Newsletter By Committee???

[fordee9r (Ron Springstead)]

When I first took over as Editor of <span style="font-style: italic">The Schoharie Valley Rambler</span> nine years ago, it was a "cut & paste" little rag that was sent to the local copy center for 25 to 30 copies of 3 or 4 pages. It has grown to at least 5 pages (the most we can mail for $.37) with 65 to 70 copies, each one printed on our Canon BJC6000 color printer.

Basically, the job has grown too big for one person without sacrificing most of my spare time. I know that some Regions use a committee to produce their newsletter and am interested in how the various jobs are split up among the committee members. Any suggestions?

[Guest]

The most frequently used approach to publish by committee is one person edits (writes) and handles the reproduction. Another takes over the mailing (labels, folding, spindling, etc.) Some break off the ads with a separate committee. I guess it would be possible for an editor to work up a master and have somebody else take care of the printing, but that removes the editor from the final fine tuning of the way the final product looks.

[Guest BruceW]

Ron,

As you know, the HORN is very similar to your story. It was a 1 or 2 page 8 1/2 x 11 paper black and white done in a very crude manner. It is now a 10 page newsletter printed on 11 x 17 paper with color. I publish 90 copies per month.

One main difference is I have not been doing it as long as you or many others so I don't know if I can provide any helpful information.

Sections of the newsletter done by other people are probably the standard items, i.e. President's report, secretary's report, etc. I still end up writing and preparing most of the content. Articles from sources such as the Rummage Box and other publications that I get copyright reprint permissions make it easier not having to write the articles. Its a matter of cut and paste in most instances. I do try to get the event chairperson to write up an article on their event that recently happened. Mixed results on that so far.

For me, doing by committee for reproduction would not work as all of the pages are printed here in my basement on a HP 1220 ink jet printer. I do have people volunteer to assemble, fold and stamp the newsletters.

I think its difficult to get a small newsletter like the HORN or the Rambler into a Committee process without requiring undue time between operations. On the other hand, the bigger dollar, glossy magazine type publications in some regions require a committee appoach. But I may be wrong.

I havn't got any suggestions but I'll be interested in any helpful advise that you obtain. (Meanwhile I have to get back to printing this month's issue)

Bruce

[John N. Packard]

Ron,

Assess what resources are available to you and adapt your process to them. I have two persons that handle the printing/mailing function. I take the print ready copy to whichever one is available and they take it to the printer, pick it up, staple/stamp/address (I do provide the pre-printed labels), take to the Post Office and handle the financials with the treasurer. I also have a number of regular contributors. One invariably calls on the day the copy is due to go to the printer and asks when I need his article! Most are pretty prompt in getting their material to me. I would really like to have someone do the activities calendar, which is a task that I dislike. I usually put it off until the end of the production process. My guess is that even with committee help there is a lot of work for the editor!

jnp

[fordee9r (Ron Springstead)]

Thanks to all for repies so far. I agree with John that the calendar of events was a real pain to prepare. I used to search <span style="font-style: italic">Hemmings, Old Cars,</span> etc. for show dates and info. When <span style="font-style: italic">Hemmings</span> put their show info on their website, things were easier but still very time consuming. This year I had a member volunteer to take over this job and it's been a big help.

She e-mails her column and I cut & paste it into the newsletter. We're working on getting her to use a format that I can scan into my program without reformatting the text.

Mailing labels are not an issue for me since my publishing program has "mail merge". As the back page is printed, addresses are also printed.

I guess the only part that would save me time is the assembly and mailing of the newsletter.

Any other ideas?

[Guest BruceW]

Ah.. the joys of email.

Currently none of our executive board has a computer, nor is interested in owning one in this later stage of their lives, so email is not an option. I usually get the President's message faxed to my work which I then have to retype. The secretary's minutes are mailed, pony expressed or dropped off somewhere for me which I need to retype.

But hope is on the horizon!

Luckily the incoming president does know what a computer is, owns one, and knows how to send email. The joy that will bring when it is time to put the President's message in the newsletter! I'm waiting in anticipation!

[Guest]

The Beam is produced by a small committee. Vern and I gather and edit the material, produce the master, and deliver it on CD to the printer. We also pick up the printed copies when they're ready, because we are closest to the printer. (The bill is mailed directly to our treasurer.) We also produce the mailing labels, since we maintain the roster files throughout the year.

We pass the labels and the Beam copies on to another couple (our Publishers), who apply the mailing labels and the additional sticky labels that hold the issue together, sort for bulk mailing, and then deliver the bags to the post office. They are also responsible for maintaining the proper amount of money in the account, and for renewing the account annually.

The hardest part for us is not the prep of each issue, it gathering all the information for the issue! And from what we read, we're not alone in that battle. Luckily for us, we have set some procedures in place to make sure that we have some items coming in on a regular basis. For example, the president is expected to provide a column. Anyone hosting an event is expected to provide information two months in advance so we can prepare flyers to publicize the event. Afterwards, they are expected to give us a write up (personally or through delegation) with pictures, if available. (Believe me, they hear about it from other members if they don't follow through!) We also have regular items, like Board minutes, Calendar of Events and Kid's Page, to take up some of the other pages. Twelve inside pages is a lot to fill each month -- we have had to get very creative on some occasions to make sure there isn't too much white space! The Rummage Box has been one of our best friends some months.

Bottom line: If you choose to do this with a committee, make sure that the members are VERY compatible and have similar approaches and working styles. If you think it takes a long time to do it yourself now, imagine how much longer it would take if you had to nudge and prod....

Jan K.

Wis Region

[JanK]

My last reply ended up as "anonymous" but I did include my name/location at the end. I'm replying again to see if I'm back to being myself again.

Jan K.

Wis Region

[R W Burgess]

Gosh Guys, I usually have so much activity stuff to put in the Northern Neck Region newsletter, there's not any room for anything alse. One weekend, we had three car show activities on one day with a good turnout at all of them. I have yet to use one article from the Rummage Box, even though I know it's required. I'll make sure to use it at least once this year. I've gone to printing the whole 12 page newsletter completely by myself with a HP 1700 Printer. I started this month's 120 issues Friday night and finished it tonight at 11:00 P. M. I have to rewrite most material like you guys and I also hate the activities listing as I can't keep up with that stuff. One member gave me a two month activity run, which I posted and started dropping off the old stuff and replacing new at the bottom of the page each month. I use the same back page each month for coming events. Oh!, and I use other shared clubs activities sheets to help me keep up. I wish I knew the proper way for someone to e-mail me articles, so I wouldn't have to rewrite or reform it every time. I guess that's about it for this time. Wayne