Re: Newsletter guidelines?

[John Posada <posada -at- FAXSAV -dot- COM>]

The issue here isn't any different than the issue for any technical
writing.

Write to your audience.

I've done three internal newsletters over the last few years, the last two
delivered electronically; one by intranet and one by Lotus Notes.

One of the three (the current one) was geared toward technical support, and
it would have been dumb to place wedding/death/cutesy stuff.  It was
designed for programming and engineering...very dry stuff. However, the
other two were DESIGNED as fluff. They were made for entertainment. They
had employee profiles, jokes, recipes, human interest, etc. I would also
slide in notices of upcoming internal events; 401(k) meetings, surveys,
etc. On one of them, I used it to profile a "very" upper manager, CEO, CFO,
CEO, etc. They got out their message, yet in a light, casual way. I even
found an employee that was a budding Scott Adams and he would do a cartoon
for the newsletter, I had filler when I needed it and he was able to
include it in his portfolio.

Write for the audience, regardless of what YOU may want. THEY are your
customers. However, just because it contains light stuff doesn't mean it
cannot be done professionally and with professional content along with the
syrup.

I worked on a Company Newsletter for a large company, a few years ago. What
people liked most were:

- the cafeteria menu for the coming week
- an employee buy/sell column
- birth, death, and anniversary announcements

We got *lots* of complaints any time we tried to remove any of these items
to make room for more serious material. People also liked human interest
articles about interesting individuals in the company (e.g., an interview
with Bob in the mailroom about his skydiving hobby). There were other
internal publications that carried more professional, industry-related
stuff.

So.... don't be too quick to dump those recipes and cute stories. What may
seem trivial and dull to you may be very important to your audience. Maybe
try a survey to find out what employees want to see in their Company


John Posada, Technical Writer (and proud of the title)
The world's premier Internet fax service company: The FaxSav Global Network
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My opinions are mine, and neither you nor my company can take credit for
them.

  "One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words.", Goethe
  "Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader
will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will
certainly misunderstand them.", John Ruskin