[stylist] Chapter Newsletters

Mon Sep 6 23:49:28 UTC 2010

Hi Jewel,
my first advice is to  make sure your newsletter isn't just like 
everybody else's!
our chapter doesn't have a newsletter.  we have an e-mail listserv.
but to make your newsletter different here are some ideas:
try to make your newsletter local by getting some local history of 
blind people in your community, history of people with disabilities, 
or history of perhaps how the government dealt with blind/disabled 
people there.
member profile is a great idea.
sometimes in a newsletter you can do a different twist on member 
profile: you can do "name that member" where  you might give some 
little-known information, interests or history of a member and see 
who names your member first.
again to make your newsletter local, get a story in each issue about 
a blind person's experience walking somewhere, working somewhere, 
eating somewhere, recreating somewhere, etc.  it would be a kind of a 
review from blindness perspective.
you  also can include in your newsletter recipes, or jokes, 
especially of local flavor.
if a blind person visits your community, have a talk with him or her 
and put that in your newsletter.

hope these ideas help.
jc

At 05:48 PM 9/6/2010, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>My local chapter's president has given the newsletter over into my
>hands. She will still be Editor-in-Chief, but it is my job to either
>outsource reports to toher members or write the reports myself. For
>example, I'll be writing an article for the newsletter giving a brief
>history of White Cane Safety Month, but will be asking our Vice
>President to write the report on last month's Member Drive, since I
>was not present. After I write and/or collect the written articles, I
>send it to the presient/editor-in-chief for review and she passes it
>on for e-mail distribution and printing in large print or Braille for
>those who don't have computers.
>
>So the first point of this e-mail was to share with you all the
>priveledge I have been given in being assigned as editor and
>coordinator of the newsletter. I'm really excited about it. She had me
>do one newsletter as a Guest Editor, because she was super busy with
>legislative work and homeschooling her daughter, and obviously she was
>impressed with my work, since she has permanently assigned me to it!
>
>The second reason I have written on this topic is to ask advice on
>writing a newsletter. Are there any guidelines out there for me to
>consider? What sorts of things should I put in the newsletter to spice
>it up? This month I can put the brief history fo White Cane Safety
>Month in there, and that'll be a nice addition to the otherwise
>report-only newsletter, but I'd like to be able to add this bit of
>spice each month. The Editor-in-Chief has asked that I not put
>detailed reports on legislative issues, as there is a seperate mailing
>list for that information, so writing articles about local legal
>issues is out. The newsletter is for all members from all sorts of
>backgrounds, so I feel it would be inappropriate to write about
>something specific to a sub-grup, such as students or the newly
>blinded. I have done a Member Profile in the past on a member who,
>though a well-educated doctor with a lot to say, was very quiet in
>meetings. I did an interview with him and wrote the report off of my
>notes. The member rprofile was a great success, and I hope to do
>another on another member, but it requires that I interview the
>person, and people aren't always available for interview in time for
>it to be put in the newsletter.
>
>Does anyone have some suggestions about simple but effective additions
>to the newsletter to make it more interesting to the members of our
>chapter?
>--
>Thank you guys for being here to ask! I love this list!
>
>~Jewel
>Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
>Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com
>
>_______________________________________________
>Writers Division web site:
>http://www.nfb-writers-division.org <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
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