Core Process
About Communications
How do you keep LLIs members informed of what is going on? It is not as if everyone meets in homeroom each morning to listen to announcements! Our members are geographically dispersed and interested in a variety of events and topics.
Providing accurate, timely, consistent, and clear messaging is the job of Communications. You can see the results of this work on the monthly newsletter, email messages, the LLI website, and the various announcement that go out to members.
If you enjoy writing (or want to get better at it), have editing skills, or want your photographs to be more widely enjoyed, this is a great place to exercise those creative muscles. You will get a sense of satisfaction from working with great people who produce high-quality messages.
Contact [email protected] to learn more about how you might enjoy working with Communications.
Communications Tasks
What do we do?
Chair
The chair keeps all the LLI messaging on target, coordinating efforts of the Communications volunteers, conducting meetings, and ensuring LLI messages use the same style of presentation.
LLI uses a wide variety of messages and the chair oversees that they are consistent and accurate:
- Monthly newsletter;
- Website;
- Email messages;
- Letters of appreciation to volunteers and Bard staff;
- Other LLI publications such as bylaws and training.
When a new initiative is implemented, the chair develops a communications plan (such as the introduction of ProClass registration software or adhering to Bard College rules on vaccinations during the time of COVID).
The chair welcomes new volunteers and works to train them to be successful.
Newsletter Writers
The monthly LLI newsletter contains a wide variety of articles, including member profiles, news around LLI, upcoming events, new LLI initiatives, and registration instructions.
Writers do research about all of these articles each month. The draft articles are submitted for editorial review before they are accepted into the newsletter.
Working with photo editors, writers suggest images to go into their articles. The images make the articles attractive and compelling.
Editors
The editors ensure the accuracy of the submitted articles, ensuring the writing is consistent with LLI and Bard style guides. Often, the editors go back and forth with the writers until everyone agrees.
Actually, there are two editors for each article. We want to ensure that we catch errors before publication!
Green Reader
The green reader is so named because this person has not seen the multiple rounds of edited versions of articles and is in a better position to catch errors, especially consistency errors between different articles.
Sometimes, last-minute changes are needed (dates and locations are often shifted) and the green reader makes sure these changes are consistent throughout the newsletter.
Newsletter Manager
With all of these articles, writers, and editors working each month, someone has to keep everyone on target to meet deadlines. That is the job of the newsletter manager, who provides gracious nudges to everyone involved.
These reminders are greatly appreciated! Sometimes the newsletter manager jumps in to help with the articles, which is greatly appreciated by our more inexperienced writers.
Photographers
It is the images that make our LLI communications come alive and tell the story. You may see photographers at many LLI events, capturing the experience for the newsletter or website.
If you are a new or experienced photographer, we hope you can join our volunteers. It is a great feeling when your photographs get published at LLI.
Photo Editors
These visual thinkers help the LLI writers select images that best enhance our messages.
There is a photo library for LLI images that is regularly updated with new images. Each image is tagged so there is a verbal description for later retrieval.
The LLI photo editors manage this important resource.
Phone Info
Did you know LLI has a phone line for information requests? You can see the phone number at the bottom of every web page.
There are volunteers who keep track of phone inquiries, sending emails to key LLI people who might best be able to address questions.
The communications chair keeps the phone volunteers up-to-date on what is happening at LLI so the questions are answered correctly and in a timely fashion.
Inform LLI Members
Communications provides LLI members and prospective members with information about LLI news, events, and courses through the monthly newsletter and email messages.
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