Club Services: Club Communication
Club Services
| Consultant: | Hazel Meredith |  |
| Contact Address: | 375 North Abram Street Stratford, CT 06614 |
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| Phone #: | 203.375.1039 | |
| E-mail: |  |
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The success of any club depends on communication among it's membership. Most photography clubs today have web sites and the club web site is the primary source of standard communication (e.g., meeting location, officers, schedule, description of activities) and acquisiton of new club members. Many clubs continue to have a club newsletter which is sent to the membership via email and/or posted on the club web site. E-Blasts (group emails) are becoming more popular with clubs and serve the function of very rapid communication.
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| Club Web Sites: |
If you look through the PSA region webpages you will see that most PSA-member clubs have a web site. Usually a club member has the skill needed to develop the club's web site; however, if something happens to this person, the club no longer has the web site that was on this person's hard drive. The club will need to pay a yearly fee for the Domain Name - URL (app $12 to $15) and for hosting the web site (app $50 to $90).
*** PSA-member clubs receive a discount from Photo Club Services for a template web site that can be easily customized for your club. This web site is used to manage most aspects of a club and is fully integrated with a software program provided to create, manage, and show images in a competition environment. Photo galleries are included for individual club members. A club's Photo Club Services web site can be used as the club web site, or it may be used to supplement the club's existing site. If the club has an existing domain name, it can point to your Photo Club Services website or a special link can be provided. This template web site provides the features desired by a club while allowing a unique look with minimal effort. To learn more and see a five minute video about the PSA-member discounted template web site, go to: http://photoclubservices.com It is also possible to establish free web site hosting. The following article provides several sources that may be considered. * A Camera Club Web Site * So Your Club Needs a Web Site Sometimes clubs go to established hosting services for web photo galleries to create club member galleries. These galleries can then be linked to the club web site. Popular hosting services for web photo galleries include: * Pbase.com * SmugMug (30% discount on first year for PSA members) * Flickr * Adobe Photoshop Express (Upload, sort, polish, and store up to 2GB of photos – free) The club web site should be linked to the meeting location town/city web site, meeting location web site, local senior services web site, the area PSA Chapter web site, and the web site for the Council of Camera Clubs to which the club belongs. |
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| Club Newsletters: | A club newsletter may be one page or several pages, it may have formal graphics and layout or not be very structured, it may include photographs or not, and it may come out at regular intervals (monthly, every other month) or occassionally as there is information to be shared. The important thing is to keep it simple and have the important dates and times easy to find. If you need help with your club newsletter, join the PSA PhotoEditors Group and ask the Consultant. * What is a Camera Club Newsletter? * Club Newsletter |
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| Club E-Blasts: | Immediate communiction is becoming expected by new photography club members. Some clubs are "virtual" and only "meet" via email and through online photo discussions and competitions. The E-Blast is a growing part of club and council communication. The club member email addresses should be protected. Send all E-Blasts to members as BCC (Blind Copies). Find out how many email addresses you can include in a "group" in your email system. Several "groups" may need to be formed to send an email to every member. If your club is small and you have everyone's permission, you can send an open email to the membership and they can "reply" or "reply all." Your club can also establish a group email exchange and the club members can decide if they wish to participate. The article below describes how this works for camera clubs. * How to Implement and Manage a Club E-mail Group |
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