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Communications Committee
 

The Beacon Honored by PNW District

Tandi Rogers Koerger, the Pacific Northwest District (PNWD) Program Specialist, recently singled out The Beacon as one of her two favorite newsletters in the District.  In her article 13 Steps to Start Your Church Year Strong, on the PNWD website (www.pnwd.org), Tandi cites Newsletter with Purpose as Step #8.  Among the things that set us apart are: user friendliness, not assuming a reader knows common acronyms and phrases, and contact information throughout articles and announcements.

When reached for comment at Beacon Central, the unassuming editor noted: “We always strive to make The Beacon a most readable and informative newsletter, something a newcomer or visitor can pick up and not be mystified by reading.  Full addresses and phone numbers are also important; we need to think beyond ourselves.  We never know who we might reach.”

 

 

 

 

Frank Mandt
Communications Chair

Communications Policies
New communication policies are now in effect for Cedars.  At its March meeting, the Board approved the policies that were a result of a multi-year effort by the Communications and Worship Committees, and the Program Council, about how we communicate within the church and our wider community.  Click here to view the policies.  Those of you who submit items for inclusion in The Beacon, the church website, Sunday Order of Service and broadcast e-mails should pay particular attention to the polices as well as the Content Guidelines, which follow.  Please contact Frank Mandt for questions or clarifications.

CUUC Content Guidelines
The following guidelines should be followed when composing a Beacon article, website submission, broadcast e-mail, Order of Service announcement, or other communication of broad interest:

bullet What is the program being presented?
bullet Where is it?  Full addresses must be given.  The Church Office, Bainbridge Commons, the Senior Center, or Eagle Harbor Church is not satisfactory.  Visitors and new people may have no idea where these local places are.
bullet When is it?  Cite the date and time (length of the event).
bullet Who is sponsoring the event?  Make sure there is contact information for more questions.
bullet Why should anyone come?

Try to look at your event through the eyes of first-time visitors who are not familiar with the area.  Give them enough information to not only decide whether or not to attend, but also to find the venue if they want to come.

In addition, Cedars has a policy of providing child care for all events.  Please list a contact for those needing child care, and a deadline for which child care RSVPs must be received.

CUUC Style and Grammar Guidelines

In order to maintain consistency, please observe the following stylistic and grammatical guidelines when creating flyers, brochures and the like or submitting material for publication:

bullet Abbreviations should not be used except for well-known acronyms, such as PNWD or UUA.  Even then the name should be spelled out with the acronym in parentheses the first time it appears (e.g., Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)).
bulletDates (month or day) should not be abbreviated.
bulletTime should be in the following format: 10:00 am.
bulletAll phone numbers must include an area code.  Since our membership includes at least two area codes, it is imperative that a full phone number, with area code, is given.  The preferred format for phone numbers is: 206-780-0373.
bulletBe aware of redundancies.  Please do not repeat the headline of your article in the first sentence or paragraph.
bulletBe aware of subject-verb agreement.
bulletMake sure that the main point of your article is in the first paragraph.  Don’t make readers work to figure out what you are trying to say.
bullet Length guidelines for The Beacon are: columns, 500 words; articles, 250 words; announcements, 100 words.  Submissions that are too long may be edited or retuned to the sender to be re-written.
bullet Underlining is discouraged and will be changed by the editor to either bold or italic text, depending on context.  This is to prevent confusion with hyperlinks, since most articles will also appear on the church website.
bulletWhen in doubt, please consult Strunk & White: Elements of Style, 4th Edition.
bullet Remember: Brevity is the soul of wit.  Length is not.

    Frank Mandt, Communications Chair

                            

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