Lögberg-Heimskringla - 16.03.2001, Blaðsíða 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 16 March 2001
MM Editorials
IENJOYED READING JOAN EYOLFSON
Cadham’s articles on club renewal.
This is undoubtedly a question of con-
cem in every club—how do we involve
and interest younger people, other peo-
ple? When I was President of Norðurljós,
the Edmonton Club, our programming
hadn’t changed much over the years, and,
with a few exceptions, most of the gather-
ings we had were social in nature. I
noticed that whenever we had a cultural
event—a movie or a reading, people came
that we never saw at other events. If dig-
nitaries visited from Iceland, another
group appeared that otherwise we never
saw. What kinds of programming might
bring these people out more often, I won-
dered. So, we held a brainstorming ses-
sion of club members both active and not
so active to try to determine if there were
activities we might add to our calendar of
events, or if our members had interests
that were not being met. There were lots
of interests—literary, historical,
genealogical, linguistic—that we didn’t
have specific programmes for. What could
we do to meet those needs?
In discussing this, there were two
impediments to expanding our ofifer-
ings. One was financial and the other
human. Our biggest asset were our
members and their willingness to pitch
in and work at all the myriad of big and
little jobs that had to be done all year
round. However, inevitably a small
group of people did the lion’s share of
work. They were unwilling to expand
programmes unless more people were
brought in to work. Understandable,
especially as over the years I saw
Letters to the Editor
burnout occur often.
There was always the issue of
money also. At the time we had very low
membership dues and most of our events
were break-even. We had an active sales
program, where we designed t-shirts,
cups, and other things which we sold at
every opportunity. But basically, we just
had enough money to cover our expens-
es, let alone bankroll any new efiforts. (I
understand that this situation has since
changed—hooray!)
In an atmosphere of not very much
money and overwork it’s hard to stop
and think about what we might be doing
rather than what we’re already doing.
The Vatnabyggð group was very fortu-
nate to have the services of a profes-
sional to help them think about change
and revitalization of their club. As one
of our readers recently pointed out, it’s
important to have a sense of where
you’re going and then stop to see
whether you’re actually going where
you want to go.
To Lillian Vilborg, Editor
Lögberg-Heimskringla
Greetings:
In the Feb. 16 issue, you reflected edi-
torially on the questions you felt L-H faces.
I see some parallels with L-H and another
magazine I serve in a volunteer capacity.
Years ago, Jack dragged me into
Canadian Power and Sail Squadron, a vol-
unteer organization devoted to promoting
and teaching safe boating. CPS is highly
respected by Coast Guard and other agen-
cies. However, some days the internal
workings reflect comic opera. When Jack
died I escaped.
A couple of years later, desperate to fill
the volunteer editorial position of the CPS
magazine, Port Hole, board members con-
tacted me. A couple of years later, they
were faced with replacing the Managing
Editor—which is how the magazine of a
staid and elegant national organization fell
into the hands of a pair of opinionated trib-
al throw-backs—one Viking berserker in
Foam Lake and one Ashanti warrior in
Toronto.
We didn’t immediately change the
magazine. We took time to figure out what
we wanted and how to get it. The sixteen-
page quarterly is written by volunteers. The
Viking does the text editing and the Ashanti
creates stunning layouts. We plan content
together. The result is so effective that the
CPS brass puts up with us. Some of them
even encourage us.
Some of our decisions might fit your
editorial musings:
• we were going to appeal to all CPS mem-
bers, from the dinosaurs to the newly-
joined. A member survey had shown
that most members were grandparents,
so, while we provide a Calling Kids
page, the material is age-neutral.
• we were going to cover the country, from
sea to sea to sea.
• we were going to provide history and tra-
dition, but in small and entirely fasci-
nating bits.
• our readers’ common link was boats.
However, we had to appeal to both
power and sail and to involved and
nonactive members.
• we agreed that there would be humour in
every issue.
• our only firm rule? Thou shalt not be bor-
ing.
By our second long walk during an
annual conference, we knew what we want-
ed. Perhaps only the combination of Viking
and Ashanti was going to find it, given that
we were workir.g with volunteers.
However:
• to interest a varied group of people, a
paper needs writers who cover a wide
range of topics and points of view, so
we went looking in bushes and under
boats and through my editorials for
writers.
