[Nfb-editors] Notting get all the news

[Mike Freeman]

Which is why I remain unconvinced of the utility of and need for a newsletter today. But here's a thought:  how about only sending the newsletter to those who contribute to it?  They'd have to put up or shut up rather than nattering on about a newsletter while doing nothing!

Mike Freeman
sent from my iPhone


On Mar 11, 2011, at 11:14, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Dear List,
> 
> I enjoy editing The Nebraska Independent, but we are not publishing all
> the newsworthy news out there.  So much happens with the Federation and
> the blind community at large, but most our articles orbit a tiny
> hemesphere.
> 
> I am very busy and do not have much time to dedicate to researching what
> is going on around the country, or even the state for that matter, nor
> do I have the time to whip articles up even when I am aware of news.
> 
> Beyond Robert, myself and one other member, I have no one-- even among a
> small group who claims to enjoy writing-- to rely on for help in this
> department.
> 
> I have sent emails to our entire state membership via the website; I
> have contacted individual members via email, phone and in person; I have
> encouraged members to write articles revolving around their interest; I
> have solicited articles and been specific in what I want; I have tried
> to set a theme, or focus,  with each newsletter in hopes to provide some
> direction.  I have exhausted myself trying to keep this newsletter
> together.
> 
> I have been blunt and expressed my concern with our affiliate board, and
> I always, always remind everyone that all I am asking for is one
> article.  One lousy article.
> 
> I actually resigned my appointment back in January, and all of a sudden
> people popped the cork off their silence.
> 
> "We need a newsletter."
> "You do such a good job."
> "We had the newsletter up and going again, now what will we do?"
> 
> Against my better judgment, I decided to remain as editor for the time
> being, but once again, I have been met with mostly brick walls when the
> subject of article submissions arises.
> 
> I know I'm preaching to the choir, and my situation is certainly not
> unique, but I alone can not keep this publication afloat.
> 
> I did not agree to this appointment so I could publish the same chapter
> updates twice a year, or to fill an entire newsletter with my own
> writing.
> 
> There is so much we could do and focus on, but I can't get a single soul
> to agree to submit-- twice a year-- articles informing and discussing on
> events state-wide and nation-wide.
> 
> Everyone wants a newsletter, but no one wants to do their part.
> 
> Like I said, my schedule is not amenable to producing all the material
> necessary.  I would love to stay on top of human interest stories, and
> legislative issues and programs so I could fill our newsletter, but I
> just can't.  So what do I do?  I mean-- I will be blunt here-- when our
> leadership doesn't support the newsletter, where do we go?
> 
> I am not willing to turn The Nebraska Independent into a newsletter full
> of recipes and birthdays and mere reports on annual chapter events.
> Sorry, but this is not my vision, and quite frankly, anyone could
> produce a newsletter like this.
> 
> I don't feel our newsletter is accomplishing what it could.  I am tired,
> and many opportunities are beginning to blossom for me personally.  If I
> even had 4 or 5 people to count on for consistent submissions, and help
> when I ask, I could continue with a brighter outlook, but I am at my
> wit's end.
> 
> Perhaps I am just ranting here, but I see what some of you are
> accomplishing with your newsletters-- and yes, it takes hard work and
> diligence-- but I don't seem to get the support necessary to continue
> and grow.  When so many people have their hands dipped in so many pots,
> how do you get dedication, professionalism and outstanding work done?
> 
> Drowning in Nebraska (A.K.A Bridgit)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> nfb-editors-request at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2011 12:00 PM
> To: nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Nfb-editors Digest, Vol 76, Issue 11
> 
> 
> Send Nfb-editors mailing list submissions to
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> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
> "Re: Contents of Nfb-editors digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. Upcoming newsletters (Bridgit Pollpeter)
>   2. Re: Upcoming Newsletters? (Chris Kuell)
>   3. Printing the Hard Copy newsletter- Examples (Robert Leslie Newman)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:05:39 -0600
> From: Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming newsletters
> Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP10705F8197997A2D6062BB6C4C80 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Robert,
> 
> I am currently working on The Nebraska Independent, but since my
> schedule is so busy right now, it is taking me longer to get everything
> done.
> 
> I only have a staff of 2, myself and an assistant who helps edit and is
> my production editor too.
> 
> I plan to send it off to my distribution assistant, and this is where
> the release of the newsletter becomes dicey.
