WRITING THE BLADE - Syney Pierce
DATES: Your first Blade will be dated December 6th, reporting on the meeting of November 29th, and your last Blade dated December 27th, reporting on the meeting of December 20th. The Blade always bears next Thursday’s date - normally the date of next week’s meeting. (That’s why the first item, “this week’s meeting”, gives the program for the following week.) The Blade appears every week whether the Club meets or not.
WHO WRITES THE BLADE: The month’s editor can do it all or divide responsibilities with the assistant editor. If neither can cover a meeting, find someone else to do it. Asking someone who has done it before is best. I actually enjoy writing the Blade, so feel free to call me first if you wish. If it’s the last minute, at least get word to me or Eolia (before the meeting starts), so we can ask someone to cover for you. My phone is 301-277-3036. Eolia’s cell is 410-703-7822.
CONTENT:
1. First be sure to get the correct date (next week’s meeting) and issue number.
2. Begin with “THIS WEEK’S MEETING” - giving the program for the coming week. If it’s a speaker and you want a bit more to say, try an Internet search for speaker plus workplace or organization. If it’s in an activity in a special location (e.g., Charter Night or Margaret Brent Fun Day), include driving directions. You’ll find the Program Chairs for each month listed in our current Assignment Book.
3. Report on “LAST WEEK’S MEETING” - the meeting that just concluded. Begin with anything notable that happened at the beginning of the meeting. Then say something about the speaker. You’re not expected to summarize the whole speech, but pick out at least a few things said that might interest Club members.
4. ANNOUNCEMENTS include new announcements from the meeting, and continuing ones for upcoming events (e.g., encouraging participation and/or giving deadlines for signing up). News of Club members or former members is also good. (You can separate these into a “news” section if you wish.)
5. ITEMS FROM CLUB COMMITTEES, ETC. The Blade summarizes what happened in the Board meeting (Mary Dudley will send this, a week or so after the meeting), a monthly item on the Rotarian (John Moore has been doing this), and sometimes other items given you by Club officers or committees. John Hoglund may send photos for inclusion at the end of the electronic Blade.
6. LISTS of guests and/or visiting Rotarians - if you can get the names right. The members at the door record them, not always legibly - ask for info from them.
7. 50-50 WINNER. Don’t forget!
8. CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
9. Sign the issue at the end - e.g., “Respectfully submitted, [your name]
SENDING OUT THE BLADE: Do a “reply all” to the last electronic Blade - changing the subject line and deleting content of the last issue. Or email the Blade to me and I’ll send it out. (One caution: if you send it to me as an attached file, send an RTF or text file. And please don’t send the Blade to members as an attachment.)
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
MENTION AS MANY NAMES as you can. And spell them right! (Remember, you have a Club directory.) People like to see their names in print.
LENGTH - I usually aim for about two typed pages, though this isn’t a requirement.
For more material, try the Rotary International [ www.rotary.org - especially the “newsroom”] or District web page [ www.rotary7620.org ], or Rotarian magazine. Or try entering “Rotary history” or “Rotary trivia” in Google and see what you get.
IF YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS or need help or advice with anything at all, I’m happy to do anything I can to help.
Happy writing!
Sydney
pierce.sydney@gmail.com
(301) 277-3036