Project Hermes

Data & digitisation

Richard Gutteridge, Grand Superintendent for Nottinghamshire and the Chairman of the Hermes Transition and Rollout Working Party, provides an update on Hermes

As well as my role as Grand Superintendent in and over the Royal Arch Province of Nottinghamshire, I am also the Chair of the UGLE Working Party tasked to plan for the transition and rollout of Hermes. My entire working career was spent developing computer software and for 30 years I ran my own software development company. I am also a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

When I retired, my objective was to decrease my golf handicap and increase my ability to sing and play the guitar. To date, I have fallen short on both these targets. I must state that my role on the Hermes project is not the only reason I haven’t met these goals; talent is also a factor.

Hermes: a summary The membership computer database used by UGLE is called Adelphi and has been developed internally over a number of years. As well as being used by the administration teams at Freemasons’ Hall in London, Adelphi allows remote access from regional centres around the country and District centres around the world.

However, individual lodges and chapters do not have access to Adelphi and have to manage their units by submitting paper forms to their regional centres. This risks delays and inaccuracies.

So, while Adelphi will remain at the heart of our membership system, the new Hermes approach will provide a ‘front end’ to connect lodges and chapters to the data held in Adelphi. Of course, this will mean that lodge Secretaries and chapter Scribes Ezra must have a reasonably modern computer or smart device, and access to the internet. Where this is not possible, it will be perfectly acceptable for another member of the masonic unit (e.g. Assistant Secretary) to take on the Hermes role.

Chairman of the Hermes Transition and Rollout Working Party Richard Gutteridge

Our lodge Secretaries and chapter Scribes are the beating heart of our masonic units and while Hermes will present them with a new challenge, the benefits are huge – streamlined processes, elimination of duplication and removing the drudgery from their role.

Where we are with Hermes At present, we are in the middle of the build phase. The Great Software Architect’s detailed plans have been circulated and approved with a broad consensus that the result will be a truly splendid edifice fit for the 21st century.

However, now it is a job for the craftsmen (designers, programmers and testers) to deliver the intended structure and that is happening now. We are starting to see the first working screens emerge from the development team and they look really exciting. WHO ELSE SERVES ON THE TRANSITION AND ROLLOUT WORKING PARTY?

David Swain is the Grand Secretary and Scribe Ezra of Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Chapter and with almost 1,800 lodges and chapters, clearly has a keen interest in ensuring the project is a success.

Michael Dyson was, until recently, the Provincial Grand Secretary and Scribe Ezra of Yorkshire West Riding but has been promoted to Assistant Provincial Grand Master. He is someone at the Provincial ‘sharp end’.

Tom Gittins is the Provincial Grand Secretary and Scribe Ezra of Durham. Someone else at the Provincial ‘sharp end’.

Carlos Cruz is the Chief Information Officer at UGLE. The Chief Architect.

Prity Lad is the Director of Member Services at UGLE. Reminds us that our members are the primary customer.

Andy Croci manages the Member Services Registrations team at UGLE. A key player particularly during the transition.

Lister Park heads up the Member Services District Support team at UGLE. He represents our lodges and chapters overseas. Ed Feist is the Training Officer at UGLE. A key player in ensuring our 10,100 Hermes users know what to do when they get access to the system.

Tony Keating is the Hermes Project Manager and an external consultant. He keeps us on track.

Neil Tomkinson is the Adelphi Development Team Leader at UGLE. He is the head honcho of those glamorous designers.

Nigel Codron is the Secretary of the group, a past Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex and Assistant Training & Support Officer at UGLE. He is someone who can see both sides of the table.

So, that is the team. Of course, the pandemic has meant that our only way of meeting is by video conferencing, which we do regularly.

The task for my working party is nowhere near as glamorous as that of the design team. Ours is to use the time while the build phase proceeds to plan how we can make the transition to the new system as smooth as possible, and to consider the order and the rate at which the total UGLE and Supreme Grand Chapter community can be rolled out to the new system. Within the constitution, there are around 10,100 lodges and chapters. That is the size of the challenge.

Data integrity An important part of our preparations for Hermes has been examining the existing data that Adelphi holds about our members and ensuring this is as complete as possible. We have been working with regional centres to identify and correct wrong or missing information. We need Hermes to have accurate and complete information with which to guide the lodge Secretary or chapter Scribe Ezra. We can all help by ensuring that our Secretary or Scribe has accurate details, such as date of birth, postal address, email address and phone numbers.

More diffi cult to resolve are missing details of events in our Freemasonry history. Using myself as an example, imagine that I agree to go through the chairs of my chapter, something I last did in 1984. To qualify for that honour, I must have served certain regular offi ces in a chapter, and according to the existing Adelphi data I have not done so. I have, of course, but it was long before that information was recorded on a computer system.

As Hermes will check this information, it is my chapter Scribe who will face this problem and you can imagine how perplexed he will be to fi nd his Grand Superintendent is not qualifi ed to take a chair in the chapter. The fi x is simple, refer to the minutes or summons from days gone by, and use Hermes to add the missing history and all is well.

So, I hope you can appreciate how important it is that the data is as complete as possible, and I hope that you understand if you are asked to supply information missing from your Freemason records. By doing this, you will be making life easier for your lodge Secretary or chapter Scribe Ezra.

Training and support for Hermes users Hermes is being designed to be easy to use and intuitive in its operation, similar in complexity to internet banking systems. Every task to be completed will be a set of simple steps with entries being checked for validity before proceeding to the next step. A key task of our working party is to ensure that the training package being designed by our professionals at UGLE is also top class.

In the fi rst instance, key individuals in every regional centre will receive the training package and will become a local centre in Hermes excellence. This team will deliver the Hermes

RICHARD GUTTERIDGE DAVID SWAIN

TOM GITTINS CARLOS CRUZ

ANDY CROCI LISTER PARK

Tony Keating

TONY KEATING NEIL TOMKINSON

training to Secretaries and Scribes and be part of the fi rst line support team when assistance with Hermes is required.

Local steering groups The implementation of Hermes will mean major changes to the administration currently carried out in our regional centres, be it Metropolitan, a Province, a district or an Inspectorate overseas. These centres will also have a huge part to play in the transition to Hermes, delivering the training package and providing advice and support to the Hermes users in their lodges and chapters. For this reason, we have asked regional centres to form their own steering groups to work in conjunction with us.

Summary The development of Hermes and the enhancement of Adelphi to interface with Hermes is progressing well. We are working on the training packages and support programmes that will be required to enable Hermes to be successfully rolled out in every lodge and chapter.

My working party is collaborating closely with similar groups in your own area to ensure that we are all fully prepared for this exciting development in our membership services.

MICHAEL DYSON

PRITY LAD

ED FEIST

NIGEL CODRON

Members of the Transition and Rollout Working Party meet by Zoom