THE VOTER - LWVCBC NEWSLETTER

PURPOSE

THE VOTER is the LWV Columbia-Boone County's link to its members. Its purpose is to inform, educate, promote and publicize, and recognize members, community leaders, and events which support League's goals and positions.

All articles and comments concerning the newsletter should be submitted to the editor at myvoter@gmail.com

MEMBERS

Elaine Blodgett

Rachel Brekhus

CURRENT NEWSLETTER

Click on the "Files" link at the top of the page and scroll down to "Newsletter - (Current Month)".

WRITING ARTICLES

Why You Should Write for the Voter

Committee Chairs/Committee Members

• Publicize to membership an event your committee is planning...share your excitement about the speakers and topics
• Publicize to membership a project your committee is proud of (in progress or complete)
• Share a list of recommended reading (books, articles, websites)related to your study or other committee project--list each item and be sure to include a good descriptive sentence about each

Experienced Leaguers

• Membership Chair or officers: Educate new members about aspects of League that might confuse newcomers (see also "Dear Mrs. Catt" below)
• Convention attendee: Summarize a presentation from a recent League convention that you found worthwhile
• Inspire members with anecdotes or reprinted quotes from past Leagues

Any Leaguers

• Entertain and/or inspire members with your "why I joined" or "how I learned about League" story
• Ask a question with a "Dear Mrs. Catt, Can you please tell me the difference between an elected and an appointed Board member?...Headscratching on Hilltop Dr.". You can sign such letters with your real name or a funny pseudonymn. They will be answered in print for the benefit of you and all the rest of the people who wonder the same thing. If the Editor doesn't know the answer, she will do some investigative journalism and find out from someone who does.
• Inform the League of new developments you learn about in the field you work in professionally or through other volunteer work that might affect League work--e.g. new technologies; governmental bodies; local, state, and federal legislation,international efforts, etc. Always write from the perspective of "how might this development influence the work of the League?"

ARTICLE LENGTH

Typical articles run up to 300 words (longer articles) or just a few sentences (shorter articles). This is NOT very long, so don't be intimidated! Technology Tip: If you are using Word, you can easily see how many words you've typed. Just go to the TOOLS menu at the top of the scrfeen and choose WORD COUNT. When your article is finished, e-mail it to the Editor at myvoter@gmail.com or mail to The Voter, LWV Columbia-Boone County, P. O. 239, Columbia, MO 65205-0239.

Deadlines

Deadlines are printed in The Voter under "Editor's Corner. Typically the newsleeter deadline is the third Monday of the month. Please indicate if material is date sensitive.

The Editing Part

The editor will correct spelling and grammar errors to the best of her ability. She also has discretion to tighten your prose and make decisions on article placement as she formats the newsletter as a whole. The President, as the person with whom all bucks stop, may intervene in editorial decisions but she should exercise this privilege as sparingly as possible.

The Point of It All

It's all well and good that "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" but no one wants to say, "What happened at Legislative Night, stays at Legislative Night!" We all WANT all of our membership to benefit from our League work, including people who can't attend every event. The Voter is our most important vehicle for keeping one another informed about what's happening in all the nooks and crannies of League. It's also a great way to keep communication flowing from new members to experienced members. For every question a Leaguer asks, there will always be more Leaguers who want to know the same thing, so help them out...ASK