> 
> My distribution guy can take his jolly time distributing the newsletter.
> Last time, it took them a month to distribute it to our membership.
> 
> We now distribute it via the affiliate website, which takes time for
> them to format the newsletter for this medium, and I wish we had another
> assistant who could help with this aspect of the newsletter so it
> arrives in a timely manner.
> 
> I developed a concept for our newsletter-- and I lean more towards a
> creative side-- but not everyone is on board.  I try to solicit
> articles, but far to often, I am met with silence.
> 
> Anyway, I will be able to post 
> The Nebraska Independent here soon, but our affiliate membership may not
> receive it until later.
> 
> Bridgit
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> nfb-editors-request at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 12:00 PM
> To: nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Nfb-editors Digest, Vol 76, Issue 10
> 
> 
> Send Nfb-editors mailing list submissions to
>    nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>    http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>    nfb-editors-request at nfbnet.org
> 
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>    nfb-editors-owner at nfbnet.org
> 
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
> "Re: Contents of Nfb-editors digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. Upcoming Newsletters? (Robert Leslie Newman)
>   2. Re: Upcoming Newsletters? (Tom Scanlan)
>   3. Re: Upcoming Newsletters? (Jewel S.)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:44:15 -0600
> From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
> To: "editors nfb list" <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming Newsletters?
> Message-ID: <023401cbdf20$ddb252f0$9916f8d0$@cox.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Dear Editors
> 
> 
> 
> Who on this list is presently working on a newsletter? What is it? When
> are you planning to publish it? Please give us a super brief
> description. (Need any assistance- like article ideas or  formatting, or
> --- you tell us?) 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Leslie Newman
> 
> President, Omaha Chapter NFB
> 
> President, NFB Writers' Division
> 
> Division Website
> 
> <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
> 
> Chair, Newsletter Publication committee
> 
> Personal Website-
> 
> <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:10:14 -0600
> From: "Tom Scanlan" <tom.scanlan at earthlink.net>
> To: <newmanrl at cox.net>,    "Correspondence Committee Mailing List"
>    <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming Newsletters?
> Message-ID: <1DC33471B66B48E9906B15C6FA7F2C4D at tomdddfc55fb39>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>    reply-type=original
> 
> The Minnesota Bulletin will be published in April.   It will contain an 
> extensive report on the state convention last fall.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
> To: "editors nfb list" <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 6:44 AM
> Subject: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming Newsletters?
> 
> 
>> Dear Editors
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Who on this list is presently working on a newsletter? What is it?
>> When
>> are
>> you planning to publish it? Please give us a super brief description. 
>> (Need
>> any assistance- like article ideas or  formatting, or --- you tell
> us?)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Robert Leslie Newman
>> 
>> President, Omaha Chapter NFB
>> 
>> President, NFB Writers' Division
>> 
>> Division Website
>> 
>> <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
>> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
>> 
>> Chair, Newsletter Publication committee
>> 
>> Personal Website-
>> 
>> <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfb-editors mailing list
>> Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Nfb-editors:
>> 
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org/tom.scanlan
> %40earthlink.net
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:29:33 -0500
> From: "Jewel S." <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
> To: newmanrl at cox.net,    Correspondence Committee Mailing List
>    <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming Newsletters?
> Message-ID:
>    <AANLkTimUYG=Z+_pUer6BasGEmiTOdE+-aeftvg0CQ5T- at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> 
> Wake Federation of the Blind Newsletter
> 
> I briefly turned the newsletter over to the group's president, due to
> time constraints. I've got it back and am working on April's newsletter.
> I'm going to write about the annual Student Semeinar held by the North
> Carolina Association of Students (NCABS), the Independent Living
> Center's monthly group meeting for the visually impaired who are looking
> to be more active in their community, and the upcoming fundraisers,
> Belks' Charity Day and Applebee's Breakfast. If I have the time and the
> room, I'll add a little something of a story that will inspire the
> members to be more active.
> 
> Until later,
> Jewel
> Wake Federation of the Blind (Raleih, Wake County, North Carolina)
> 
> On 3/10/11, Robert Leslie Newman <newmanrl at cox.net> wrote:
>> Dear Editors
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Who on this list is presently working on a newsletter? What is it?
