A suggestion for the Bulletin

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Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

The NYCC Bulletin as currently configured is creating problems that must be very draining to the club’s volunteer staff. I don’t believe any individual is at fault. But perhaps we should consider structuring the project differently to keep these problems from recurring.

I would like to offer some suggestions that I hope will be helpful.

1. Enlarge the editorial staff.
Share the workload between more people, who will have narrower and clearer responsibilities and shorter time commitments. Get more club members actively involved and take advantage of their skills. Here is the minimum staff that I think is needed to produce a printed bulletin:

--Editor. Responsible for assembling and editing copy and adhering to standards of factuality and appropriateness. Meets periodically with board, communicates with membership. Time: 10-20 hours/issue

--Production editor. Oversees graphic design only; produces one to three layouts (depending on corrections needed). Time: 6-10 hours/issue

--Assistant editor. Helps editor, but with a shorter time commitment and less input into the product. For instance, collects submitted copy and checks it for completeness before turning it over to the editor in one batch. Other jobs as needed. Time: 6 hours/issue.

--Copy editor. Reviews copy for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Fact-checks Road Dirt. (Assistant editor could do this.) (4-6 hours/issue).

--Photo editor. Collects, selects, sizes photos for bulletin in discussion with editor. Writes captions and photo credits. Submits photos to production editor with instructions for placement. Time: 6 hours/issue

--Proofreader. Reviews final layout for design errors before publication. Time: 4 hours/issue.


Other possibilities to reduce trauma:

2. Print a simplified four- to eight-page monthly ride listing. Include only essential information, such as ride info, board minutes, upcoming club events. A shorter report would be less complicated to produce and easier to ensure distribution on time. Staff requirements: a listings editor (6-10 hours/issue), production editor to do layout (3-6 hours/issue), proofreader (3 hours/issue), managing editor to deal with printer/printing house (6-10 hours/issue).

4. Create a Web page on the club site to publish members’ essays, ride reports, information and advice, etc. Staff requirements: Editor to oversee content; assistant editor and proofreader; present capable Web masters.

5. Once a year, editor compiles a selection of Web site writings for print in a special bulletin. Presents to board for approval to ensure club input (but hopefully minimize conflict, which can occur when everyone thinks it should be done a different way). This annual publication would showcase the club and be used for membership purposes (replacing, for example, bulletins that we give to prospective members at events like the Bicycle Show).

Staff requirements: Same as #1 above, but less time commitment since it occurs only once a year. Production schedule: Could be done in six weeks during nonprime cycling season, say January-February, to minimize interference with our main purpose (cycling) and to be available for the new year.

6. Continue to maintain Bulletin Board in its current well-functioning state as a vehicle for sharing ideas and information.

Anonymous's picture
don montalvo (not verified)
i have a better suggestion

" volunteer for the editor position

Date: Saturday, August 02, 2003 7:14:42 AM
This message was last updated on: Saturday, August 02, 2003 7:21:23 AM
Author: Carol Wood
Subject: How can we make it easier on everyone?

The NYCC Bulletin as currently configured is creating problems that must be very draining to the clubs volunteer staff. I dont believe any individual is at fault. But perhaps we should consider structuring the project differently to keep these problems from recurring.

I would like to offer some suggestions that I hope will be helpful.

1. Enlarge the editorial staff.
Share the workload between more people, who will have narrower and clearer responsibilities and shorter time commitments. Get more club members actively involved and take advantage of their skills. Here is the minimum staff that I think is needed to produce a printed bulletin:

--Editor. Responsible for assembling and editing copy and adhering to standards of factuality and appropriateness. Meets periodically with board, communicates with membership. Time: 10-20 hours/issue

--Production editor. Oversees graphic design only; produces one to three layouts (depending on corrections needed). Time: 6-10 hours/issue

--Assistant editor. Helps editor, but with a shorter time commitment and less input into the product. For instance, collects submitted copy and checks it for completeness before turning it over to the editor in one batch. Other jobs as needed. Time: 6 hours/issue.

