Know your readership (members!)

Are they: Seniors, engineers, business people? What do they use their PCs for?

Do they use: the Internet, Win98, XP, scanners, color printers, digital cameras?

What is their level of expertise? Retired homemaker or C++ programmer?

Pick topics and articles that address your members’ interests and level of knowledge (e.g. for Seniors, news items about travel, health, social security, grandchildren). If the majority are running XP don’t print many articles on WIN98. At a meeting twice a year stand up and ask the members what they want to see (or not) in their newsletter.

Where to find material

From your own membership: Ask them to write a software review (we give raffle tickets for reviews), write articles on programs and PCs they like and don’t like, and why, problems they’ve had with new software, hardware, viruses, or upgrades. People are interested in others experiences.

If your club has a speaker ask them for a program description, or do one yourself. Research the speaker’s business on the Internet and print any hotlinks to the site.

Does your club have an artist or cartoonist? If so, offer them a monthly outlet for their illus­trated PC jokes and art.

Is your club quite social? Print birthdays and anniversary notices. (Yes, not all people are inter­ested in PCs just for their hardware).

APCUG articles.

Other computer clubs (my favorite is HAL-PC Magazine - online and not too technical).

Computer magazines (few Seniors read one, e.g. SmartComputing), but see How to use copy­righted material below.  If your User Group is a member of the SmartComputing UG program, you receive articles & Tips & Tricks that you can freely use in your newsletter.

Vendor press releases (e.g. Microsoft Press).

General circulation newspapers: Follow up a story with your own Internet research. Many newspaper articles don’t give all the facts or misstate them (e.g. the recent virus articles).

Specialty newspapers, magazines or trade publications, but don’t reprint what may have already been read locally. Also, see How to use copyrighted material below.

The Internet: look for web sites that are of interest to your readership. Note: Web material is being copyrighted more and more so see how to use copyrighted material below.

Topical material: Run articles pertinent to the following time periods:

January:	New Years’ (New Years Resolutions / Computers.  Members’ resolutions to learn ?? computer-related thing during the next year).
February:	President’s day (history, places to visit, trivia).
March:	St. Patrick’s Day (parades, exhibits, Irish history)
April:	State and federal tax forms online, April Fool jokes.
May:	May Day, memorial Day, Mother’s day (history, activities, trivia).
June:	Flag Day, Father’s Day (history. activities, trivia).
July:	Independence Day (history, activities, trivia).
August:	Summer travel, remote e-mail.
September:	Labor Day, back to school (history, activities, trivia).
October:	Halloween (history, activities, trivia).
November:	Veterans Day, Thanksgiving (history, activities, trivia)
December:	Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, etc. (history, activities, trivia). If you’re a 50l(c)(3) organization print an appeal for tax-deductible donations.

Periodic material: Between 20% and 50% of a club’s membership is new each year. Keep and run yearly basic articles on: Windows fundamentals, Scandisk, Defrag, zip files, how to download from the Internet, e-mail tips and tricks, etc. depending on the interests of your readers.  Also, sometimes only half the membership will attend meetings, so you can print what hap­pened and reach a significant portion of your members that way.

How to use copyrighted material Examine the copyright statement to see how the material may be legally reviewed, quoted or used. Complete reprint permission may not be available or take too long if you’re on a deadline. Extract the facts and rewrite the article in your own words.

Refer to and describe the material in a short filler; if pertinent, print the hyperlink to it.

Plan ahead: Cache articles in a “filler” folder

As you look for material, think ahead.  Save articles for use as far ahead as may be practical, but keep in mind that highly technical articles or product reviews may be obsolete in as short as 6 months.

Other types of “filler”

Formulate a policy of priority items (must always print, or print first, e.g. software reviews by club members) before using “filler” material.

New members listing: People like to see their name in print. Use bold so they can see it easily.

Club minutes: Where’s the money going to be spent? Some members like to know.

Club budget and annual financial report: A legal requirement for some types of clubs.  Future club activities (SIG meetings, speakers, etc.) Try to avoid printing last month’s activities. That’s history.

Officer listing with position, phone and e-mail address, newsletter reprint policy,        liability dis­claimer, application, etc. 

Boilerplate on your club’s policies for running: personal ads. SIGs and their areas of interest, lending of club property (e.g. digital camera, video tapes, CR-ROMs)

Cheat: Instead of printing your newsletter in 10 point type do it in 12 point.  Expand the type size of a particular article(s) to fill space.  Increase margins. If you can (with a digital camera, for example) take and print pictures of club notables.

Printing a newsletter costs money, so if you’re two pages short accept that and save your group some money by cutting two blank pages off that issue.