Rotary Editors’ day out at Evanston

It was an interesting and information packed two-day Rotary World Magazine Press Editors’ seminar that took place in Evanston on May 4 and 5. A great opportunity to put faces to names of fellow Editors I had only communicated with over mail, it also allowed us to compare the content of our magazines, exchange notes and ideas and ruminate over the future of the regional Rotary magazines.

Ably moderated by PRID John Blount, who was the chief training leader at the International Assembly at San Diego in 2015, there were brainstorming sessions with the Rotary Communications team, led by David Alexander and admirably assisted by Donna Cotter. Some of the most useful sessions at which the Editors lapped up information were how to get data from the RI headquarters, and, more important, who to get this data from?

Presenting Rotary’s global strategy and tips on how to use social media more effectively, Social Media Manager Andy Sternberg and Blount kickstarted a discussion on the Editors’ sharing ideas and strategies on working together in the area of social media.

Web Manager Mark Olwick made a presentation on The New Web, and unveiled the strategy for providing Rotary.org as a platform for stories from regional magazines. The Rotarian’s Editor-in-Chief John Rezek disclosed how The Rotarian plans its content, and its Art Director Jennifer Moody shared ideas on how different forms of design and types can transform content and make the magazine more visually appealing.

We also used the two days to brainstorm on how to connect with our readers, the importance of branding and reaching Rotary’s message to our target groups. There were strong voices in favour of making the magazines more interesting by having general content which was not necessarily Rotary-specific.

Picture Courtesy: Günes Ertas, Chairman, Turkish Rotary Magazine