Sharing Information
Don Helsel, Crescent City Branch
In my prior life I was a manager for one of California’s many service organizations. In that capacity one of the most important lessons I learned was that information is a tremendously strong tool, which, if used correctly, serves to strengthen the organization and improve the unit’s operation.
Therein lies a simple message that AFS and its branches should note. Communication between branches and communication between AFS and the branches can best be described as needing improvement.
My current duty with the Crescent City Branch is to act as editor for our newsletter, the Hummingbird Herald. I have been doing this for about a year now and enjoy it more and more. One update we made was to encourage members, all of whom receive a monthly copy of the Hummingbird Herald, to receive theirs via e-mail. It works for about half the members and saves the branch the cost of postage. More importantly, it helps keep the membership current on upcoming projects, special events, club needs and also gives fuchsia growing tips.
The issue of limited and sometimes lacking communications recently came up at the AFS Redwood Coast District meeting. While the problem was acknowledged and discussed, no real resolution was reached.
The Crescent City Branch would like to offer a partial solution by providing access to our Hummingbird Herald as a means of letting other branches know what we are doing. We are offering to send an e-mail copy of our publication to a designated person in any branch, preferably one of the officers designated by that branch. We would ask this person to then make copies and share it with their fellow members.
Currently we provide this service to our AFS Board of Directors, (If we have somehow missed a board member let me know.)
In exchange for this service we would ask other branches to send us a copy of their branch newsletter and help us stay abreast to the happenings throughout the AFS world. For now they can be sent to me via e-mail at <donhelsel@charter.net>.
Is there a branch that doesnÕt have a newsletter? I cannot even guess at that answer, but if the answer is yes, then maybe it is time for someone to step forward and start one. If you have a computer, there are many programs available that will create a newsletter with little effort. Personally, I use and favor Microsoft’s “Publisher”Program. It will do everything except type the articles and is virtually foolproof. What I do with our publication is create the newsletter, print a copy of the final version, proof it a final time, then scan it to a file on my computer using the “pdf” file format. This file is then sent as an attachment via e-mail to recipients. Doing it this way does require that the recipient have “Adobe Reader” loaded on his machine. (This is available for download, free from the Adobe web site.) Once you have that program loaded on your machine, all you have to do is click on the e-mail attachment and the Hummingbird Herald appears in vibrant glowing color.
We have found that the newsletter is a great vehicle for reminding members of the next meeting, announcing special needs and events, but mostly it is great for simply letting the members know what is happening. In ours, we have expanded from just providing simple news to including articles from past AFS Bulletins that are still applicable to todayÕs fuchsia needs. We also include pictures and comments about various fuchsias appearance and habits.
The only real problem we have encountered using this e-mail process is that people change their e-mail addresses and do not advise us of the change. It is absolutely imperative that recipients contact the person sending the publication of any changes in the e-mail address.
If our fuchsia world is to survive, I believe we must have better communication among ourselves and do a better job of sharing information both with members and non-members. So, if you are interested in your branch receiving our Hummingbird Herald, send the e-mail address of your designated person to me at <donhelsel@charter.net> and I will add that person to our Hummingbird Herald e-mail list.
Likewise, if you have a newsletter you can e-mail, we would like to receive a copy at the above address and hear of your activities.
As a side light, we also have a webpage loaded with information about fuchsias and details of our club. Check out <http://www.ccfuchsia.net>.
Don Helsel
Crescent City Branch, AFS
Hummingbird Herald Editor