1. 404: Bits, Bytes, or BLOGs- How to get the Word out?
Cell B: Newsletters

2. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Introduction
Mark Stickel
Sea Scout Ship 1001
Tiwahe Lodge, San Diego-Imperial Council
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Cell B: Newsletters

3. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Goals of this session
Understand the place and purpose of newsletters in the digital age.
Examine a model committee structure.
Discuss issues of content.
Analyze fundamental design concepts.
Learn to maintain a successful newsletter with solid readership.
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Cell B: Newsletters

4. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Why Have a Newsletter?
Are newsletters obsolete in the 21st century?
What are the benefits of a newsletter?
Are there any drawbacks to using a newsletter (vs. other forms of communication)?
Newsletters don’t write themselves…
Are newsletters obsolete in the 21st century? – let audience think about this but don’t solicit answers – come back to this question after next question
What are the benefits of a newsletter? – solicit answers from audience and write on whiteboard or flipchart
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5. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Committee Structure
There are several ways to set up a newsletter committee
How does your lodge set up its committee?
Lodge Editor and contributing writers
Lodge Officers submit articles
Chapters submit articles
“One-man” newsletter team
How does your lodge set up its committee? Get responses on whiteboard / flipchart. Next discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this type of committee
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6. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Common Problems
What difficulties are encountered when producing a newsletter?
Centralizing all the work on too few Arrowmen
Over-reliance on advisors to accomplish tasks youth should be doing
Lack of (serious) deadlines
What are some possible solutions to these problems?
Solutions to lack of deadlines – have “buffer” time built in after the deadline to get last-minute or late articles in, BUT be sure to enforce the original deadline.
We discourage putting in blank placeholders such as “no article from the Vice Chief” – do you ever see this in a newspaper or magazine?
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7. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Time Management
Ever read a newsletter that consists of old, outdated articles?
What tools are available to help with newsletter time management?
Have helpers pass out backdater samples
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8. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Exercise: Backdaters
In a group, brainstorm and fill in the backdater with your ideas
What tasks need to be performed?
What order should these tasks be performed in?
When should these tasks be performed?
Allow a brief group period (maybe 3-5 minutes) for brainstorming. Have a Scout in each group be the spokesperson and share the ideas; write these on the board for the whole class to see. Depending on class size, we might not have time to get to every group.
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9. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Newsletter Team Roles
What roles play a part in the production of the newsletter?
Can we determine roles from the tasks on our backdaters?
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Cell B: Newsletters

10. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Some Possible Roles
Here are some possible roles:
Editor-in-chief (possibly the Lodge Secretary)
Managing Editor
Layout Editor
Copy Editor
Writers
Photographers
Production Editor / Publisher
Mailing Team
Editor-in-chief – heads up the whole team
Managing Editor – responsible for the budget, similar to ed-in-chief
Layout Editor – someone good with layouts and software that can organize the newsletter and arrange articles, photos, etc
Copy Editor – proof-reads the content, applies style guides, and makes changes as needed
Writers – provide content
Photographers – take pictures at events; to be used with articles written by writers
Production Editor – responsible for printing and copying
Mailing Team – coordinate mailing labels, sorting, etc.
REMEMBER – not all roles are needed; some can be combined. Use your judgement based on the size of your lodge, frequency of publication, number of interested volunteers, etc.
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Cell B: Newsletters

11. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Structure: Summary
Adapt your newsletter committee structure based on factors:
Lodge size
Newsletter budget
Frequency of publication
Youth-run, from brainstorming to mailing
What is the role of the adviser?
Don’t let the discussion on adviser’s role take too long.
Want to get across that #!: the adviser’s job is to make sure the youth can get the job done. The youth and adviser should work together to split up tasks such as layout if the youth is not knowledgeable about layout.
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12. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Newsletter Content
What are some typical content areas of a lodge newsletter?
Put yourself in the reader’s shoes – what do you want to read about?
Tailor your articles to your readers
Newsletter is a marketing tool – sell your events
Content ideas – what are some unique things you’ve seen?
Get audience input for types of articles that belong in a lodge newsletter. Some of these can include officer reports, committee reports, chapter news, calendar of events, photos, event registration forms, contact information
Brainstorm some original article ideas
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13. 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference • www.oa-bsa.org
Design & Layout
What are some important principles to remember when designing a layout?
Some things we came up with:
Simple
Eye-catching
Continuity of layout across issues
“clutter control”
Give credit to your writers – use by-lines
Software
What are some important principles when laying out a newsletter? – write audience responses on whiteboard
Get user input on software (software programs they use, ease of use, learning curve. Suggest that Microsoft Word is all you really need if you don’t have access to fancy layout software)
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Competition
Many sections have lodge newsletter competitions
If you were to hold a competition, what would your judging criteria be?
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Electronic vs. Paper
Are there benefits to having an electronic newsletter instead of a paper newsletter?
What is lost by doing this?
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Electronic vs. Paper
A mailed newsletter is something readers can hold and read, and can be exciting
When it shows up in the mail, a reader is “forced” to do something with it
ed or posted newsletters might not get read at all (think of how much you read and how much you simply delete)
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Other Newsletters
What about chapter newsletters? Section newsletters?
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Case Study
Critique and analysis of some of your lodge newsletters
NOTE: before the session starts, open up some electronic copies of newsletters from the audience’s lodges. If no members have newsletters, analyze saved newsletters (incl Nat’l Bulletin)
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Summary
How to organize a newsletter:
TEAM - Build the team!
TIME - Plan ahead using a backdater
CONTENT – relevant and interesting
LAYOUT – keep it simple and consistent, use pictures and graphics to make it eye-catching
Print and mail copies to members – e-newsletters are useful but shouldn’t be used exclusively
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Summary 2
What newsletters accomplish:
Getting event information to your members
Selling the lodge and its events
Cheap and fast method to communicate with a large number of members at once
Provide a means of participation and leadership roles for youth on the team
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