, Right Worshipful Grand Junior Deacon of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Connecticut. R:.W:. Brother Simon and I have chatted from time to time via the tangled web of electronic tubes that connect these mechanical thinking machines. I consider him to be the premier techno-enlightened grand lodge officer and most of our conversations have focused on new technology and how the Grand Lodge intends to use it. Readers of the Movable Jewel may remember Brother Simon from this interview, where Brother Movable Jewel and Brother Simon had a great conversation about what it's like being a Grand Lodge officer and the future of the craft.After our typical pleasantries, R:.W:. Brother Simon asked me if I had a webcam. Luckily they come standard on all MacBook Pros, however my camera has rarely seen use except for the occasional funny faced photo or software avatar (see the right side-panel for an example). The purpose of Simon's IM session was to test drive his video-chatting capabilities. So, he had me quickly download Skype and we ventured off into the world of video conferencing.
In the past, I have used screen sharing software at work to troubleshoot and train clients with my company software. However, I have only used video-conferencing on a few occasions, but never with a Brother mason. We spent about half an hour testing the capabilities and working through some of the minor technical problems that we encountered. We then spent some time discussing Masonic Tech and how video-conferencing would help Masons.
Simon plans on inviting the Grand Master to a meeting of the legal affairs committee being held this morning in Wallingford, CT. However, he is fully aware that the Grand Master will be in Massachusetts on other fraternal business and will be unable to travel the several hours back to Grand Lodge for this committee meeting. Brother Simon then plans to surprise the Grand Master with a technical solution, using Skype to telecommute to the meeting! This could be the Grand Lodge of Connecticut's first foray into telecommuting.
As a clarification, I in no way condone using this technology as a replacement for the social or ritual aspect of Freemasonry. Webcams have no place at our Stated Communications or at our social events. Freemasonry is a personal organization and will stay this way. However, there is a lot of administrative overhead in Masonry. Brothers, especially Grand Lodge officers, have to continually go to committee meetings and planning meetings. This can be a huge burden.
Quite simply, there are two main benefits of telecommuting to certain types of Masonic meetings; time and money. First, if it takes you an hour to drive to and from a half-an-hour meeting, it's extremely inefficient. Many lodge and Grand Lodge officers encounter this problem quite frequently. Huge amounts of time are spent traveling for planning and committee meetings, which rarely require a physical presence. This is time away from family and friends. Furthermore, it's time that could be spent on more Masonry. If a brother could save two hours of traveling several times a month, that time could be spent on a plethora of other worthwhile activities, like Masonic education, communicating with other brothers, charity, blogging, etc.
This brings us to the second point; money. Transportation costs money and these prices are sky-rocketing. Freemasonry is a volunteer organization. Lodge officers and Grand Lodge officers do not get gas stipends. R:.W:. Brother Simon uses 70 gallons of gas every month on Grand Lodge activities. With gas prices at $4.50 per gallon in Connecticut, Brother Simon spends approximately $315 a month. That's almost $4000 a year, which he spends out of pocket. Now, if each of the 18 primary Grand Lodge officers in Connecticut use a comparable amount of gas, that is $72,000 a year in gas used by the primary Grand Lodge Officers. This amount does not include the District Deputies, District Grand Lecturers or Associate Grand Marshals. If we include these approximately 50 brothers at half the gas usage of the primary Grand Lodge officers, it is another $100,000 a year. Therefore, the Grand total of approximate volunteered gas costs for the entire Grand Lodge is $172,000. Wouldn't this money be better spent on our lodge buildings or our charities? Telecommuting can help limit some of this unnecessary expenditure. If these officers telecommuted to %25 of their required duties, there would be $43,000 extra for other expenses.
Video-conferencing is far from perfect. Simon and I experienced some lagging and syncing issues that we're trying to rectify with different protocols. However, for many meetings, only audio is needed, which works perfectly. Some brothers will feel uncomfortable about talking with a brother via the internet, but this discomfort quickly subsides as the user gets used to the software and experience.
Although I name Skype as the Masonic Tech in this post, this is just one of hundreds of audio and video conferencing applications available. One of the benefits of many of these pieces of software, including Skype, is that they are free. Brother Simon and I plan on trying some of the other ones for ease of use and compatibility issues. If there is one that you can recommend, please drop a comment onto this post.
I'd like to thank R:.W:. Brother Simon for his hard work with modernizing the Grand Lodge. He has been a major force for technology in Masonry, as the editor of our state-wide publication, e-forum moderator, website designer and promoter of us crazy bloggers. It's great to see a Grand Lodge officer embracing technology. Yesterday, Brother Simon told me via AIM that "we have to get everyone 'connected'." When it comes down to it, that's what Masonry is all about: connections. We connect to our family, our friends, our brothers and God. The aim of the internet is also about making connections, so Masonry should strive to continue using this valuable tool to help with bringing people together in new, interesting and efficient ways.
