Gentlemen,
Those of you who belong to clubs, what do you look for in your newsletter and what would you like to see in it, do you write articles for your letters and does your letter run to many pages and does it have colour pictures.
Martin P
Martin,
John Southall edits the F.M.P.S. newsletter and IMHO gets a good balance of local Rally reports, articles on Club members visits to local SE orientated sites bygone museums etc. forthcoming events, engine manufactures history (currently he is running a fascinating history of Blackstone and Company), for sale and wanted etc. etc.
I am sure he will tell you however that it gets increasingly difficult to get members to put pen to paper and often the vast majority of articles he writes himself.
Not sure if he regularly reads the NG at present but I am sure if you mail him he will give you useful info on a similar poll which he conducted a year or so ago.
The Wessex SEC has a monthly A4 newsletter sent to each member by post unless they get it shoved in their hand at an event.They have a widely-scattered membership of over 350 people and I think it is the making of the club. We all know what's going on, where stuff is and reminders appear to get people to crank ups which are always well supported.
It is a single sheet of A3 although frequently there is an A4 middle sheet too. I write for it and so do others, so it is not entirely a one-man band. The content is often rally reports and obituaries (one a month is usual - very depressing!) with the occasional other thing, but it the feeling of contact that makes it worthwhile. However, if we are bored with it, we ought to write more, didn't we? Line drawings appear from time to time, but I've never seen a photo.
Conversely, my other club is the Bristol SEC and it has no newsletter. If I could remember when club nights are, I'd go to them. I only get to the annual rally because dear old Graham Dawes rings me up and tells me it's coming up. Although much more local to me, I don't feel part of it as contact is so infrequent.
Newsletters are vital for any group of people with shared interests who meet infrequently. After all, that's what this NG is, a shared newsletter, constantly updated and read by the participants.
Regards,
Kim
Obviously I can't speak for other clubs but in mine if you don't renew I don't send you a newsletter ;-) ttfn Roland
That's one of the problems without regular contact. Apparently, my subscription ran out on Jan 31st. No-one chased me, so it never got paid. The first edition of the newsletter went out on 1st March, so I missed it.
Funny thing is, I assumed I was a still member when I attended the annual rally in July and was accepted as such by the organisers.
Good job me flywheel didn't scythe off into the crowd then ............
Regards,
J. Kim Siddorn,
You would have been made as welcome as any fellow enthusiast is at the rally.
That wouldn't have been a problem Kim as you would have been covered by your Wessex Club insurance.
Regards
John Rogers
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