FoodSHIELD Announcements

New feature: Who's Online?

FoodSHIELD has just added a new Who's Online? feature to its Member Portal. Members can now see who is currently logged into FoodSHIELD and their abbreviated contact details.

Tell us about up-coming events

The FoodSHIELD Calendar of Events is one of the most popular and widely-visited features of the site. We strive to compile a wide array of events from the agriculture, food regulatory, laboratory, food safety, and public health landscapes all in one place. Our members and visitors have been valuable contributors to the success of our calendar, and now we've made it even easier to notify us of events. 

Enhanced Document Manager capabilities

FoodSHIELD members now have access to an even more powerful way to share and collaborate on documents.  The secure Document Manager has just been upgraded with several new features:

• Action bar for quick access to file management tools
• Instant file preview - see the document as a PDF without having to download it
• Instant archiving of old versions with option to revert back to any version
• Assign or change file status using these options: Read only, In progress, Draft, Approved
• Mark a file as "Private" so only you the user can see it
• Get instant e-mail notifications when the document has been changed
• Send the file via e-mail directly from the Document Manager
• Document comments - creates a document forum to log discussion about the document

Here's a look at the new Documents Manager layout (click on image for larger version):

LabDIR Welcomes Alabama Laboratory

We'd like to welcome our latest member of LabDIR:

• Alabama Department of Agriculture Food and Drug Laboratory

Thank you for your valuable addition to FoodSHIELD!

To see a map of all LabDIR participants, click here or under Participation Maps in the left sidebar.

Contact us to find out more about joining FoodSHIELD and LabDIR.

Food&AgDIR New Members in VT and NC

We'd like to welcome two new participants to Food&AgDIR, our database tool for farm-to-table regulatory programs:

• Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
• North Carolina Division of Environment and Natural Resources

Thank you for your valuable addition to FoodSHIELD!

To see a map of all Food&AgDIR participants, click here or under Participation Maps in the left sidebar.

Contact us to find out more about joining FoodSHIELD and Food&AgDIR.

LabDIR New Member in Indiana

We'd like to welcome a new participant to LabDIR, our database tool for laboratories:

• Indiana State Department of Health Laboratories

Thank you for your valuable addition to FoodSHIELD!

To see a map of all LabDIR participants, click here or under Participation Maps in the left sidebar.

Contact us to find out more about joining FoodSHIELD and LabDIR.

More Web Meeting Resources

We recently posted a video tutorial demonstrating how FoodSHIELD members can quickly set up a web meeting.

Here are some additional resources by Adobe that explain the web meeting environment and how to successfully conduct that meeting.

1. Macromedia Breeze Quick Start Guide - this covers:
   
   • Sharing Files
   • Sharing Your Screen with Attendees
   • Broadcasting Audio
   • Broadcasting Video
   • Recording a Meeting, among other topics
 
2. System Requirements - a list of the computer system requirements to participate in a meeting
   
   
3. Meeting Connection Test - a diagnostic test of your computer system to ensure you and your fellow participants will be able to connect to the meeting.

Video Tutorial: Create a Workgroup

Along with web meetings, workgroups are among our most popular member tools. Workgroups provide a way to collaborate with a group of people in a secure way.

Workgroups can have their own file folder for sharing documents, and their own calendar for creating tasks and events.  Workgroups can also create their own web meetings. And FoodSHIELD makes it easy to send an e-mail to the whole participant list right from within the site.

View this short tutorial to find out more:

Tutorial: Create a Workgroup (run time 02:40)

Video Tutorial: Create a Web Meeting

One of the popular tools FoodSHIELD provides to its members is the ability to create and conduct a web meeting. 

Web meetings offer a secure way to allow all participants see the same thing at the same time, such as presentations, documents, or web pages.

FoodSHIELD uses Adobe Connect, a powerful yet simple web conferencing system that makes quick work out of creating a meeting and inviting participants.

View this short tutorial to find out more:

Tutorial: Create a Web Meeting (run time 03:21)

Video Tutorial: Logging into FoodSHIELD

Logging into FoodSHIELD for the first time is easy. To understand more about the process, we've created a short video demonstration (run time: 01:16). Click the link below to launch the video.

Tutorial: FoodSHIELD Login

Find out more about FoodSHIELD membership in the About section of our home page.