• in order to produce useable copy, volun-
teer writers need encouragement,
teaching and editing. We set out firm
rules for length, told everyone we
would unquestionably edit copy, then
set out to charm, cajole and pamper our
best writers and photographers.
• we assign columns and themes. We
demand regular copy from the colum-
nists who can write humour. (No one
argues with a combination of Ashanti
and Viking.)
• to ensure that we cover the entire country,
we need writers from all parts of the
country. We’re close.
• to keep our volunteers, we try not to over-
work them. However, we unashamedly
push the good ones, regularly telling
them how wonderful they are.
• we insist that all articles are written with
information that appeals to all our
readers. We work loosely on the
Guideposts Magazine concept of “take
away”—what message of lasting use-
fulness can a reader take away from
this article.
• to keep young people interested, we use
articles by them about their successful
projects.
It’s working. Our writers are, for the
most part, sticking to our guidelines and we
seem to be doing less ruthless editing. Next
issue, we add boating poetry...
Port Hole is ad-free. The cost is
included in CPS membership so we have an
abundance of subscribers. However, I know
that L-H struggles to maintain a subscriber
base.
L-H is too expensive and much too
thin. The Foam Lake Review (paid staff,
remember) runs 20 to 28 pages a week for
$26.75 including taxes for out-of-area sub-
scriptions. L-H needs at least four more
pages. Until the subscriber base is
increased, most ads will be, in effect, dona-
tions. Increasing the subscriber base proba-
bly calls for more content. And then, you
just might have to offer up free copies as
bait. f
The Chapters are not going to provide
articles every week but, if every club were
encouraged to submit one piece every six
weeks, wouldn’t that guarantee a couple of
club-related articles every week? How
about theme columns? If nothing else, they
should spark enraged letters to the editor.
Lögberg-
Heimskringla
Published every Friday by:
Lögberg-Heimskringla Incorporated
Editorial and Corporate office:
#650-5 Donald, Winnipeg, MB
Poslal address:
PO Box 1859 Winnipeg, MB R3C 3R1
Ph: (204) 284-5686 Fax: (204) 284-3870
E-mail; logberg@mts.net
Administrative office:
105-94 1st Avenue, Gimli, MB. ROC 1B1
Ph: (204) 642-9133 Fax: (204) 642-9138
E-mail: logberg-gimli@mts.net
Hours: 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Mon.-Fri.
Website: www.logberg.com
ACTING EDITOR: Lillian Vilborg
ICELANDIC EDITOR: Gunnur Isfeld
LAYOUT: David Jón Fuller
COPY EDITING: David Jón Fuller
CORRESPONDENT—NEW YORK, NEW
ENGLAND: Thomas J. Martin
EDMONTON REGIONAL REPRESENTA-
TIVE: Waller Sopher
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: Rosa Johnston
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Jennifer Blahey
PRINTING: The Daily Graphic
Please direct all subscription enquiries to the
Administrative office in Gimli.
SUBSCRIPTION: 44 issues/year:
Canada: $35 Canadian
-Manitoba, add GST & PST: $39.90
-other provinces, add GST: $37.50
U.S.: $44 US or $66 CAD
lceland: $44 US or $66 CAD
-PAYABLE IN ADVANCE-
Must be remitted in Canadian or US Dollars.
All donations to
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ADVERTISING
For information on commercial ad space,
contact the Administrative office in Glmli.
SUBMISSIONS
L-H is always open to new writers. News,
fiction, poetry, photography, and humorous
articles are welcome. Send by mail, fax, or
e-mail to the Editorial office in Winnipeg.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: Julianna Bjomson
VICE-PRESIDENT: Grant Stefanson
SECRETARY: Melissa Kjartanson
TREASURER: Bill Perlmutter
BOARD MEMBERS: Elva Jónasson, Ernie
Stefanson, Evelyn Thorvaldson, Fred
Oleson, Krls Stefanson, Kristin Jóhanns-
dóttir, Marno Ólafson, Pat McKetcheon,
Shirley McCreedy; MEMBER-AT-LARGE:
Jon Sig Gudmundson, Kentucky
How about writers’ guidelines? How about
lists of potential topics? How about offer-
ing writing clinics at the annual confer-
ences?
Best regards,
Joan Eyolfson Cadham
Foam Lake, SK
Minnist
BETEL
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