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Greetings! If your institution has been considering membership in the BitCurator Consortium <https://bitcuratorconsortium.org/> but hasn’t quite been able to take the leap due to time or finances, or if your institution is curious about the community but needs additional context for what membership entails, you now have the opportunity to join the BCC at a reduced fee and experience all the benefits of membership (including some new ones)! You may be thinking, “Well, we don’t regularly use BitCurator, or we are just getting started working with born-digital materials, so I’m not sure if BCC membership is for us”. The BCC is so much more than the home for the BitCurator software environment. It’s a space for practitioners working with born-digital materials to share knowledge, resources, and documentation. It’s a place to work together to develop new ideas and solutions. Even if you are just getting started, the BCC offers a community of support, a place to connect with people doing the same kind of work in other institutions, as well as many training resources to assist practitioners in their work. And today, in celebration of World Digital Preservation Day, <https://dpconline.org/events/world-digital-preservation-day> we’re delighted to kick off a new Winter Membership Special <https://bitcuratorconsortium.org/winter-membership-special> for the BitCurator Consortium wherein institutions can join the BCC as full members at a discounted rate of $500 (a 75% discount off the regular membership rate!). This membership period will begin in January 2019 and last until July 2019, providing institutions with a seven-month opportunity to explore BCC’s treasure trove of educational resources, engage with our network of engaged professionals, and most importantly, take advantage of a brand new membership benefit: Born-Digital Workflow Consultation! As part of this membership special, new members will receive 2-3 hours of consultation time with BCC staff to assess, evaluate, and produce recommendations related to their born-digital workflows and infrastructure. This new membership benefit was created in response to a need that we have heard articulated both within and beyond our community - that institutions and their staff need assistance developing and evolving their born-digital workflows. Through the BCC’s close involvement with the OSSArcFlow <https://educopia.org/ossarcflow/>research project, we have developed a process for documenting and evaluating current workflows and we are excited to bring this approach to the larger community! If you would like to learn more about Born-Digital Workflow Consultation benefits and other BCC community resources please register for an upcoming information session on Friday, December 14th at 12pm ET. See details here <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bcc-winter-membership-special-info-session-registration-53113209038> . If you’re interested in joining the BCC as part of the Winter Membership Special, here are the details you need to know: - Institutions can become a BCC member for only $500 - Membership Special term runs from January to June 30, 2019, with opportunity to renew and continue annual membership at regular rate - Institutions must join by January 31st, 2019 - New members who join as part of the special will receive the Born-Digital Workflow Consultation benefit In addition to the Winter Membership Special benefits listed above, all new members will also receive access to the full suite of regular BCC membership benefits, including: - Discounts for events, including the annual BitCurator Users Forum - Access to the members-only training resources and documentation - Access to members-only help desk for technical support - Prioritized requests for BitCurator feature development - Opportunities to serve on BCC committees - Engage with other members on the BCC mailing list - Voting rights for community governance - Professional development opportunities The BCC exists to ensure that the digital forensics community in cultural heritage institutions continues to thrive in the years to come. If you’re interested in joining our community and investing in the success and longevity of digital forensics practices worldwide, please review the membership agreement <https://bitcuratorconsortium.org/sites/bitcuratorconsortium.org/files/bcc_memberagreementform_2017.pdf> or visit bitcuratorconsortium.org. To take advantage of the membership special, please submit your membership agreement no later than January 31, 2019. If you have any questions regarding the BCC please feel free to contact Sam Meister ([log in to unmask]). Also, please sign up here <http://eepurl.com/defWBz> to receive our quarterly newsletter and announcements on BCC community happenings! We hope you’ll bring your expertise to the BitCurator Consortium and help us shape the digital forensics conversation of the future. Sam Meister Preservation Communities Manager, Educopia Institute [log in to unmask] http://educopia.org @samalanmeister he / him / his