ISCB-SC:Protocol:Newsletter

This is work in progress. Nilsgehlenborg

Newsletter Structure
ISCB Student Council Newsletter #n, Month YYYY

[Greeting, 100 - 150 words]

1. NEWS FROM THE STUDENT COUNCIL LEADERSHIP

[1 to 5 topics, each 100 to 150 words in length]

2. PREVIEW OF UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

[1 to 5 topics, each up 250 words in length but total should not exceed 1000 words.]

3. REVIEW OF PAST ACTIVITIES

[1 to 5 topics, each up 250 words in length but total should not exceed 1000 words.]

4. STUDENT COUNCIL CALENDAR

5. RESOURCES

[Links to websites etc. but no advertisements!]

6. ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER

Newsletter Editor Name

Contributing Writers Names

Support Name

Contact newsletter AT iscbsc.org

Subscription You are receiving this mail because you selected "Student Council" as a committee you are interested in when registering for ISCB membership. If you no longer wish to receive Student Council mailings you must login to your ISCB membership record at https://www.iscb.org/login.php and select "Update My Record". Then scroll down to unselect 'Student Council' in the list of committees. Please note that this will also terminate your membership in the Student Council.

Preparations
Dates

General
 * The newsletter is published quarterly at the end of March, June, September and December.

Four weeks before the newsletter is due
 * Determine the exact date on which the newsletter is to be published ("publication date"). Mondays are generally bad because people might have gotten a lot of emails over the weekend that need attention.
 * Get in touch with BJ Morrison McKay and let her know when you want to send out the newsletter. The newsletter must not be send out within a week from the main ISCB newsletter.
 * Send out a general email to the Student Council leader list asking for contributions from committee chairs and other leaders. Make sure you include important dates such as submission deadlines and the date of publication.
 * Invite either the Student Council Chair or another relevant person to contribute a greeting (up to 150 words) for the newsletter. Alternatively you can write this yourself.

Three weeks before the newsletter is due
 * Send a reminder to the Student Council leader list.
 * If you have gotten only a small number of contributions so far start writing personal emails to committee chairs and other people that you would like to contribute.
 * Get in touch with a native English speaker and ask that person to proofread the final version of the newsletter.

One week before the newsletter is due
 * Put together the contributions and edit them.
 * Send the newsletter for review to the Student Council leader list and ask for feedback within 2 days.
 * Update the newsletter based on the feedback from other leaders and send it to the proofreader.
 * Send the proofread newsletter to BJ Morrison McKay and ask her for approval to send the newsletter on the intended publication date.

On the publication date
 * Send the newsletter in plain text with line breaks at 75 characters to the Student Council Members mailing list and the Student Council Friends mailing list.
 * Use newsletter@iscbsc.org as sender and reply-to address.
 * If you use the Horde web mail service installed on http://www.iscbsc.org line breaks at 75 characters will automatically be added.

Editing

 * check if there is an explanation for all abbreviations and acronyms
 * in particular make sure that all "SC"'s, "ISCB-SC"'s, "ISCB SC"'s and "student council"'s are replaced by "Student Council"
 * make sure that every contribution makes carries a message that readers can understand
 * provide contact information for coordinators of new inititatives