News march 2011
News Flash
Click here to see New Eye on The Wheel
The District 1280 Magazine
1
At the last Council meeting in December, I launched a trial of Rotary Matters on-line, to run alongside the current printed magazine which is produced four times per year. The on-line magazine has been very successful in attracting articles from clubs and has been well received by members, many of whom have given us useful feedback. The Communications Committee, supported by the District Executive, now proposes to take this development a stage further and put a proposal to the March Council meeting regarding the future of the printed magazine. There have been some concerns raised about the move to an on-line magazine and it is necessary to answer those questions before a decision can be made.
1. How often is the on-line magazine read?
There is a counter on the magazine front page which allows the editor to see the number of times the page has been accessed. Between 25th November 2010 and 10th February 2011 the figures show:
- an average of 30 hits per day on the site
- 102 articles have been posted
- 2866 pages have been viewed
2. Will the on-line magazine always look like it does now?
The format was deliberately set up to be simple and involve a minimum of work for clubs and the editor. The general principle that the content is determined by clubs in the articles they submit will be retained and articles will continue to be published in full. Some guidelines about content will be needed in the light of the experience so far. At the moment the magazine runs as a sub-site of Knowsley Online, a community news site operated by Gordon Lowe. It will now be necessary to purchase a licence and domain name specifically for Rotary Matters and this will give the Communications Team an opportunity to redesign the look of the site and maybe incorporate some new features. That will not be a sudden process but it is inevitable that over time the format will evolve. Part of that evolution will involve design changes to make sure that Rotary Matters appears high up the list on Google and other search engines.
3. Can pictures and videos be included in articles?
Yes, there is no limit to the number of pictures that you can use to illustrate your articles and you can also use videos, subject to the usual rules about copyright.
4. What about members who don't have access to a computer, how can they keep up to date?
There are a few members in every club who don't have computers but the number is small and decreasing as the number of 'silver surfers' increases. It is important that they are not excluded and there are a number of strategies that clubs can use to help them.
- Most venues where clubs meet have WiFi available and this allows a laptop computer to be run during a club meeting, displaying the magazine.
- The on-line magazine produces very good 'copy' for club newsletters and communication files. It is a simple matter for a club member to highlight a story and use 'copy and paste' to put the article in a newsletter or a file for printing. The Communications Team can provide help on how to do this if required.
This is unlikely to be a issue for new members and potential members of our clubs and it may help recruitment if we can show that we use up to date methods of communication. RI and RIBI increasingly put out information on-line and this can easily be incorporated into the magazine. As an example of this, look at the Rotary DNA and Cowboy Logic articles from RI President Ray Klinginsmith taken from the RI website.
2
Roger Glew, Communications Chairman
10th February 2011
5. We put our magazines in doctor's surgeries and libraries in our area, to let our community know about Rotary, you can't do that with an on-line magazine.
Remember that all members get a copy of 'Rotary Today', the RIBI magazine. This magazine is produced by a professional editorial team, using material submitted by clubs from all over the country and highlighting many Rotary flagship international programmes. This is ideal for public awareness of Rotary and may help recruitment; particularly if you put a notice inside each copy you place giving contact details for your club and links for your club website. Increasingly, clubs are getting links to their websites from community and local authority websites. A good example is Rochdale On Line which has links to Heywood, Middleton, Rochdale and Rochdale East Clubs.
6. Can we continue to run an on-line magazine and a printed magazine alongside each other?
Yes we could but there are some important issues to consider. The articles submitted will appear in both types of media. One of the great advantages of the on-line format is the timeliness of the articles. Clubs appreciate seeing their events publicised soon after they take place and having the opportunity to publicise events in advance if they are looking for public participation. It follows therefore that many articles in the printed magazine will be out of date and will already have been in the public domain for up to three months. A further consideration is cost. The printed magazine costs £6,000 per year to produce and distribute and the on-line magazine about £100 per year to maintain. Both formats rely on volunteers to edit and publish the magazines and the members doing the jobs now are prepared to continue.
7. Do we have to make a decision now?
The printed magazine will continue to the end of the current Rotary year, it is already funded from this years subscription and advertisers have paid in advance for their adverts to appear until June 2011. What does need to be determined at the March Council meeting is the final budget for next Rotary year. If we are to produce a printed magazine for the September edition onwards, then we need to include a magazine budget for next year at the same level as this year (£4.00 per member). If the decision is taken to only publish the on-line magazine, then that budget will not be required.
8. If we decide not to have a printed magazine next year, has it gone for ever?
Not necessarily, the Communication Committee will keep the situation under review, taking account of club feedback. A future council meeting would be able to re-instate the magazine if a proposition was accepted by a majority vote.
If you have any further questions please contact me at comms@rotary1280.org or my phone numbers and address are in the District Directory.
You can look at the latest posts to the magazine by going to the district website at http://rotary1280.org or entering http://aboutknowsley.typepad.com/rotary into your browser.
The proposal to be considered by Council on 24th March 2011 is that:
"District 1280 agrees that, following a successful trial of Rotary Matters On Line since November 2010, it will stop publication of a printed magazine from the start of July 2011 and that no budget for a magazine will be required in Rotary year 2011-12"