[ssf] Draft announcement for post-meeting

Thu Feb 3 16:43:56 GMT 2005

On the subject of email announcements, I think that by and large it is a 
good principle to try to get the key message into the top line(s) as 
succinctly as possible, then expand later.

We could for instance start the message with:

"Why don't you?" :- Make Poverty History, celebrate Peace in the Park, 
go to Venezuela, save Burngreave, defend benefits and more...

And hopefully everyone will have absorbed these key messages before they 
have a chance to phase out. The original message could then be pasted 
underneath, I've copied the order from Dan's before anyone accuses me of 
cause favouritism. Any more than two lines could defeat the point, so I 
wouldn't recommend mentioning the whole agenda.

This allows people who's browsers (eg Gmail) may show them start of 
message to get these concepts without even opening the mail. Which they 
of course will then do. I'd strongly recommend it as a guiding principle 
for these announcements.

Chris

@mparo wrote:
> yes please also cut out if possible the bit of "don't be put off by... 
> we are lovely people really"
> (it can put lots of radical people off)
> 
> Generally speaking, i would like it much more succint, since it is 
> advertising, that is shorter,
> 
> :¬)
> 
> rather than so much text, perhaps lyrics for a song or why not? a poem
> 
> amp
> 
> dave thompson wrote:
> 
>> hi, excellent e- mail
>>
>> couple points points though, maybe put more emphasis
>> on the fact that anyone can bring ideas,projects, etc
>> and and of course promote the SSF itself and yeah, cut
>> out the daffs please
>>
>>
>> dt
>>   --- Dan <dan at aktivix.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hi!
>>>
>>> Here's a draft for the first announcement e-mail of
>>> 2005, which we can comment on / amend tomorrow eve before sending out
>>> Thursday eve / Friday morning.
>>>
>>> A few points first though:
>>>
>>> 1. How do we feel about sticking other political and
>>> cultural goings on too?  Sheffield Social Forum stuff first, a big
>>> line, all other events in the coming month. A request for people to 
>>> send in
>>> their event.
>>>
>>> 2. We should rotate the drafting, but I think the
>>> principle of making a draft before a meeting and getting it approved /
>>> amended at a meeting is a good one - if only because people will bring
>>> announcements of events we didn't know about.
>>>
>>> So:
>>> -------
>>> Sheffield Social Forum says 'Happy New year!'
>>>
>>> But... can it really be February already?  How time
>>> flies! Not quite fast enough for those of us pining for Springtime...
>>> alas we'll have to wait for Daffodils a little longer.
>>>
>>> As with daffy bulbs, though, there's a whole heap of
>>> activity occurring underground we'd  like to tell you about, in the
>>> hope that you'll want to help bring it al into blossom...
>>>
>>> Sheffield Social Forum's first foray into 2005 is to
>>> be a 'Big Open Meeting' loosely titled *'Why Don't You?'* (See
>>> attached poster.  Don't be put off by the broken TVs, we're lovely 
>>> people
>>> really!)
>>>
>>> It's going to be:
>>> Thursday 17th Feb
>>> 7 to 9.30pm
>>> St. Andrew's Church Hall
>>> Upper Hanover Way
>>>
>>> It'll be a kind of mini-social forum, with food n
>>> drink n good company - as well as productive talk and 
>>> action-planning. Here's a list of some of the things we know will be 
>>> going on - and please
>>> let us know if you have something you particularly want to talk about.
>>>
>>> *The G8 comes to Sheffield in June, as well as
>>> Scotland in July - Make Poverty History Sheffield [website?] are 
>>> using the
>>> chance to push hard for an end to global poverty, and Peace in the Park
>>> organisers are getting involved too.
>>>
>>> *Peace in the Park itself will be taking place on
>>> Saturday June 11th.  [Website?] SSF will be hosting a 'Speakeasy' tent
>>> there, and working with others to prepare, for example by going into
>>> schools to run awareness-raising workshops around global issues -
>>> with the ultimate goal of hosting a 'youth parliament' (or something
>>> less stuffy) at Peace in the Park
>>>
>>> *Sheffield now has its own 'Sheffield 2 Venezuela
>>> preparatory committee', who are working to get a delegation to
>>> Venezuela in August for the Youth and Student Festival there. 
>>> Hopefully, they'll be coming along too.
>>>
>>> *The Burngreave Masterplan has ruffled some
>>> feathers, entailing as it does large-scale demolition, and triggered 
>>> a local
>>> fight-back.  SSF is getting stuck in, looking for ways to hold planning
>>> minister Keith Hill to his words... which were, rather shockingly, 'Let
>>> the People Decide!'
>>>
>>> *Building on previous work done around the impending
>>> disability welfare cuts, we'll be working to raise awareness of what's
>>> going on, on the hardships faced by people on disability benefits -
>>> and how much worse it could get if Blair gets his way.  How can we 
>>> support
>>> a group who are so often ignored and sidelined?  Can you help too?
>>>
>>> *Get yer creative juices flowing!  Creative Action
>>> Network - those responsible for Sharrow's awe-inspiring lantern
>>> carnival, will be there on the 17th, as well as various other folk 
>>> looking
>>> to put their creative talents to good use.  If you want to come and join
>>> in, there'll be opportunities to talk about and plan any number of
>>> possibilities, including...
>>>
>>> *A new Sheffield radical newsletter!  Radical means
>>> 'getting to the root of things'.  A plan is afoot to launch a monthly
>>> newsletter, in conjunction with Sheffield Indymedia, with this aim
>>> in mind.  It won't just be dull leftie politics, though.  Supported by
>>> a fortnightly writing and creativity workshop, and due to launch
>>> its first issue at the end of March, we hope this will be an exciting
>>> read, as well as bringing together in one place all the month's best
>>> political and politico-cultural goings on in Sheffield and beyond.
>>>
>>> *Democracy Cafes now carry on under their own steam,
>>> first Tuesday of every month at the Blue Moon.  But are they steering
>>> the right path between freeform and agenda-driven?  And just how
>>> good is Blue Moon's cake?  (They're not paying us, you know!)
>>>
>>> *... and of course, Sheffield Social Forum itself! We need more 
>>> bodies to keep the good ship SSF afloat in 2005.  There's
>>> lots to do, as you can see.  It's going to be fun, but it'll be hard
>>> work!  Particularly, it would be *great* to know what kind of events and
>>> speakers you would want to see in the coming year, so SSF can make a
>>> forward planner.
>>>
>>> *Oh and *please* bring your ideas too: you *can*
>>> make a difference!
>>>
>>> Hope to see you on the 17th.
>>>
>>> Some p.s's:
>>>
>>> 1. Please tell other people: word of mouth is the
>>> best advertising!
>>> 2. If you want to get more stuck in to the
>>> day-to-day machinations of organising, you can subscribe to the 
>>> discussion list
>>> at:
>>> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssf
>>> 3. I'm the named contact at the minute: that's Dan
>>> on 07968 997861 or dan at aktivix.org
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> ssf mailing list
>>> ssf at lists.aktivix.org
>>> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssf
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>        
>> __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now 
>> with 250MB free storage. Learn more.
>> http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250
>> _______________________________________________
>> ssf mailing list
>> ssf at lists.aktivix.org
>> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssf
>>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ssf mailing list
> ssf at lists.aktivix.org
> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssf
> 