Newsletter Chairs Learning from Success: Sharing Successful Practices Leadership Training Conference Tuesday, April 24, :00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Learning Objectives At the end of this session, you will be able to: Apply successful practices from other chapters to enhance your chapter’s membership communication efforts

Newsletter Planning Committee Eric F. Walker, CPA Newsletter Chair New Hampshire – Vermont Chapter

The “Why” of the Program  Our newsletter committee holds an annual planning meeting in July  The reasons to hold a planning meeting include:  Organization of content for the year  Open channels of communication for the newsletter committee

Goals and Objectives  Identify and set articles submission deadlines  Discuss and identify a topical theme for the year (last year was efficiencies in healthcare)  Assign roles to members to acquire articles for editions throughout the year

Implementation  The newsletter committee is notified well in advance of the start of the newsletter year to gather involvement from participants and invite them to the planning meeting  Prior to the beginning of the chapter year, (typically in July), the date is set for the planning meeting  Time involved for the planning meeting is typically one to two hours with a roundtable discussion of:  Article topics  Sponsor exposure  Relationship with design company

Implementation  Things that went well include:  Diverse dialogue on topic areas for the upcoming year  Members volunteer to take responsibility for writing articles or networking to obtain articles from others  If applicable, this serves as an opportunity for constructive criticism  Our chapter president is always present for the meeting to set a positive tone with the committee for the upcoming year  Things to improve upon include:  More committee member attendance

Results  Articles were submitted timely  Repetition in articles was limited, if not eliminated  Committee members were aware of all deadlines and themes of the year  Positive feedback is received chapter-wide regarding newsletter content through our chapter satisfaction survey

Future  Our chapter newsletter planning committee continues to move forward  Attendance is generally low at this meeting  We hope to improve on this by getting more committee participation

Eric F. Walker, CPA Newsletter Chair New Hampshire – Vermont Chapter (603)

Monthly Newsbrief Amy A. Bilyea President Great Lakes Chapter

The “Why” of the Program  Previous Great Lakes chapter president Ron Rybar (1993) identified the need for continuity in leadership’s communication with the membership.  Monthly news brief keeps members  Updated on their peers  Abreast of any current events  Activity of chapter leadership  Maintain contact to remind members of the value of HFMA.

Goals and Objectives  Keep in touch with the membership  Improve membership satisfaction  Share member achievements  Announce education events  Showcase sponsorship

Implementation  Modeled the news brief after our statewide hospital organization brief  Currently done by administrative assistant with input from the chapter president and committee chairs  Delivered thru an blast (initially thru fax)  Response from committee chairs is typically timely but with issues  Ever changing contacts is challenging

Results  Current year member satisfaction rating is 63.3% vs. all chapters at 62.1%  Only 6.9% of members surveyed want to see improvement in chapter communication vs. 17.7% for all chapters

Future  Great Lakes Chapter has plans to improve its news brief by adding a new section for the LINK committee update  Constantly reformatting the news brief to change visual interest in the product

Amy Bilyea President Great Lakes Chapter (989)

Tarheel News & Tarheel Tidbits Cameron J. Thomason Newsletter Chair North Carolina Chapter

More, More, More Education Why? Publications Council Goals for 2011/2012 Publications Year… Something NEW & Timely New Info more timely Direct ed communications Central Source for Dates, Reminders, etc. More Education Goals & Objectives Continued High Member Survey Scores Cost Reduction

Goals & Objectives Meet DCMS Reporting Standards Include at least 1 Education article $$ No Additional Expense Timely and necessary A quick and meaningful read Completely “in-house” Include at least 4 metrics Challenging Only send when there is a need Want members to read Implementation

$$ No Additional Expense Implementation Microsoft Publisher

Implementation Meet DCMS Reporting Standards A Newsletter must contain at least 4 of the 15 items defined by National to qualify We include Editor’s Note President’s Message Education Calendar Educational Articles Event Promotions Member News Leadership News Sponsor List Meeting Coverage Meeting Updates Implementation

Include at least 1 Education article Implementation

Timely and necessary A quick and meaningful read Results

Great Job, again! I especially like the Financial Report. Great job on this. I think it will be a very good addition to Member Communications… Great Job I like what the Council is doing with this… This looks great and is an effective way to keep members informed… This is cool, great idea…. Like this very much, thanks and look forward to receiving these… We’ve published 3 Tidbits so far and plan to continue …

Cameron Thomason Newsletter Chair North Carolina Chapter (336)

Electronic Newsletters Christopher A. Snyder Vice President South Texas Chapter Anne Del Pizzo Webmaster Metro Philadelphia Chapter

Christopher A. Snyder Vice President South Texas Chapter (402) Anne Del Pizzo Webmaster Metro Philadelphia Chapter (856) x2121

Social Media Integration Christopher A. Snyder Vice President South Texas Chapter

Christopher A. Snyder Vice President South Texas Chapter (402)

LTC Session Evaluation