Florida Team, I just wanted to share with everyone the Great News that <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Echrisjohnston">Chris Johnston</a> , <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Ejpugh">John Pugh</a> , and last but not least <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Emichelle-qimo4kids">Michelle Hall</a> , have all applied and received their Ubuntu Memberships approximately 5 hours ago. I would encourage everyone to give their congratulations to all of the New Members. They have all been working really hard for the Team, and it's great to see it pay off! <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Emhall119">Michael Hall</a> and <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Epak33m">Jimmy Harris</a> also within the last couple of months have become Ubuntu Members for all of the contributions that they have made to the team, and to Ubuntu as a whole, so my gratitude goes out to them as well. For the benefit of those that are new to the team here is what you earn by securing an Ubuntu Membership..... <h1 id="Benefits of Membership">Benefits of Membership</h1> Membership entitles you to the following benefits: <ul><li> Voting privileges to confirm Ubuntu <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CommunityCouncil">Community Council</a> nominations. </li><li>An @<a href="http://ubuntu.com">ubuntu.com</a> email alias that forwards to your real email address. See <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuEmail">UbuntuEmail</a> for more details. </li><li>An ubuntu/member/your_nick cloak on freenode - See <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IrcTeam/Cloaks">IrcTeam/Cloaks</a>. </li><li> The right to print business cards with the Ubuntu logo - The business cards can be found at the <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BusinessCards">BusinessCards</a> page, you will need to take care of the printing yourself. </li><li>Syndication on Planet Ubuntu of your Ubuntu blog or the Ubuntu category posts in your blog, if you have one. Follow the registration instructions on <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PlanetUbuntu">PlanetUbuntu</a> to add your blog! </li><li> An Ubuntu Member title at the Ubuntu Forums. See <a class="http" href="http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=445211">this post</a> for more information. </li><li> A subscription to <a class="http" href="http://www.lwn.net/">Linux Weekly News</a> - see <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/LWN">this page</a> for instructions on how to apply. </li><li>Ability to join the Official Ubuntu Members group on <a class="http" href="http://www.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a>. See <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership/LinkedIn">Membership/LinkedIn</a> for more information. </li><li>Signing up for <a class="https" href="https://www.sixxs.net/">SixXS</a> account with an Ubuntu email address and a link to your Launchpad page will grant you an "Ubuntu Credit Bonus" of 25 <a class="https" href="https://www.sixxs.net/faq/account/?faq=credits">credit points</a>. </li><li>SFTP access to a Web-accessible directory on <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PeopleUbuntuCom">people.ubuntu.com</a></li></ul>Some of the things that the election council looks for are sustained and significant contributions of approximately 6 months. If you are new to the team but have been contributing to Ubuntu for a while those contributions still count, just make sure that your wiki page reflects all of your previous as well as current contributions. Find out the full details of Ubuntu Membership and other particulars by following this <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Membership">link</a>. I would encourage all of you that are seeking membership to try and become more visible in events that the team particpates in. Jump outside your comfort zone, and lead a presentation or two, or show up for a bug triaging session and learn some of the Ropes. All contributions no matter how large or small help Ubuntu. If you are new to the team just hop into the IRC at #ubuntu-us-fl (if you are new to IRC and want to try our web based client that will get you directly into #ubuntu-us-fl <a href="http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/team-chat/">click here!!!</a> )and introduce yourself and ask how you can get involved. If you aren't comfortable with IRC, you can visit <a href="http://www.ubuntu-fl.org/">Florida LoCo Teams Site</a>. The last two resources at your disposal are, The <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FloridaTeam">Florida Team Wiki</a> and Our <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=225">Florida Team Forums</a>. Thanks so much for being a great team, We have accomplished a lot in 2009, Hopefully we'll achieve even more in 2010!!! Chris Crisafulli Florida Team Lead itnet7/<a href="http://irc.freenode.net/#ubuntu-us-fl">irc.freenode.net/#ubuntu-us-fl</a>