5 steps to maximize your membership

The Communicators Forum board recently sent this email inviting members to make it your communications year and take advantage of membership benefits and value.

Here are five steps to maximize your membership.

STEP 1: Complete this brief member survey by Friday, November 16.

STEP 2:
Save the date for these signature events:

• 
  Member Appreciation Event - May 29, 2013, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
• Annual Conference - June 25, 2013, all day, Carlson School of Management, Minneapolis
  

STEP 3:
Plan to enter your best work in this year's Maroon and Gold Awards, entries due February or March 2013 for work done anytime in 2012.

STEP 4:
Attend a program. The next two are:

• November 15, 12-1:30 p.m., 100 Murphy Hall - Beginner's Circle: Working with University Relations (panel discussion)
  
• December 5, 12-1:30 p.m., 2-233 Carlson School of Management - Expert Insights with Dave Pyle, former bureau chief of the Minnesota/Wisconsin Associated Press
  
  

STEP 5:
Give yourself a creative reboot and try something new.

• Volunteer for a committee
• Visit a museum or see a performance on campus
• Explore UMCF communications resources, comment on Pinterest, tweet or retweet your UMCF colleagues
• Get creative sharing ideas in the comments on the member survey
• Comment on this blog

FULL EMAIL TO MEMBERS BELOW

Communicators Forum members,

As a Communicators Forum member you are part of a network of professional communicators who are smart, talented, inspiring, outspoken, strategic, reflective, candid, diplomatic, pragmatic, resourceful, thoughtful, pioneering ...

who execute social media campaigns, plan and write website content, design educational materials, set strategic direction, consult on best practices, create compelling videos, pitch stories that showcase the U's impact, manage creative teams, tell stories that matter ...

and the list goes on!

The volunteers working behind the scenes to make things happen have an exciting year planned for you (yes, YOU), with some programming and key dates below. We want you to make it = YOUR YEAR. It's the year of the communicator. Your year.

Some steps to maximize your membership:

STEP 1:

So we can shape activities to meet your interests, complete this brief member survey by Friday, November 16.

STEP 2:

Save the date for these signature events:

Member Appreciation Event - Year of the Communicator

May 29, 2013, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis

This new event will celebrate members with appetizers and cocktails; inspiring display of awards entries, Mike (people's choice) judging, and awards ceremony (separated from the annual conference); group palm readings, and more surprises.

Annual Conference - Year of the Communicator

June 25, 2013, all day, Carlson School of Management, Minneapolis

The annual conference will be one to remember with a new location and exciting lineup in the works. Be sure to share any speaker/topic ideas on the member survey!

STEP 3:

Plan to enter your best work in this year's Maroon and Gold Awards. Submissions will be due sometime in February or March 2013, for work done anytime in 2012. All entries will be displayed and awards given at the member appreciation event in May. Share ideas for new awards categories on the member survey.

STEP 4:

Attend a program. Thanks to everyone who was at Wednesday's tour of the For the Common Good exhibit at Andersen Library, and congrats to raffle winner Allison Gahlon (Learning Abroad Center)!

• November 15, 12-1:30 p.m., 100 Murphy Hall - Beginner's Circle: Working with University Relations (panel discussion)


• December 5, 12-1:30 p.m., 2-233 Carlson School of Management - Expert Insights with Dave Pyle, former bureau chief of the Minnesota/Wisconsin Associated Press

Learn more and register >

STEP 5:

Give yourself a creative reboot. Take a walk. Go to a museum on campus. Visit the Forum website, comment on the blog, (check out these past poll results, very fun--many introverts and English majors!). Volunteer for a committee by contacting one of the chairs listed below. Forward this email and spread the word to colleagues who aren't members--that $40 goes a long way for value.

Whatever steps you take (whatever moves you make), we hope you dare to make it your communications year.

