Newsletter Guidelines

Some Background

Our quarterly newsletter, along with our web sites and Facebook presence, is a critical tool in our efforts to keep our members informed, and its quality reflects on our association. If you're a contributor (or want to be) you can help out by following the guidelines below.

Guidelines for Articles

  • Please submit your efforts in an editable format. Here's a list of acceptable formats in order of usability:
    1. Body of an email (yes, just write your article directly into your email!)
    2. Plain text
    3. HTML
    4. MS Word or Open Office
    Do not submit a PDF. Read about the problems with PDFs. Preceding link will open in an External page
  • Keep text and photos separate. If you are submitting photos and text, please don’t put them all in the same document. Imbedded photos are difficult to separate from the parent document.
  • Try to keep your submissions in the 300-600 word range as much as possible.
  • Make sure that each photo is accompanied by a meaningful caption. Photos without captions and attribution may not be used.
  • Indicate in your text where you wish the photo inserted.
  • Evaluate your article with a critical eye. Is the subject matter of wide interest? Are abbreviations explained? Is there enough background so that an uninitiated reader can understand the content?
  • Please pay attention to spelling, punctuation, and formatting. While no one expects perfection, keep in mind that each mistake has to be corrected by someone else at some point in the editing process. Having someone read your article for clarity and logic is also a good idea. You should use a tool such as Grammarly which will do much to catch the typos and context errors. It's free.
  • No double spaces separating sentences, please.
  • Note that the approved descriptive text for 'C' Force is as shown here (single quotes around the 'C').
  • A "Headshot" and short bio of the author of the article will add interest, so feel free to include them, with the author's permission of course.
  • Our digital edition is not constrained by length as is the paper version which is limited to a finite number of pages, so try and write your submissions with the critical information early in the content. In that way its length can be edited if needed.

Guidelines for Photos

  • Submit separately from the parent document (see above)
  • Send high-resolution photos - the editor will edit the size for the target medium. Ensure that your email programme does not compress the photos you are submitting.
  • In the email body include a caption for each photo. When multiple photos are attached, make reference to the specific photo file name if there is a possibility of confusion. Captions should include:
    • Event/place description, for instance: "VJ Day Ceremony Toronto ON".
    • Description of the photo. Where the focus is on people, include names, appointments, and relationship to a 'C' Force member if applicable.
    • Particulars of the photographer, and, state that appropriate permission to use the photo has been obtained.
  • Examine the photos that you are considering with a critical eye - photos that add little or nothing to the subject, photos with no focal point, ones that are washed out or out of focus should not be submitted and will not be published.

Deadlines

These are hard and fast dates and are posted on our Events Calendar. They are the first day in March, June, September and December. Please ensure submissions are in by those dates. If a submission is ready ahead of time, feel free to submit it right away, to ease the editor's workload. If an event is happening just after the deadline, it may be possible to include it in the online edition. Contact the editor for assistance.

Standard Articles

(This is an initial effort, and will be expanded in future.) It assumes that the membership will approve the BOD recommendation that elections will only be held every two years as part of the AGM.

In each edition:

  • HKVCA President's Message
  • In Remembrance
  • From the Editor
  • Region Reports

Spring Edition (March):

  • For election year: Publish BOD nominee list and Election instructions.
  • Publish draft AGM minutes from previous year and year-end financial statement.
  • Inform members of the Annual General Meeting as per our By-Laws.
  • For convention year: ongoing publicity for the upcoming convention.

Summer Edition (June):

  • For election year (no convention): Announce election results.
  • Publicity for the upcoming convention every two years.

Autumn Edition (September)

  • For convention year: The list of the upcoming BOD members which were ratified by members at the Annual Meeting.
  • For AGM scheduled as part of convention: Publicizing the Annual General Meeting draft minutes.

Winter Edition (December)

  • Call for nominations for the BOD and providing instructions and deadlines (upcoming election year)
  • Reminder to submit dues, and instructions. Include membership form (PDF) or link
  • List of membership reps and their postal addresses so that those who will wish to mail in membership dues for the coming year may do so. For the online version a link to the appropriate page will be provided.

Longer-Term Goals

We have to continue to migrate from paper to digital format. The time, effort, and cost that is required to produce and mail a paper version of the newsletter is certainly not in line with the era in which we live. There are some older members of the association who prefer a paper version, and we must keep their needs in mind, but the reality is that the majority of people do not need, or want, a paper version. Currently, mailing costs per individual per year eat up almost all the yearly dues paid.

Comments and Suggestions

As Red Green used to say "We're all in this together", so please forward comments and suggestions by selecting the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page.

Last updated in December 2023.