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At the Thomas Jefferson District's Annual
Meeting, its Communication Council presents the
Outstanding Newsletter
Award to the TJD-member " ..congregation whose
newsletter best reflects the total life of the congregation in a
manner that is pleasing to the eye."
When, What, and How to submit sample newsletters?
When:
We must receive your sample newsletter anytime before March 31, 2007.
Please
include the name and phone number or e-mail address of the person
making the submission.
What can you submit
Submit only one sample. Pick the one issue that you feel best represents the style and feel
of the congregation, its events and activities. Select a newsletter
produced between March of the previous year and this year's deadline date.
We accept these formats: Hardcopy; Abobe PDF; or the electronic link to an online newsletters you have selected. Just make sure your email has appropriate instructions how to access your electronic document and contact information if we need more information..
Electronic submissions formats — types that are acceptable
How to submit your
newsletters
Include the words
"Newsletter
Award nomination" on the envelope or on the e-mail's Subject
line.
Hardcopy submission:
If your are submitting a hardcopy, send it to the TJD office: 9704 Mallard Creek Rd Charlotte,
NC 28262-9738
Electronic submission (via URL or PDF)
Email directly to the TJD Communication Council: tjdcomcouncil@gmail.com
Note: E-mailing the newsletter to the TJD Admin office will likely delay the review process.
Web pages (either html or
links that open a PDF file) --
If you want the committee to review the newsletter on your web
site, include the URL address and any password in your e-mail.
PDF'd newsletter that is not accessible via
a web site: --
Send a PDF'd copy to the TJD Communication Council e-mail address:
What are the judging criteria?
The Communication Council recognizes that congregational newsletters are a collection of articles, announcements, and other information supplied by many people whose writing styles and design abilities may vary. Not all congregations have the luxury of expert editors and extra time and resources to improve awkward sentence structures and enliven the wording.
The Council avoids editorial critiquing when reviewing newsletters submitted for the Outstanding Newsletter Award. However, abundant grammatical errors, misspellings or typographical "rrors" will be considered in the judging as these can affect the people's perceptions of the church.
These are the primary factors:
- Content — Diversity of topics
Is your newsletter full of the topics that can keep your members informed?
Is the subject matter understandable by members, visitors and those new to the faith?
- Design — Does the design contribute to the message?
"The purpose of graphic design is to make it as easy as possible for readers to understand your message. Because graphic design is a tool, not an end it itself, it should be unobtrusive, almost transparent." Roger C. Parker, The Aldust Guide to Basic Design
The Council considers these factors:
- The masthead and overall page design; inclusion of church information such as location, contact information, worship place/time, and office hours.
- The use of captions and subtitles — to help the reader find the topics and to entice the reader to look at the details
- Note: It is not necessary that newsletters contain any graphics, photos, or clip art.
But if used, do they enhance or detract from the quality of the newsletter; are they sized appropriately to the article's space and importance?
For electronic-only versions — Do the images load quickly; are they appropriate in size and resolution for viewing and interpretation?- For newsletters produced in color — Do the color choice(s) add or detract from the readability of the information? Black and white newsletters are evaluated on their font legibility. Remember, unusual fonts may convert incorrectly if your readers do not have the identical font on their computer.
- Layout/Format — Fonts and spacing
The Council evaluates these Format and Layout attributes:
- Font selection and size — Do they add or detract from the reader's ability to understand the information
- Clip Art/Images — Are they positioned near the article in ways to enhance finding information or help remember the topic.
- Typical formatting practices — Use (or abuse of) italics, bold or ALL CAPS lettering
- Line spacing — To make bulleted lists more readable or to separate articles
- Use of "white space" and bullets — To break up long paragraphs or lists
(RETURN TO TOP)Is there an award every year? Then what happens?
Yes. That's the plan. Of course, the TJD Communication Council needs entries and it needs commitment from council members to review the entries.
- Award Presentation:
- The Communication Council announces the winning newsletter at the Annual District Meeting.
- Awarded newsletter can be posted on the TJD website
- The Council (with permission from the winning congregation) will post the award-winning newsletter on the TJD website. Prior to posting it, the newsletter editor will need to remove or replace any personal information such as home phone numbers, addresses, etc. with substitutions or blanks. For example: Mary Smith at 999-999 or e-mail Jack Jones at xxx@xxx.com.
- Award listing in the TJD Directory:
- The congregation's name will appear in the TJD Directory's Award Section.