| 1 | |
| 2 | == Outcome from March 13, 2013 Meeting == |
| 3 | |
| 4 | === LOWDOWN PROPOSAL === |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ==== PROJECT: ==== |
| 8 | |
| 9 | We have identified that the Lowdown newsletter has untapped potential |
| 10 | to assist organizational growth, political and media outreach, and |
| 11 | membership development. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ==== PROBLEM/ISSUE: ==== |
| 14 | In it’s current incarnation, the Lowdown is falling short of it’s |
| 15 | potential. It is difficult to navigate online, does not have a user |
| 16 | friendly web interface, email distribution is not optimum, there’s no |
| 17 | clear visual identity, etc. It doesn’t look like a newsletter. |
| 18 | There’s not an easy process for generating content. The name does |
| 19 | not currently translate internationally. It’s unclear who reads it, |
| 20 | what people think about it. Great content is being generated but not |
| 21 | necessarily well utilized for outreach or promotion. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | ==== GOAL: ==== |
| 24 | To revamp and revitalize the Lowdown |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ==== PLAN: ==== |
| 27 | Create a dedicated area for the Lowdown articles that resembles more |
| 28 | of a blog format. |
| 29 | Stephen offered some great examples of how this could look: |
| 30 | http://solidarity-us.org/ http://www.labornotes.org/ |
| 31 | The blog will feature columns – |
| 32 | Draft ideas include: |
| 33 | tech resources – reviews of open source software with comparisons of propriety |
| 34 | software and open source alternatives. |
| 35 | Reports from LC or committee structure |
| 36 | Reports on work with partners/allies/associations/collaborations– to be more |
| 37 | transparent about our participation in these forums |
| 38 | Member profiles/news |
| 39 | News and Political reporting |
| 40 | Events and announcements |
| 41 | Webinars/tutorials of software use |
| 42 | A job board for tech support/design resources |
| 43 | Other ideas? |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Articles can possibly be opened up for comments or discussion |
| 46 | |
| 47 | A searchable database of past articles that can serve as a resource. |
| 48 | Ideally users could search by date, topic area as well as customizable |
| 49 | search terms. |
| 50 | |
| 51 | We could also create a team to solicit and develop content – ideally |
| 52 | pulling on members who are journalists, artists and organizations that |
| 53 | can collaborate on content production. This idea would require some |
| 54 | labor/time to manage and needs to be fleshed out. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Considering the need for a name change – we could do some outreach to |
| 57 | come up with a new name as a way to build interest and help |
| 58 | pre-promotion. W e can also organize special outreach to |
| 59 | relaunch/announce the website with the new name – perhaps with some |
| 60 | kind of party or special content or something. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | ==== OUTREACH: ==== |
| 63 | This blog style has a number of benefits: |
| 64 | We can use to extend a visual identity |
| 65 | Can link to social media for outreach |
| 66 | Can be used to outreach to media |
| 67 | Can be used in recruitment (we could also open up subscription to non members) |
| 68 | |
| 69 | We still need to utilize email outreach about new issues and articles. |
| 70 | But need to reconsider options for what this could look like. This |
| 71 | section needs ideas and detail. |
| 72 | |
| 73 | ==== TECHNICAL DETAILS: ==== |
| 74 | Civicrm might have most functionality for our purposes, esp. translation |
| 75 | Development can be set up in stages to slowly integrate new options |
| 76 | and to allow for expanded ideas such as revised email newsletter |
| 77 | formatting. |
| 78 | Process should be considered along with larger web redesign for visual |
| 79 | and functional consistency |
| 80 | |
| 81 | Need tech guidance on what this job will entail in terms of time and |
| 82 | labor to figure out how extensive the plan can be, where we can set |
| 83 | limits, what’s feasible and in what timeframe we can accomplish the |
| 84 | transition. |