Section Communication Award Guidelines
Communication is a two way street. It is crucial to provide quality publications to grab the attention of Arrowmen and pull them into events whether they are on a chapter, lodge, section or national level. In the technological society that we have become, we realize that web based correspondence is necessary to reach out to many; however mailings still have a purpose in today’s communication. Therefore, in 2007 the section decided to combine the newsletter competition and website competition into the SR-7B Communications Award. Doing so will increase the honor that these awards have had in the past. Below you will find a list of criteria that will be used to judge both your lodge’s website and newsletters. Please submit newsletters to the Section Secretary, Matt Moricle, at 8204 Hunter’s Dr. Greensboro, NC 27455 by March 1st of 2009. You can also e-mail these publications to matt.moricle@gmail.com on top of mailing them, to ensure they arrive in a timely manner and are not lost within the postal service.
Newsletter Criteria
Lodges must send in a minimum of three publications that have been published within the past year to be considered for this award. Numbers in parenthesis to right indicate total number of points that can be earned for each criterion.
1) Identification (5)
a) Easy to read masthead
b) Lodge Name & Number
c) Website URL
2) Regular, punctual publication (5)
a) Defined months / year of publication
3) Communication Roster (5)
a) Current contact information (name, phone number, e-mail addresses) for
i) lodge officers
ii) chapter chiefs
iii) key advisors
4) Consistency of quality among newsletters (5)
5) Neat & clean front page, appropriate for scout publication (10)
6) Feature Letter(s) (5)
a) Lodge Chief (or other Lodge Officer), Editor, Advisor, Other
7) Variety of articles (10)
8) Well written (10)
a) Proofed, concise bylines
b) Multiple youth writers
9) Grammar (5)
a) Spell out meanings, and then use acronym (ex. NOAC, NLCS)
10) Informational interest of material (10)
a) Order of the Arrow members
b) Unit Leadership
11) Camp Promotions (15)
12) Promotion of National Programs (15)
13) Registration forms – Timely with dues information (5)
14) Humor, puzzle, quiz, craft instructions, other (5)
15) Graphics, pictures well presented in boxes featuring mostly youth (10)
Maximum 120 possible points
Website Criteria
The following are the judging criteria for the Section SR-7B Web Competition. All sites entered MUST abide by and display the Official OA Web site Guidelines (see Next Page.) The judging will occur between February 1 and April 1, 2009.
FORM 10 must be mailed to the Section Secretary no later than January 1, 2009. Numbers in parenthesis to the right indicate total number of points that can be earned for each criteria.
1) Web Site General Layout
a) Does it provide general information about the lodge and council? (10)
b) Is the site current? Has it been updated within the last three months? (10)
c) Is the site neat, organized, and easy to navigate? (5)
d) Is there an E-mail link to contact the Webmaster and / or Lodge? (10)
2) Informative Value
a) Are the different pages, topic specific? (5)
b) Is there a current lodge calendar / list of upcoming events? (10)
c) Is there a current list of officers and advisors available? (10)
d) Is there information on current or upcoming lodge events? (10)
e) Are the internal pages neat and organized? (5)
f) Is there a “links” page with appropriate links to council, section, regional, and national sites? (10)
3) Overall Appearance
a) Are all graphics used appropriate and uncluttered? (5)
b) Are there pictures on the page with captions and explanations? (5)
c) Is the text large or small enough? (5)
d) General “feel” for the whole website. (10)
Other Forms of Communication
All information must be documented and sent to the Section Secretary at 8204 Hunter’s Dr. Greensboro, NC 27455. Numbers in parenthesis to right indicate total number of points that can be earned for each criterion.
1) Post Cards (5 points per mailing, limit 3)
a) Concise information promoting lodge events
b) Contact information regarding event, who to contact
2) E-mails (5 points per message, limit 3)
a) These e-mail do not include messages sent to the Executive Committee
b) These messages can include list serves put out by the Lodge website
c) More times than not e-mails only reach a small percentage of people however the Section believes this small number is important enough to reward points.
3) Other forms of communication (15 maximum)
a) This allows room for Lodges to be unique and try new ideas.
b) Points for these other forms of communication will be at the discretion of the Section Secretary and Advisor.
c) A maximum of fifteen points will be rewarded for whatever means of communication is used other than those items listed above.
Official OA Web site Guidelines
1) The appropriate OA leadership must have direct control over the content of its official web site (i.e. the Key 3 at each level of the organization).
2) The content of the OA site must be appropriate to the Scouting movement and the Order of the Arrow. Safeguarded information such as ceremony details must be properly protected.
3) The OA site shall not contain any advertisements or commercial endorsements, except those for the organization providing the site service if it is provided for free or at a discount.
4) The OA site shall not engage in the electronic sale of BSA Supply Division merchandise, merchandise commissioned by the National Order of the Arrow Committee, or competing products.
5) The OA site shall not contain any links directly to any sites that contain material that is not appropriate to the Scouting movement.
6) The OA site shall not replicate any BSA publication currently for sale through the Supply Division.
7) The OA site must abide by all laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property.
8) The OA site must consider the safety and privacy of their participants by obtaining necessary permissions to release information about or identifying images of any specific individual.
9) The OA site should include an email contact address for reaching the person managing the site, so visitors can report any problems or concerns
Apensuwi Newsletter Schedule
It’s great to hear what happens in the lodges around our section; we would like to hear more about what’s going on in your lodge. One thing we would like to see more of is photographs from your lodge functions. Please try to include two to three photos with your lodge report and we will do our best to find room to include them.
Also please make sure your article is relevant to the date at which it is mailed as there is about a month between when you turn in your article and when the Apensuwi is mailed. Lastly, deadlines are important! Turning in articles on time is worth 20 points in the competition for Honor Lodge. It also makes the production of the Apensuwi run much smoother. Thank you for your cooperation.
Articles must be submitted to the Section Secretary at matt.moricle@gmail.com by their respective deadlines listed below.
November / December Issue to be mailed by November 1st
§ Articles due by October 1st
February / March Issue to be mailed by Feburary 1st
§ Articles due by January 1st