>> When are you planning to publish it? Please give us a super brief 
>> description. (Need any assistance- like article ideas or  formatting, 
>> or --- you tell us?)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Robert Leslie Newman
>> 
>> President, Omaha Chapter NFB
>> 
>> President, NFB Writers' Division
>> 
>> Division Website
>> 
>> <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
>> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
>> 
>> Chair, Newsletter Publication committee
>> 
>> Personal Website-
>> 
>> <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfb-editors mailing list
>> Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Nfb-editors: 
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org/herekitty
>> kat2%40gmail.com
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ~Jewel
> Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
> Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-editors mailing list
> Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
> 
> 
> End of Nfb-editors Digest, Vol 76, Issue 10
> *******************************************
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:59:10 -0500
> From: "Chris Kuell" <ckuell at comcast.net>
> To: <newmanrl at cox.net>,    "Correspondence Committee Mailing List"
>    <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Upcoming Newsletters?
> Message-ID: <60642A807007444DA430B96D49B345EA at ChrisPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>    reply-type=original
> 
> The Spring/Summer 2011 issue of the Federationist in Connecticut has
> been 
> sent to our office for production in electronic format, on the web page,
> in 
> braille, large print and on cassette. It should be available in early to
> mid 
> April. It features an outstanding essay titled, Blind Faith, by Georgina
> 
> Kleege, a professor in the creative writing program at UC Berkley. Other
> 
> articles are, President Signs Pedestrian Safety Act, My Dream Fulfilled
> (the 
> winner of our state's essay contest on what the white cane means to me),
> 
> Digital Books Forevermore (a spoof on The Raven ),  The 2011 Washington 
> Seminar, Taking Life By The Reigns )a reprint of a newspaper article
> about a 
> blind girl in CT who rides horses), Here We Go Again (an article by
> yours 
> truly about our governor's attempts to eliminate our state agency for
> the 
> blind),  New, Accessible Job Listings, Blind Man Drives Car, and
> Miscellany 
> and Notes.
> 
> chris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:04:25 -0600
> From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
> To: "editors nfb list" <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-editors] Printing the Hard Copy newsletter- Examples
> Message-ID: <049301cbdffd$9cba8320$d62f8960$@cox.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Let's swop hard-copy print ideas! 
> 
> (I'll keep track of the various options)
> 
> 
> 
> I recently talked to Pennsylvania, and here is how they produce their
> hard-copy version of "the Blind Activist."
> 
> 
> 
> They compose it in Word. They layout all their choices for font, spacing
> and
> layout of pictures, then run it through a PDF converter. 
> 
> 
> 
> The PDF converter serves a couple of important functions. One, in their
> market, the printers prefers this medium. The printing can be made from
> that, call it --- template. Apparently what it will avoid, is the
> problem
> that can sometimes arise when a document is brought in for printing and
> the
> print-shop does not have the font set to match the job. The PDF then is
> the
> template, and the needed printing, duplicating can spring directly from
> it.
> (If someone else can more fully explain this, then --- help.)
> 
> 
> 
> Additionally, the PDF converter is a software program that is installed
> upon
> your hard-drive. So when you are ready to "convert," while in your word
> processor, you choose the option for "print," and select the PDF
> converter
> (which comes up as a printing option). And so the PDF file is created.
> 
> 
> 
> The text and picture content of "The blind Activist" is printed on both
> sides of 11 by 17 inch paper stock. When folded in half and stabled, the
> product has the look and feel of an 8 and one half by 11 inch magazine.
> 
> 
> 
> For mailing, a mailing label goes on the front cover and a small sticky
> strip is used to hold the pages together, so that it can safely go
> through
> the machinery used by the post office. It is 14 font and so fits the
> criteria for "Free Matter for the Blind" and goes through the mail as
> described, with no need for an envelope.
> 
> 
> 
> Also, the back cover is printed so that when separated from the
> newsletter,
> it is an application form to join the NFB of Pennsylvania. When folded
> over
> with the personal data safely hidden, it is a self-addressed, stamped
> piece
> of mail.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How about the rest of you? How is it done in your affiliate or Division
> or
> chapter? 
> 
> 
> 
> Mail.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Leslie Newman
> 
> President, Omaha Chapter NFB
> 
> President, NFB Writers' Division
> 
> Division Website
> 
> <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
> 
> Chair, Newsletter Publication committee
> 
> Personal Website-
> 
> <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-editors mailing list
> Nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-editors_nfbnet.org
> 
> 
> End of Nfb-editors Digest, Vol 76, Issue 11
> *******************************************
> 
> 
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