It seems that the first posting of UUCA News4Leaders was well-received. We even got a few comments. We like comments. We like it even better when a conversation develops among our readers through the comments. So, feel free to comment on a comment. We really want to hear from our leaders on all kinds of topics.
How about a little discussion about communications? As you know, we’ve been experimenting with our publications, trying to give our congregants the information they want while 1) keeping our Communications Specialist’s work time to 40 hours per week, 2) dramatically reducing postal mailing, 3) reducing copying costs when we can and 4) trying to protect members from too much email. We know we don’t have it right yet.
One of the things we struggle with is the tension between every leader’s desire to get their word out and the tolerance/attention level of our congregants for our messages. Here are some of the things we talk about in staff meetings:
In worship
If a person comes to UUCA to worship as a religious community, do they really want to hear 15 minutes of announcements and skits each week? Well, OK, maybe not 15. Five? Well, who will get the 5 minutes? How do we choose? And WHEN will that five minutes happen? Five minutes BEFORE the official start of the service? At the end? Shall we reduce the sermon to 15 minutes to fit in announcements? We’ve chosen the most conservative option we can which is to RARELY have a special announcement and keep the number of announcements mentioned by the worship leader to a minimum. Does that feel about right?
In the order of service
All the information about all the upcoming events of the church show up in the Thursday enews. The enews gets sent to more than 900 people. Do we really need to print on Sundays the very thing everyone received on Thursday? (Yes, we need to accommodate the 20 people we know do not receive email.) Why do leaders WANT inserts in the Order of Service? Do our congregants actually respond better when they get a separate sheet of paper in their order of service? Who gets inserts? Anyone that asks? How do we prioritize?
In the newsletter
In addition to all the information that appears in the Thursday enews, we include a complete schedule for children’s religious education, “columns” by the lead minister, assistant minister, LRE director and board chair. Is this redundant? Why do we duplicate information in the monthly newsletter and the Thursday enews?
At the present time, the newsletter is laid out for printing. It would be more logical for the newsletter to be laid out for easier reading on a computer. How might that feel? And then what would we send to the 20 or so non-email members/friends? We are thinking about changing the monthly newsletter columns by paid staff and the board chair to a website blog and then creating a website-based “newsletter” of all the upcoming events that would be updated weekly. How might that feel?
Overall philosophy
Are these the right questions?
1) What do our congregants want to know and how do we make that information easily accessible for them?
2) How do we gain our congregants’ attention and move them to act on what we’re offering or asking?
Linda, I am reminded of a prior conversation about how few people actually open UUCA emails. Maybe we need to post the percentage of e-news and other communications opened the previous month (sort of like the seatbelt percentages on the highway) to move us towards 100% percent. Make it a game – you like games!!!
I think the blog idea would work, but I would need to be “jogged” to read it. That is, I wouldn’t trust myself to remember to initiate going to that site, but a “click” in the weekly newsletter that took me right there would work for me personally.
As a congregant, I personally don’t mind (actually I like) having the important announcements at the start of the service. It doesn’t seem excessive to me. If you are getting complaints about the announcements, a limit of one or two short announcements of a minute or two duration could be imposed.
Even though the announcements of coming events are emailed in the Thursday enews, I think they should be continue to be distributed with the order of service. I know it may seem redundant, but sometimes I’m not in church mode on Thursdays when I’m on my computer and on Sunday, I’m relaxed and can actually enjoy reading them before the service starts.
I’m not sure what the difference visually would be between having the newsletter laid out for printing versus reading on the computer. I know I like it when it’s visually interesting, with photos, text boxes highlighting special things, etc.
My two cents…..
I definitely think we don’t need printed inserts of announcements – it’s a waste of paper. Of course I also don’t think we need a printed order of service, but I’m a rebel. That said, I do tend to look at the announcements on Sunday while I don’t always look at the E-News. The Sunday morning insert can jog my memory about something. But still I think just having a stack available for those who want to take, but not including in the Order of service. Just have a nice clear sign and a designated place where they are. They can basically be a printed version of the E-News that went out that week with any last minute additions that are needed.
I definitely agree about keeping announcements on Sunday morning to an absolute minimum. What does the whole congregation need to hear? Inevitably there are going to be more announcements than we have time to share. The more theatrical announcements can be nice. I think it’s essential that the announcement content really have a connection to who we are as a congregation. Everything in worship should always connect back to why we’re here, how we are making meaning together, etc.
