Thursday, 23 May 2013
Hello
Are you feeling confused since the new website has come out because you’re not sure where the newsletter, nUUws and amongUUs have gone? Are you finding that you need to work a little harder to get the UUCR news you’re looking for? If so, then read on.
Technology changes constantly and our recent website redesign and communication tool reconfiguration were an inevitable and important step to enable us to best reach new and prospective members. Overall, our new website is a tremendous hit. It’s beautiful, informative, powerful and inviting. Many new visitors to our church have mentioned that our dynamic new website was the reason they decided to check us out. We have been fortunate to have in-house, two exceptionally dedicated and talented webmasters in Robbie and Brian Kohn who have worked tirelessly to make this transition practically painless for us all.
The Website Task Force (consisting of myself, Robbie and Brian Kohn, Jamie Maughan, Lorraine Dennis, Roberto Olivardia and Meg Soens, our Acting Minister) met last Wednesday to share all the feedback about the website that you have been sending along to us. Based on your feedback, the Task Force has identified areas where tweaks are needed to best meet our communication needs, particularly with longtime members, and we identified where additional explanation and education are needed to help people understand what is being made available to them and the limits of what can be made available.
Our webmasters and the Task Force have spent a lot of time absorbing your feedback and determining an appropriate response. Now it’s your turn. Please read this email and follow the instructions provided. If you’re still feeling confused or stuck after reading this email, let me, or any other member of the Task Force know, and we’ll work with you one-on-one to troubleshoot your particular situation. Introducing new communication tools takes a few iterations before they are just right. Let’s work with these adjustments for a while and then check back in together to see if any additional changes are needed.
Described below are changes we plan to make with regards to the two items that have historically been most important to members and friends: The Newsletter and “amongUUs” which is now called “Member to Member”.
Newsletter: The Week Ahead
Each week, an email will be sent to all members and friends entitled “The Week Ahead: UUCR Newsletter”. There will be three links in this email:
• The first link is to this week’s edition of “The Week Ahead” PDF file, which contains the upcoming week’s worship schedule and highlights of news recently added to the newsletter. (This PDF file will also be attached to the email.)
• The second link is to the up-to-date HTML version of the newsletter.
• The third link is the most recent edition of the newsletter with full text of all the current news in a PDF file. You can read it immediately, save it to read later, save it for prosperity, or print it.
In addition to the weekly newsletter, an email entitled “Weekend Update” will be sent towards the end of the week, containing the weekend’s worship schedule and headlines of any weekend events or activities.
amongUUs: Member to Member
Due to feedback received from members and friends regarding the Member to Member bulletin board, we will be switching back to an email mailing list for Member to Member messages. Members and friends can now email their messages to membertomember@uureading.org or to amonguus@uureading.org and those messages will be distributed by email to subscribers of this new mailing list. These messages will be processed at least three times per week during off-hours to ensure that they don’t interfere with other regularly scheduled bulk email distributions. If you would like to receive Member to Member email, go to the online newsletter, find the box on the right labeled Mailing List Subscription, be sure that Member to Member is checked, enter your Name and E-mail address, and then click Subscribe.
If you are interested in the technical background information regarding the capabilities, features and limitations related to the development of the new website and the changes made to the communication tools, look for upcoming articles that the webmasters will be posting in the newsletter.
Like Sunday morning worship services, our newsletter is the heartbeat of our congregation. It is the central means by which we can communicate to one another about the important work being done here in support of our mission and it’s only a click away! To reach the online newsletter, use this link: http://uureading.org/newsletter.
Best Regards,
Tracy Sopchak
UUCR Governing Board President
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