· Give committee members recognition for their work.
· Give committee members support, and enable them to do all they want on the committee. Perform the tasks they don’t want to do.
· Publish the chapter’s newsletter each month, September through June. Schedule delivery of each issue to recipients at least one week before each chapter meeting.
· Consult the STC handbook Guidelines for the STC Newsletter Competition for ideas on types of articles. Decide by September if you will enter the Newsletter Competition. Other local competitions in which the newsletter is eligible are the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Bronze Quill and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Excalibur competitions.
· Print information about each month’s program meeting (including speaker bios and the monthly raffle). Also publish information about upcoming SIG and satellite group meetings and print information (usually just the topic and speaker) about the next chapter program meeting. Other typical articles/information for the newsletter include:
— Feature article about monthly program topic
— SIG articles
— Employment information and salary surveys
— Information about training opportunities, seminars, workshops
— News and announcements from other committees
— Chapter President’s and Director-Sponsor’s columns
— Volunteer of the Month writeup and other member recognition
— Chapter and Society awards won by chapter members
— Scholarship and student internship information
— Meeting information of local professional organizations (related in some way to the general technical or scientific communication area)
— Reprints from other chapter and Society newsletters
— How to obtain the membership directory and report changes
— Letters to the editor
— Advertisements
· Use the chapter’s non-profit bulk mail permit; otherwise, use the mailing service’s bulk mail permit with a first class presort rate. The chapter must pay for use of the mailing service’s permit with first class presort. If you want to use it, obtain approval from the Administrative Council and make sure the Treasurer pays the fee.
· Recruit committee members to:
— Write or gather material, for example, feature articles, articles on the chapter meeting and the speaker(s), profiles of chapter members, information on the meeting of other local professional organizations, reprints from other chapter newsletters, activities and recognition’s of chapter members.
— Edit articles and proofread the final draft.
— Layout the newsletter and submit for printing.
— Arrange for the delivery of the newsletter and mailing labels to the mailing service and subsequently to members.
· Work with the Publicity committee to obtain photographs of chapter events for the newsletter.
· Work with the Corporate Sponsors committee to obtain advertisements for the newsletter.
· Set up a schedule with the Database & Directory manager indicating dates when the mailing labels need to be at the mailing service. Mail the newsletter to:
— Chapter members
— Other chapter newsletter editors
— STC international office, executive council, and director-sponsors
— Local related professional organizations
— Speakers at chapter meetings
— Guests at chapter and PIC meetings
— Advertisers
— Other people interested in STC
· Two weeks before each submission deadline, send email notices to regular submitters (see Receivables table).
· Make sure you have extra copies of the newsletter each month.
— 25 copies to the Membership manager every month
— 25 copies at every chapter meeting on the display tables
— Copies to SIG, satellite group, Competition Awards banquet, and seminar managers for their programs and events, as requested
· Call the printer and the mailing service to check on the newsletter and ensure that the newsletter mailing stays on schedule.
· Prepare a budget of estimated income and expenses for the first Board meeting. If you expect some expenses to be donated, include them in the budget with an estimated cost. (Keep a extra copy of the budget to pass on to your successor.)
· Give merchants a copy of the Texas Sales Tax Exemption Certificate when buying committee supplies. (We don’t pay sales tax as a nonprofit organization.) Complete the chapter’s Request for Payment/Deposit Form for purchases and deposits and give it to the Treasurer.
· Inform the Board if you believe your expenses may exceed your approved budget.
· Attend each Board meeting, if possible. If you cannot attend, submit a report to the President beforehand on your committees activities.
· Report on your actual expenses and income and on your committee’s accomplishments at the June Board meeting.
· Ability to attend as many regular program meetings as possible.
· Ability to attend the first Board meetings during budget discussion and approval.
· Ability to attend Board meetings whenever the agenda includes topics relating to your committee.
· Five or six committee members to receive, write, and edit articles.
· Chapter’s copy of desktop publishing software, a computer, and appropriate printer driver to generate a postscript file for printing the newsletter. (The chapter owns a copy of FrameMaker 5.1.2 for Windows, CorelDraw for Windows, and HiJaak for Windows.)
· If newsletter ad money is received, the ability to maintain accurate records of the companies that request ads, of each ad, and each payment.
· Ability to forward payments to the Treasurer as soon as you receive them
· Ability to make 10 to 15 telephone calls a week during working hours (using email can reduce the phone calls).
· Ability to spend about 15 hours a week organizing the newsletter and the committee during the summer and later 3 or 4 hours a week.
· Ability to attend at least half of the Board meetings to learn about upcoming activities.
· Copy of STC Guidelines for the STC Newsletter Competition .
· Access to fax machine and/or email.
|
Deliverable |
Due Date |
Receiver |
|
Preliminary budget |
Aug Board meeting |
Administrative Council |
|
Final budget |
Sept Board meeting |
Treasurer, V-P, President |
|
Newsletter final copy |
Second week of every month |
Printer |
|
25 copies of the newsletter |
Every program meeting |
Program meeting display table |
|
25 copies of the newsletter |
Every month |
Membership manager for membership packets |
|
Copies of the newsletter |
Chapter events, as requested |
SIG, satellite group, Competition Awards banquet, and seminar managers |
|
Committee status report |
Every Board meeting |
Administrative Council |
When you send monthly submission deadline notices, be sure to include these senders.
|
Receivable |
Due Date |
Sender |
|
Articles for newsletter |
First of the previous month |
Newsletter members, chapter leaders, and members |
|
Volunteer recognition articles |
First of the previous month |
Recognition manager, Volunteer Coordinator, and President |
|
Program information and feature article |
First of the previous month |
Program manager |
|
SIG and satellite group information and articles |
First of the previous month |
SIG and satellite group managers |
|
Raffle prize information |
First of the previous month |
Corporate Sponsors manager |
|
New advertisements |
First of the previous month |
Corporate Sponsors manager |
|
Photographs of events |
First of the previous month |
Publicity manager |