When pulling together content for your next e-newsletter, sometimes all you have to work with is, literally or figuratively, a flyer. This can happen when others submit items to run but they do not try to follow e-newsletter style. Do you work to beat the item into shape? Or do you sometimes run them more-or-less verbatim, perhaps because of time constraints? How would you handle an e-mailed submission like this, sent on short notice up against your deadline?

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27th Annual Congress of Big Buildings and Little Structures
October 3-5, 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Registration is filling up fast, don’t miss out on an opportunity to attend - Register Today

Hotel Room Rate Reduced until September 28th
make your room reservation at the
Bellevue Stratford Philadelphia

The challenges to improving the performance of big buildings and little structures are as broad and varied as the individual structures themselves. How should they be evaluated and strengthened? What assumptions were made? Were they built as designed, and if not, what modifications were made but possibly (probably) not documented?

This 27th annual conference, organized by the Generic Technical Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, is dedicated solely to improving the performance of big buildings and little structures and includes:

We offer a Great Technical Program - View it online

Six Keynote Plenary Speakers and two Luncheon Speakers.

Over 20 poster displays are scheduled, and

Special Thursday Night Black Tie Gala -Celebrating New Innovations in Big Buildings and Little Structures Over the Last Decade
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Not only is this submission just a series of info-bits lacking cohesion, it is full of links throughout. (I’ve substituted unlinked blue here.) For it to work in ASCE’s e-newsletter style, it needs to be tightened up a lot. Here is how it was pulled together. Compare and contrast to see how the elements fell into place, and what was omitted.

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Registration Filling Up for 27th Buildings Conference
[insert graphic of conference logo, or cropped copy of conference Web site banner]
Come to Philadelphia this October 3-5 for the 27th annual Congress of Big Buildings and Little Structures. The Bellevue Stratford room rate has been reduced until Sept. 28. The challenges to improving the performance of big buildings and little structures are as broad and varied as the individual structures themselves. How should they be evaluated and strengthened? What assumptions were made? Were they built as designed, and if not, what modifications were made but possibly (probably) not documented? ASCE’s Generic Technical Institute is again organizer of this 27th annual conference. More than 20 poster displays are scheduled. Attend and earn up to 16 PDHs.

>> Make your room reservation before the Nov. 12 reduced-rate deadline. Get more details at the official conference site.
>> Check out the great technical program. The schedule also features six keynote plenary speakers and two luncheon speakers, plus a special black tie gala celebrating recent innovations in seismic strengthening.

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Notice that much of the content hasn’t changed, only how it’s arranged in a more readable way that follows e-newsletter style. The headline is focused on the “news” of the submission and implies a call to action, which is the point of the announcement.

Here’s hoping you have a better idea of how a handout can be edited into a workable e-newsletter item on short notice. Let me know in the comments below if and where I could be clearer.

John Marston
Web Content Editor

You’ll give your e-newsletter a boost simply by writing more in the second person!

The “you’ll” and “your” in that sentence might have stood out after reading what the subject was - but not before feeling the tug of the personal touch that use of the second person, the sound of speaking directly to you, creates. That feeling can lend some insight into why and how writing in the second person can benefit e-newsletters and other communications.

Here are some reasons why “you” will benefit:

• You’ll find yourself writing more conversationally. If it feels right to use a contraction, do it. Sentences that are more to-the-point also should flow more naturally. Adjacent third-person writing also benefits.
• It’s well suited for items that are calls to action. Frequently the second person in this case is an understood “you” — Act now! Register today!  But beware of sounding obnoxious through excessive use; it can feel like shouting, especially in headlines.
• Common use of the second person in an e-newsletter helps give it a voice, setting a friendly tone that encourages readers to read it through, and to click through and read more or take action where called on.

Naturally, not every subject lends itself to second-person voice; most news-oriented items or other serious, sensitive subjects should avoid it, unless handled delicately. Most often, though, the kinds of subjects covered in e-newsletters and similar communiqués are light enough that a second-person conversational approach, used judiciously, can really work to your advantage. Try it today!

John Marston
Editor, Web Content

Did the headline above make you say, “Ah ha! You have no credibility because you misspelled ‘Mispelled’”? Did you really think I’d do that? Now, most importantly: Did what you perceive as a misspelling cast a pall over the credibility and integrity of this entire blog?

You’ve only just seen the headline, so maybe you don’t think someone could have that kind of reaction that quickly. However, if you recognize that almost-instant visceral feeling of irritation you just had on seeing the error, now you understand: Yes, you can lose your readers’ trust that fast. If you produce any materials read by a mass audience - and that includes everyone from a few people in a meeting to thousands of e-newsletter subscribers - and you value your reputation, the copy had better be as error-free as humanly possible, from spelling to grammar to style. Although your readers may not know all the intricacies of the English language, they are quick to spot a mistake. They usually won’t call you on it, but the residual damage is done in lost credibility over the long term.

It’s an axiom that mistakes are remembered well, but the great work is largely forgotten. It’s an occupational hazard of being a writer, editor, or content producer. While perfection is impossible, frankly, if such errors do not gnaw at you and inspire you to work harder toward a near-perfect average, then you shouldn’t be an editor.

