Newsletters

[ozemu]

In my new (Scouting) job I see a need for a newsletter. A search of the last 12 months doesn''t show the topic as much discussed. I wish to have a cost effective single A4 page mailed to each Scouts home. We intend to do this monthly excluding the holiday period (Dec-Jan down here).

 

What works for you?

 

double column, tri fold with address on one side, news and programs, camp paperwork, photo''s????????

 

Anything about newsletters goes here people. Websites etc are another issue and worthy of another thread if you want to examine those topics. This one is about paper mailed to a Scouts home.

[mschwartz]

For years the Pack that my boys attended has sent out a monthly paper newsletter (I was the editor for five years). It had that month''s upcoming events on one side, and on the other side a calendar, contact information, etc. Everyone found it very useful - the calendar side wound up on countless refrigerators and bulletin boards. Take a look at the website for the Pack - they post PDF versions of the newsletter there as well. (http://www.geocities.com/pack712).

 

The Troop that the boys are now in also sends out a paper newsletter, but with much less frequency. They do send out frequent email updates (more than once a month, I know) that are basically reminders of the upcoming events.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Marietta

[Gunny2862]

I''ll be watching this thread.

 

We have never had a newsletter that I know of. Until this months issue of the Bugler - unfortunately the silly SM failed to engage brain and did it in MSPublisher which almost no one else had. Wound up printing copies and handing them out to the boys as take homes and hoping the parents saw them. At this point I''m thinking MS Word and the e-mail list and printed/mailed to the homes without e-mail access.

 

I''ll be looking for how others do it. Great topic ozemu!

[eagle90]

We send out a monthly newsletter to all families. It''s normally 2 pages long. We highlight upcoming activities, review past activities, make necessary thank-you''s, a bit of trivia, and try to personalize it a little (birthdays, get-well wishes, etc.), and a written SM''s Minute. We pass it out at a troop meeting and mail the ones that don''t get picked up. It is also available on our website. We''ve gotten great feedback on it. They are archived on our website (www.troop90bsa.org) Take a look!

 

Dale

[MarkS]

Whether created in MS-Word, MS-Publisher, or a text editor, my advise would be to convert it to PDF and email it to the unit membership that use e-mail and snail-mail it to the rest. Saves time and money that way.

 

For a Troop, I see the creation of the Newsletter as a youth project. Adults can contribute ideas, content, stories, etc., and teach the boys to use the publishing tools, but it should be a youth project. Your youth can delegate the duties of editor-in-chief to the scribe or create a special position for this. If the adults do this, it seems to me that this would circumvent somewhat the concept of a boy run program.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[CNYScouter]

When my son was in Cubs the pack we were with did one that I thought was very good.

1 page both sides, nothing fancy.

Usually a cub or two would be in charge of handing out a copy as people entered the Pack meeting.

 

On the front had a yearly calendar and contact info for pack leaders.

It highlighted the months pack meeting and any Pack event in the next few months.

The back side had info about next months Pack meeting, such as the theme and what each Den would be doing.

The only downside was that if you missed the Pack meeting you couldnt get one.

 

I agree that it to convert it to PDF and email it to the unit membership is a good idea.

 

For an easy and free (yes, it is free to use) .pdf writer go to www.cutepdf.com and download the CutePDF Writer.

It installs like a printer.

To use it when you go to print just select it from the printer menu instead of your printer.

 

[MarkS]

CNYScouter said, "The only downside was that if you missed the Pack meeting you couldnt get one."

 

Nothing wrong with the concept that if you miss a Pack or Troop meeting, you''ll be missing something important. Sounds like another incentive to show up. ;-)

 

The boys in our troop tried doing a monthly newsletter but they only stuck with it for a couple months. In the end they decided that their primary means of communication, announcements at the troop meeting, was more efficient and effective, and instead of investing energy in a another form of communication, it would be more beneficial to improve the best one they had (they also have their annual program calendar, email, phone calls, and web site). They started delivering a consistent message to parents and youth that announcements happend sometime during the last 15 minutes of a Troop meeting and if a boy missed a troop meeting, he should call his PL to find out what happened. It''s still a work in progress.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[cheffy]

Ouer troop does a newsletter ever other month. usually about 6 pages. We are just starting to go paperless. The newsletter will be on the web site in PDF and can be printed from there. There are still some older troop members that want a copy mailed so we do that. With the size of troopwe have we figure we will save about $600 a year by going paperless.

[eisely]

Our troop went paperless some time ago. The newsletter is distributed as a Word document.

 

Distributing a paper newsletter by mail can be an expensive proposition. Even if one qualifies for a lower cost postage of some kind, that typically will slow down delivery in the US as permit mail gets a lower delivery priority than full first class mail. I don''t know what the delivery options are in Australia.

[ozemu]

Eisely there is only one standard mail charge here. Everything else is express.

 

We are looking at a paper copy as many of the parents don''t have email or even a computer. I was astounded when I found out.

 

The pdf writer is a good suggestion, thanks CNY Scouter.

 

Thanks also for the website links. That was my number one priority for communications but given what I just wrote that has slipped down a tad now.

 

And youth content is a must - only realised that when having a shower this morning.

 

Why do the best ideas happen in the shower?

[insanescouter]

Our newsletter is done in publisher. The newsletter is done quarterly, and distributed at troop meeting in printed form. There is also a pdf version that we send out via email. Additionally (once I can find a new dedicated server or get a place to put my servers at) it will be on the Troop website as well.

 

There is also a weekly troop update email that goes out usually every mon or tues. Sometimes it will come out more then once a week if there are changes or more things come up.

 

We use email more then anything else for communication...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

[ozemu]

eagle90 your email is simple and useful. Not pretty but workmanlike. I would be happy to recieve such a newsletter because I can simply scan it and get information.

 

Which is kind of the opposite to the way I was heading. You know looks good, photo''s laid out to be attractive.

 

Got me thinking there. Thanks

[Lisabob]

How about asking a boy who is your troop scribe to head up this project? Or, boys who are working on their communications MB could help out (creating a newsletter or brochure is one of the requirement/options - 7c. And the mb handbook explains how to do a tri-fold brochure in MS Word, which most people have access to).

 

We''ve occasionally had a troop newsletter. Some people argue that if it is a boy-led troop then the boys should be the only ones in charge of this, which tends to mean it does not occur. (Apparently they see no need for informing us slack-witted adults of when and where things are happening, in writing!) Personally I don''t buy into that view; I think it would be better if we had an adult working as a guide or mentor to help the youth produce a newsletter, but failing that, I still think having an adult-produced reminder of dates, places, and costs is better than having nothing.

 

And at the cub pack level, I think it is essential.

[MarkS]

Lisabob said, "Some people argue that if it is a boy-led troop then the boys should be the only ones in charge of this, which tends to mean it does not occur. ... Personally I don''t buy into that view; I think it would be better if we had an adult working as a guide or mentor to help the youth produce a newsletter... And at the cub pack level, I think it is essential."

 

The guide/mentor should not prevent the newsletter from being a boy-run project. Depending on the organization of the Troop Committee, the guide may be Troop Secretary or a position created exclusively for this purpose.

 

I think effective communication is essential in any unit. I don''t agree that a newsletter is a prerequisite for effective communication. For troops, our goal is to teach this skill. A newsletter is merely one of the tools that can be used to teach it.

[pargolf44067]

Our troop does a monthly newsletter with important information on it. It is done by an adult, the secretary of the committee, with assistance from the boys.

 

We send it out via e-mail and then have a few copies at the troop meeting for those that don''t have e-mail. It is typically one to two pages and the top of it has a two month rolling calendar.

 

Bill