The Communicator - issue 1, February 2011

Introducing...

"What are you planning? What's new? What our your priorities? I have an idea for your committee..."

The RTO/ERO Communications Committee wants to answer your questions and wants you to know what we are up to. We also want to give you a place online to give us feedback on our activities and to connect with members about your District activities.

The Communicator is a project in progress so stick with us as we shape this space and aim to deliver you reports, news, tools and ideas you can use and discuss.

You can post your comments and respond to other comments at the end of this page. Thanks for your comments and feedback!

Things you should know...

OUR MANDATE

The provincial Constitution states, under "The Role of the Communications Committee" that our mandate is: 

1. To advise RTO/ERO concerning communications media produced by RTO/ERO. 
2. To establish guidelines and set rates for advertisers in RTO/ERO media.
3. To advise the Provincial Executive and other Standing Committees of RTO/ERO, as requested, on communications strategies and initiatives.
4. To act as a resource to Districts in and support and assist District Webmasters and Newsletter Editors.
5. To provide provincial workshops for District Representatives on a variety of communications-related issues, as approved in the annual RTO/ERO budget, adopted by Senate.
6. To monitor present communication practices and make recommendations for the most effective internal and external practices.
7. To undertake other tasks as may be assigned by the Provincial Executive or the Senate.

OUR 2010-11 PRIORITIES

1. Prepare and deliver a Communications Conference
2. Members of the Communications Committee will become familiar with the use of Drupal so as to address priority # 3.
3. Help Webmasters who want assistance with Drupal.
4. Address the Terms of Reference as the need arises.

WHO WE ARE

You can find more about our backgrounds and experience on the committee's about us page.

February Meeting  recap and report

The committee met at the Provincial Office on February 16, 2011. The following is a summary of the meeting decisions and actions taken at the meeting.

• One Drupal guide and one Drupal reference document were presented by Laurie Fountain and accepted for use at the June Communications Conference. The documents will be provided to members who attend the conference.
• For our professional development, Renée Mercuri led a discussion regarding RTO/ERO’s Facebook page. The committee looked more closely at how people using Facebook can manage their privacy and account settings.
• Final touches were made and the Conference Agenda was adopted.
  • The conference theme will be “Discover, Connect, Communicate.”
  • Session 3a survey recommendations were reviewed and the session will now focus on privacy and copyright issues.
• Your contributions to the Renaissance themed issue, “Mind your brain,” will be accepted until May 2, 2011.
• Gordon Cressy, a professional fundraiser, has been appointed as the Director of Advancement and Fundraising for The RTO/ERO Charitable Foundation. He will start his duties on March 1. A release was sent at the beginning of February to all District executive members and there will be more information about his credentials in the spring 2011 issue of Renaissance.
• RTO is on Facebook and Twitter. You are invited to join in the discussion online. If you aren’t on board with social media, let us know: What is holding you back? What are your concerns? How do you see your District using social media tools?

We look forward to meeting some of you at the Communications Conference on June 5 and 6.

Join our team

On October 31, 2011, two members will finish their term of office. The Provincial Executive will appoint two new members from RTO/ERO’s membership. You can learn about our current members on our about us page.

Would you be interested in joining the Communications Committee?

Submit your committee member nomination form by May 19, 2011 at 4:30 pm EST to Gail Knox, gknox@rto-ero.org.

Communications Conference – June 5 and 6

Thanks go to all of you who replied to our January survey. We have read your comments and suggestions and used them in finalizing the program for the June conference.

The Provincial Office will fund the participation of one representative. Districts may send an additional representative at their own expense. Registration information will be provided from the Provincial Office in March.

The Conference will take place at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Toronto.

What’s next?

The Committee will meet in June, following the communications conference and again in September when we will set forth our plans for the year 2011-2012.

It is expected that we will continue to work on social media tools that can be used by RTO/ERO to improve communications with and for members. The January 2011 issue of Liaison includes a summary of RTO/ERO social media channels as well as tools to help you get you started with things like Twitter and Facebook.

Your feedback

We are interested in your comments on the ideas put forward in this first issue of The Communicator, and in the survey that will follow the June workshop. We will develop protocols for the use of the various social media tools and share these with you in future Communicator postings.