--Copy editor. Reviews copy for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Fact-checks Road Dirt. (Assistant editor could do this.) (4-6 hours/issue).

--Photo editor. Collects, selects, sizes photos for bulletin in discussion with editor. Writes captions and photo credits. Submits photos to production editor with instructions for placement. Time: 6 hours/issue

--Proofreader. Reviews final layout for design errors before publication. Time: 4 hours/issue.

Other possibilities to reduce trauma:

2. Print a simplified four- to eight-page monthly ride listing. Include only essential information, such as ride info, board minutes, upcoming club events. A shorter report would be less complicated to produce and easier to ensure distribution on time. Staff requirements: a listings editor (6-10 hours/issue), production editor to do layout (3-6 hours/issue), proofreader (3 hours/issue), managing editor to deal with printer/printing house (6-10 hours/issue).

4. Create a Web page on the club site to publish members essays, ride reports, information and advice, etc. Staff requirements: Editor to oversee content; assistant editor and proofreader; present capable Web masters.

5. Once a year, editor compiles a selection of Web site writings for print in a special bulletin. Presents to board for approval to ensure club input (but hopefully minimize conflict, which can occur when everyone thinks it should be done a different way). This annual publication would showcase the club and be used for membership purposes (replacing, for example, bulletins that we give to prospective members at events like the Bicycle Show).

Staff requirements: Same as #1 above, but less time commitment since it occurs only once a year. Production schedule: Could be done in six weeks during nonprime cycling season, say January-February, to minimize interference with our main purpose (cycling) and to be available for the new year.

6. Continue to maintain Bulletin Board in its current well-functioning state as a vehicle for sharing ideas and information.
"

Anonymous's picture
The Ghost of NYCC past (not verified)
You took the Clipless SHOE out of my Mouth !!

nm.

Anonymous's picture
Carol Wood (not verified)
Better in what way?

"Sorry Don, I don't see the improvement, but I'm familiar enough with your style to recognize another snide comment when I see it.

My point is that I wouldn't consider volunteering for the position as it is currently conceived. I have far too many demands on my time to immerse myself in such a can of worms. And I'm surely not alone in that regard.

However, more people could get involved if the jobs were more manageably defined. ""Many hands make light work,"" is how my uncle the farmer put it. For instance, I would consider volunteering for something along the lines of the proofreader or copyeditor jobs as I've outlined above. Something that would let me make a contribution but which I could manage in between work, school, and other obligations.

And I imagine that other club members might feel the same. I hope these folks, if they exist, will express their views here, lest the peanut gallery once again exert its will to sabotage any creative, unusual, or simply idiosyncratic idea.

Finally, contrary to the rumor mill that is already churning away, I am not the ""candidate for club president"" of which Diane wrote. I'm afraid I didn't read her lengthy and ill-advised editorial all that closely before I posted this, to my peril no doubt. But I got enough of what was said to recognize that the bulletin is creating an irrational degree of chaos that is threatening the stability of the club. It needs to be changed.

Since I work in the publishing field I thought my experience might be of use. I know, I know--how presumptuous of me."

Anonymous's picture
Bill Vojtech (not verified)
???

"Fact checking??? What is this ""The New York Times"" or something? Oh, wait, they don't even do that there.

I am not willing to be the next editor, but I have some ideas about how to Speed Up the Process. I'm willing to help set up an efficient work flow and hand it off to the ride coordinators and editor/editorial staff. Computers really should speed things up, but people seem to get bogged down in technology sometimes.

Adding more people to the process tends to clog the pipeline, not speed things up.

If the board wants my input, contact me. It would help to work with someone who knows MS Word, (not my strong point), as we'll need to set up Word style sheets to match the bulletin. I assume that most submitters are using Word and the bulletin is done in Quark. Hope that's right.