I think a blog is a much better idea for regular columns. Better for staff to say something when it needs saying and not have to wait until the monthly newsletter. And also not to have to fill a certain length or be constricted at other times when there’s more to say. Sometimes the poster might want to point people to something else and not write a whole lot themselves. It would be great if the blogs connected into the FB page and the website. Perhaps anytime a new post is on the blogs then a post could be made on the FB page linking to it. This would bring more activity to the FB page (much needed) and also means that people who subscribe to that page could set it up so they receive an email when there’s a new posting (I think).
I have more opinions, but gotta go do some stuff.
I like this idea. Wouldn’t it be great if it could be two way communication ex. questions from staff to members and the opportunity for members to ask questions of staff?!
WORSHIP – I have never liked announcements during a worship service unless it is something absolutely earth shaking and cannot wait.
ORDER OF SERVICE – inserts are a nuisance unless they are there to enhance the worship service. Members get monthly & weekly newsletters, which are more than enough, and visitors can pick up paper copies at the Welcome Table.
NEWSLETTER – A monthly newsletter suits me just fine and I think it probably best to retain the printable version. I abhor duplication of information. If we have a weekly a weekly “E-News” it should contain different information, like this for example. I don’t know about the “blog.” I would probably forget to look at it.
PHILOSOPHY – this was fun! I think you are on the right track.
I like the way announcements are handled in worship–before the service, some skits for significant happenings, minister in control. And I think the reason we want news, even repeat news, in the O of S is because of what Bev alludes to … the folks who don’t open their email. While sitting in the pew with printed info in hand, many (most?) folks will look it over … while waiting for the service to begin, during the offertory, some other “down” time. And final thought (at least for THIS response) … redundancy is necessary, not only to enlarge the group of receivers but to remind them of what they’ve already encountered but instantly forgotten.
I agree that redundancy is necessary.
I feel announcements are appropriate as currently handled.
I would ditch inserts. We have other, more effective means of communication.
I find it useful for the monthly newsletter to be, in part, a summary/reminder of what has appeared in the weekly e-news. The monthly newsletter should go beyond that, but being a summary/reminder is a meaningful function.
Like I said in the last post, I read the eNews, although I agree that it can be frustrating to read the same thing over and over (especially across the eNews and Family Weekly email)- that just makes me more likely to skim, so maybe I miss things.
I also like having an announcements insert, if only to have something to read and fiddle with, although I also agree that it probably could be gotten rid of (or moved to an optional pile) and I probably wouldn’t miss it.
Glad you’re thinking about these things, Linda!
As someone on the putting-information-out-there side I am glad to see this conversation thread.
We in R.E. struggle with this constantly. We want information to be both concise and thorough. That said, sometimes I think it would be fun to put in a little human interest (ie. “congrats to the Martins on the birth of their baby!”, or “best of luck to the Schell family at upcoming LEGO competition”) which we don’t include because we don’t want to “waste” people’s time, or turn off our audience.
While I appreciate that redundancy is annoying to those who actually are “tuned in” on many levels (sorry, Anna) its hard to avoid when I have people come up to me ALL-THE-TIME with “Oh, I wish I’d seen/known about ___ sooner…” when I know I’ve had fliers up about it and put it in the family email for 3 weeks running…
Thanks to all who are taking the time to read and be aware, as well as to those helping us to improve through forums like this!
Sometimes the best thing to do is to just say, “I’m sorry,” and leave it at that.
My comment “Sometimes the best thing to do is to is to simply say, I’m sorry, and leave it at that” was intended as a response to this email but it got posted on the general comments page. It may take some experimenting for me to get learn how to use this new communication system.
On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 12:10 PM, News 4 Leaders wrote:
> Susan Enwright Hicks commented: “As someone on the > putting-information-out-there side I am glad to see this conversation > thread. We in R.E. struggle with this constantly. We want information to be > both concise and thorough. That said, sometimes I think it would be fun to > put in a littl” >
I think the newsletter should be laid out for easier viewing on the internet since nearly everyone has to read it that way. I don’t like scrolling up and down to read the columns. It can be printed that way for those who don’t have computers. That would not be hard.
I hope someone can tell me how to get rid of those square quilt-like things at the beginning of a comment, so I can read the whole comment.
Ann, on my system (Windows 7 using Chrome browser) the quilt patches don’t cover anything so I’m not sure what to tell you.
Let’s see. Announcements are posted on the web site, the monthly newsletter, the weekly E-news, the order of service, and verbally from the pulpit. Have we left something/someone out?
Do what YOU as a staff think is best, evaluate the results of what you do, and move on. Nobody expects you to take the pulse of a large congregation like ours and you are a strong team of professionals. Trust your judgment. But keep growing.
Consider having words to songs projected on the walls so that we don’t have to stare at hymnals. Sorry that people complain about not being informed, but know deep down that you are doing a good job.