…And Why (or Why Not)?
 Publicity. Outreach. Marketing. Member2Member.
The specific term might vary, but the administrative council’s goal is the same—to keep you, our members, informed of chapter plans and activities. Chapter publicity should remind you of how your chapter participation can benefit your career, and help us figure out how to help you achieve your technical communication career goals.
 The first task in developing any publicity plan is to identify the “target audience”. On the surface our target audience seems obvious—our 41 chapter members. That’s easy enough. However, we may not be as homogeneous a group as our chapter membership implies. Just within the administrative council, the daily work of individual members is tremendously diverse. Some of us use FrameMaker; others use Word or InDesign. Some are experts in RoboHelp. Others wouldn’t recognize RoboHelp if it sat down beside us. Some have expertise in marketing and public relations; others have no knowledge or interest in those areas. This diversity could be a problem as we try to increase our member participation. Programs and activities that will appeal to a certain “target audience” assume that everyone within the target audience is interested in the generally same topics. That may not be true of the James River Chapter.
As part of our membership publicity goal, the chapter administrative council is reaching out to you—our chapter members—to find out what your individual needs are and what you wish to gain from your investment in the JRC. You have probably either received an email or a phone call—maybe both.
Have you responded to our request? If you have, thank you very much. We are serious about implementing ideas that will bring our chapter to life. If not, why not?
If you have not heard from an administrative council member, perhaps your contact information is out of date. Our information comes from the STC membership roster, so if that information is incorrect or missing, we do not know how to reach you.
Perhaps some of you do not wish to be contacted at all. In today’s wired world, some dread yet another e-mail or phone message to add to an already hectic schedule. We certainly respect the privacy of our members and understand that ubiquitous technology is frustrating to many. If you do not wish to receive personal communication, send me a quick message to let me know so that other volunteers do not spend their time trying to contact you or inadvertently do so against your wishes.
I ask—plead—beg you to please find a way to help us complete our first publicity task by telling us what you think. Even if, in your opinion, we should pack up, go home, and quit believing that we can have a viable chapter. At least then we would have your input.
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and let me know what you think. Or you can post a message on the chapter Web site if you’d to share your ideas.
The administrative council members are sincerely working to determine what kinds of programs and activities our target audience—you—need and want. We request that you help us to do that. It’s wonderful to have a chapter publicity plan, but we first have to make sure that we’re not doing a grand job promoting something that no one wants.
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