As for fact checking, make sure the ride dates are right, otherwise I'd just put a standard disclaimer stating that ""Statements in submissions are not those of the NYCC or the Board, but only reflect the opinions of the author"". It's a club bulletin! It should be full of rides, fun and most of all-- on time!"

Anonymous's picture
don montalvo (not verified)
why complicate the workflow?

P - L - A - I - N - - - -T - E - X - T

Anonymous's picture
Bill Vojtech (not verified)
because...

I just finished working on a job. The customer already formatted it in Word, using the fonts and sizes they wanted. When I imported it into Quark, low and behold, the formatting came through in Quark. A tweak here and there to center a few heads and I was done.

To use plain text from Word in Quark, the person putting the bulletin together has to know how to format the thing. It may not seem that hard to you or me, but the volunteer putting it together might just be a novice muddling through. Getting pre-formatted copy could be a big help. Hell, I do this stuff for a living and I was delighted that I did not have to go back through and Bold This and Underline that!

A consistent set of master files that work together, that could be given to all contributing parties, could take a lot of the time out of the process.

That's why.

Anonymous's picture
don montalvo (not verified)
you're missing the point entirely...

"...the problems occur after the pdf is created.

the sooner the club decides to retire bulletin man, the sooner these post-pdf production issues will be a thing of the past."

Anonymous's picture
Bill Vojtech (not verified)
Does not seem so to me...

"This month even the PDF was late getting posted, so there was some problem BEFORE the PDF was made. I don't know,(nor do I care to), all of the silly politics that ""the egos that be"" have been playing, or who's to blame.

From what I've heard from the Editor a few months back, (now former Editor), the printer requires a different PDF with the pages arranged in ""printers spreads"", so the online PDF will not do and a special PDF has to be made for the printer.

Most printers I know would gladly accept a native Quark file with any picture files needed to print it. They also could deal with a PDF that's not in printers spreads."

Anonymous's picture
rob kohn (not verified)
i think you missed the now-former editor's point

the reason the pdf was late getting posted was she was busy re-working it so she could make her resignation page 2 news...

Anonymous's picture
don montalvo (not verified)
assumptions

"Bill Vojtech wrote:

""This month even the PDF was late getting posted, so there was some problem BEFORE the PDF was made. I don't know,(nor do I care to), all of the silly politics that ""the egos that be"" have been playing, or who's to blame.""


the pdf was ready and delivered on time to the printer.


""From what I've heard from the Editor a few months back, (now former Editor), the printer requires a different PDF with the pages arranged in ""printers spreads"", so the online PDF will not do and a special PDF has to be made for the printer.""


i think it's a resolution issue...members receive a 72dpi pdf while the printer receives a high resolution pdf.

don"

Anonymous's picture
The Ghost of NYCC past (not verified)
"Your right Don. ""ACTIONS speak Louder than MSG Board"""

nm.

Anonymous's picture
Laura (not verified)

"Don

When you say ""retire bulletin man"", what do you mean ?"

Anonymous's picture
Peter Seckinger (not verified)
problem??

Intro: I'm an avid cyclist and an IT pro currently working on ESPN's intranet site. I'm not a member of your club but was thinking about joining.

Point: Maintaining this bulletin is actually causing a drain on your volunteer staff? From a technology perspective this should be a fairly straight-forward deal with no maintenance required. Just wondering what the issue could possibly be … are you under some obligation to edit content or something?

Other Point: Why can I see this thread if I’m not a member? It seems like more of an administrative type thread than some of the others – just wondering if it was your intention to share.

Last Point: feel free to e-mail me.

Anonymous's picture
FlyOnTheWall (not verified)
Welcome....

...would you like to run for the editor position? It's loads of fun!

Anonymous's picture
Peter Seckinger (not verified)
problem??


Why do I suddenly regret using my real name?! :-)

Seriously - previous post was meant more as question than comment ... just curious as to what the issue was.

cycling trips