There has been much change in personnel within the Communications Committee again this year. Since the AGM we’ve said goodbye to several committee members, most significant being Andrew Glover (though we are very pleased that he has been continuing to work alongside us in his role as webmaster). The new committee has decided to play to its strengths and, therefore, has focused on developing a couple of areas this year.
Firstly, we have been investigating options for a complete website redesign, with plans for implementation to be finalised at the March Executive Committee Meeting. After receiving feedback from different districts, the overwhelming need appears to be for an effective calendar that can be viewed by members and added to by secretaries. This has become our primary focus for the redesign, along with the need for the website to become less cluttered with a seamless way to remove obsolete news from previous years (who still needs to see a district practice poster from 2013, for instance?!). We’re very much looking forward to taking the next steps in development soon and sharing some of our progress with you all.
As a result of our focus on the website, development of the Guild database has currently been put on hold until we know how much crossover there may be between the two platforms. At present, thoughts are that we will be reducing the amount of data we have on individual members to the bare necessitates (primarily, name and email address) and to remove any obsolete data that serves no functional purpose for the Guild. At the moment, the data is safe and waiting for a time when decisions about its future can be made in an informed way.
Secondly, we’ve tried to promote our two-way avenues of communication (namely the Google Groups and Facebook). It would be wonderful to see every district with their own Google Group, which enables members to have key information shared with them via email, but also allows them to respond to the rest of the group. For those uncertain of what this would look like, the following example shows the good practice going on elsewhere in the Guild. The Alton and Petersfield district have established an excellent community on their Google Group, sharing standard information such as district practices and meetings, but also promoting their ringers’ successes and achievements. I’ve been highly impressed with the huge amount of positivity from members, who frequently reply to the email group with their thoughts, congratulations and encouragement in response to the district news they are reading. The camaraderie evident in the Alton and Petersfield district, amplified through their Google Group, is something I hope can be emulated elsewhere in our Guild.
We have also given the Guild Newsletter a new look, with the aim to publish content three to four times a year now ringing has returned to normal. Due to the immediacy of social media, a lot of the articles we publish will likely be old news by the time they are seen collated, but the newsletter will serve more as a record of the events and achievements of our ringers in that quarter of the year. For those keen on receiving news hot off the press, so to speak, it really is recommended at they sign up for the Google Groups or Facebook. All details on how to do that are found on the current Guild website: https://wpbells.org/2018/05/26/mailing-lists/
We are always looking for new members to join the Communications Committee. It has an incredibly broad remit but we do not expect members to be experts in every field. You might feel you are keen on helping with one aspect of the committee, such as promoting news or our digital media outlets, and this is something we’d be delighted by! Please feel free to put your name forward at the AGM in June, or contacting us at comms@wpbells.org
Lizzie Colliss