Sincerely,

your Communicators Forum Board of Directors, 2012-13

Kate Sophia, chair / Academic Support Resources

Rebecca Noran, vice chair / Academic Health Center

Kelly O'Brien, chair emerita / College of Liberal Arts

Sarah Hollerich, at-large director / Academic Support Resources

Melissa Wray, recorder / Northrop Concerts and Lectures

Didi Nguyen, treasurer / Academic Support Resources

Lani Payette, chair, technology committee / Training Services

Katie Covey, co-chair, marketing and promotions committee / Weisman Art Museum

Erin Kober, co-chair, marketing and promotions committee / Student Unions and Activities

Cullean Colby, co-chair, program committee / Carlson School of Management

Jen Thissen, co-chair, program committee / College of Liberal Arts

Kris Junker, co-chair, awards committee / College of Veterinary Medicine

Ann Nordby, co-chair, awards committee / University of Minnesota Extension

Erin Lauderman, co-chair, conference committee / Weisman Art Museum

OPEN: co-chair, conference committee (contact Erin at elauderm@umn.edu if interested)

Volunteer at UROC in North Minneapolis. They need your help.

Not sure if you've been following it, but there's a big effort going on among U of M staffers to help out North Minneapolis in the wake of the tornado. Much of the word has been driven by social media. Find out more on the Brief Facebook page. Here are a few of the most recent updates, viewable in the notes section of Facebook:

May 27 update, 10 a.m.:
Over 100 volunteers again at UROC this a.m.

--City-led long-term recovery committee met at UROC this morning: 45-50 city/county officials and community leaders in attendance (including UROC exec director Heidi Lasley Barajas)

--Outreach team now on the ground on the North Side; Senior VP Jones and Dr. Barajas part of the group.

--One outreach shift tomorrow, May 28 (Saturday)--9 a.m.-1 p.m. Volunteers needed. No van from campus.

--UROC will continue to be involved in tornado recovery efforts next week in a variety of ways. No on-the-ground outreach is planned out of UROC, but UROC staff will refer volunteers wherever they might be needed on the North Side.

May 26, noon update: Reports are coming in that volunteers are running out of food to meet community needs on the north side. Teams are coming across homes and apartment buildings where cupboards are empty and refrigerators full of spoiled food.

Nonperishable food can be dropped off at the UROC building, 2001 Plymouth.

Communicating for good

Saturday is Make a Difference Day, one of several events throughout the year aimed at getting more people to volunteer. It got me thinking about the ways we as communicators can use our talents for good.

Finding a way to volunteer your skills can be as easy as contacting non-profits you support and asking if they could use your assistance. Or, maybe you'll find like-minded people in these networks:

Proofread for good: I've been volunteer proofing for Distributed Proofreaders for a while and found it to be a well-run and supportive network. Volunteers go through scanned-in text of public domain works to help convert them to e-books for sites like Project Gutenberg.

Account plan for good: Planning for Good is a network of account planners who volunteer to solve problems for causes and non-profits.

Design for good: There are many volunteer design opportunities posted on sites like VolunteerMatch and HandsOn Twin Cities.

What volunteering have you done? Are there other sites or networks you recommend?

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Join a committee

Yes, you are busy. This is a time when communicators across campus are carrying even more heroic workloads than usual. We know.

The economic conditions putting such a strain on our time are the same ones making it so important for campus communicators to broadcast their value to the University and the community.

To continue the Forum's programming and professional development, and also to broaden our impact as communications advocates, we need your help!

In addition to the tingly feeling you get by doing a good thing,
committees provide you with excellent networking opportunities, a
chance to flex new creative muscles and an impressive addition to your
resume.

Which committee is right for you?:

Awards committee: has the authority to put board members in silly costumes at the conference

Conference committee: orchestrating the big show is quite a rush

Marketing and promotions committee: perfect for those thinking about how they would have written this blog post better

Program committee: rub shoulders with the fabulous monthly speakers, get first dibs on the best pre-program snacks

Technology committee: help make umcf.umn.edu the site that every forum member has bookmarked

Our volunteering page has actual descriptions about what committee members do and how to get started. Join today!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clagnut/ / CC BY 2.0