Hello and hope all of you are enjoying a summer of good boating. Personally so far, I’ve enjoyed a summer of boat work but that’s not all bad either. I’ve got three bits of news this month so here we go.
First, I’m happy to announce the first of our educational webinars is scheduled for mid-July on the topic of what it takes to start your own blog so you can highlight your work and potentially get more freelance assignments. Past president, Kim Kavin, has volunteered and created content for a presentation entitled “How to start a blog for about $10” in which she discussed all the steps to getting started online from acquiring a URL to managing your Google Analytics.
We’re now evaluating vendors to get this content posted with Kim doing the presentation on a specific date and potentially even have it posted for future reference on bwi.org. We’ll be sending out an email reminder to give you all the details as we get closer. More webinars are planned for October and December.
The next idea is to present tips on promoting yourself and your new site using social media tools. If you have suggestion on future topics or would like to volunteer your services in creating one, please contact me or any board member.
Next, we are considering offering BWI logo’d apparel for sale to our members. The first question is whether or not that this is something that would be of interest to you, and the second is what kind of merchandise would you like to see? This idea comes from board member Alan Jones who has pointed out that many of us are freelancing these days and approaching a potential interviewee wearing BWI gear might help establish credibility for those who are not tied to an existing magazine.
Logistics and pricing would need to be worked out but the idea is to offer shirts and hats to start. We’d love to hear your feedback before setting about creating this kind of program so please contact me or Alan Jones at boatscribe@comcast.net.
BWI’s Grand Prize Writing Award (presented in Ft. Lauderdale in October) is in process. Judges from Northwestern’s Medill journalism school will be reading this summer and making their selection. Director Lisa Knapp advises that she has found funding for the cash-side of the award. Good luck to everyone in this phase of the Contest.
Finally, have you had a chance to check out the new www.bwi.org? As I described in our last newsletter, the soft launch of our new Web site was last month so please take a look and if you have comments or questions, contact me or Greg Proteau at info@bwi.org.