The good news is it’s a lot easier to be correct today thanks to the Internet. Of the many resources available online, here are two that should be among your bookmarks:

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White (yes, the E.B. White who wrote “Charlotte’s Web”). This online version of the seminal guide to grammar and writing techniques is searchable.
• OneLook Dictionary Search works like a Google search of hundreds of dictionaries. Enter your word, and a search page appears with quick definitions and links to more from just about every dictionary you can think of, from Merriam-Webster and Webster’s New World to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Also, if your group follows the rules set by either The Chicago Manual of Style or The Associated Press Stylebook, both are available online in fully searchable versions, but only to paid subscribers.

Do you have any tips or tricks you use to make sure your work is as close to error-free as possible? Share them in the comments below.

John Marston
Web Content Editor

Within ASCE, if colleagues don’t know me for anything else, they know I send out an all-staff e-mail every two weeks that’s an appeal for content for the ASCE E-Newsletter. By “appeal,” I mean beg, but nicely. If you produce an e-newsletter and wonder constantly how you’re going to fill your next edition, you understand.

The “Call for Articles” e-mail offers a set of guidelines on not only how to submit an item, but what would help make that content more interesting and appealing to read. It’s also a look into the approach of editing the e-newsletter. Ours aims to be lively and engages our readers, with a variety of items — “newsy,” useful, promotional and fun when possible — that reflect the variety of ASCE’s activities. That hardly makes ours unique; indeed they would seem to be requirements of most decent e-newsletters. Thus, what follows are suggestions that could help improve your e-newsletter. Please share your reactions and feedback in the comments area below.

Submission guidelines:
- Approximately 120 words in length, plus a link to a related ASCE or other Web page.
- Those items that are largely a call to action are stronger when written in a lively, inviting, conversational second-person (”you”) style, highlighting the benefits to the member right from the start.
- Ensure that all links are accurate and for live, completed pages. Links must go directly to the page of the feature or item being promoted and should be the dominant item on that page or easily spotted. We don’t want to send readers to a page with a payoff they wouldn’t expect, including bad experiences such as requiring additional click-through, awkward navigation or the like.
- To keep the e-newsletter’s content fresh and ensure variety, the same item will not run in two consecutive issues. If there’s a real need to repeat an item (usually a call for conference registrations), please the content and use a fresh angle each time.

Submission tips:
- New and current content, late-breaking news and special events happening in the near future are strongly encouraged and will get better play. Calls for event registration should be at least three weeks ahead of the date(s) to allow adequate time for members to respond and prepare.
- Help your item stand out with a thumbnail-sized graphic. Icons, logos and images of about 110 pixels wide, in .bmp or .jpg format, work well. Use images if appropriate, readable in that size and if space allows.
- Usually there are plenty of items on upcoming conferences and seminars, but almost never are there follow-ups from those events outside of the books of accepted papers. Think of your event as one with media interest, worthy of coverage. What would you tell a reporter were the important and/or interesting decisions reached? Were there any other unusual debates, happenings, or outcomes, especially those that might be of interest to your membership?

John Marston
Web Content Editor

While this is true of any kind of editor, as Web content editor at ASCE I’m a proxy for the reader — that’s you. What’s served me best throughout my 22-year career of editing media has been an ability to perform a bit of an out-of-body experience, where I’m able to put myself in your place as a reader with your background, being exposed to the content for the first time. There’s nothing mystical in knowing your audience — it requires homework.

On my arrival nearly a year ago, I immediately took over as editor of the every-other-week ASCE E-Newsletter. I considered it essential that I get a good grasp of the world of civil engineering and its issues and activities to do justice to our membership and readership. I already had what could be considered a general journalist’s interest in infrastructure, and had had a personal enjoyment of some of it from a design and history standpoint, but knew little of civil engineering specifically. (I’ve since found that that kind of public reaction isn’t surprising for an industry of traditionally modest professionals whose work is largely taken for granted. As a career copy editor, that Rodney Dangerfield feeling of “no respect” is one I can relate to.)

I’ve since found that civil engineering is actually a vast umbrella covering many highly technical disciplines carried out by sharp-minded professionals. As an editor of Web content that reaches the overall national membership, I can presume the audience is smart, but I can’t assume that everyone is familiar with terms known better in one discipline than another. For example, members of ASCE’s Institutes focus on a wide array of technical disciplines – a member of the Construction Institute may not be familiar with the same terminology as a member of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute.

However, even if you can presume your reader has a greater familiarity with your subject, beware of giving in to the temptation to take shortcuts in the belief you’ll be understood. This is common with technical terms and other lingo. As smart as your audience is, err on the side of caution. For instance, even if you think an acronym is known well by your audience, spell it out in your copy the first time you mention it anyway; it’s an easy courtesy, a good just-in-case that could win you more satisfied, better-informed readers.

Do you have any other tips for communicating with your audience? Share them with us.

John Marston
Web Content Editor