Communications Committee Meeting

April 24, 2012
Jones Residence, 5830 Falmouth Court

In attendance; Jon Ankrom, Jody Croley Jones, Pam Colwell, Lois Yokam, Greg Bonk, Kathy McClintock

Jon welcomed everyone and suggested that we discuss the three current forms of communication in Riverlea (our website, newsletter and kiosks), what is working, what is not and suggestions for improvement.

  • Website
    Jody shared a little history about the website which started years ago as more of a friendly neighborhood site. Since then, because we are a government organization it has become a more necessary tool for sharing required, important information.

    Greatest Issues – The neighborhood has a large group of residents who do not use any electronic forms of communication and many just forget to visit the site.

    Suggestions:

    • Always reference the website in any and all written notices. Make more prominent on the newsletter.
    • Shorten articles in the newsletter and direct the reader to the website for more information.
    • Make the website more fun and family friendly including pictures from neighborhood events. This could lead to some legal issues and will require release forms to allow photos be uploaded. Possibly pursue a facebook page run by a resident that is not involved with the council to highlight the fun, social, family friendly side of Riverlea.

    Jody also suggested the need for a special use form so that designated council members would be able to update the website particularly for emergency situations. Finally, the privacy policy needs to be updated on the site.

  • Newsletter: Greatest Issues – Cost and out dated

    Suggestions:

    • Allowing residents to opt out of receiving the newsletter. This was done once before and did not have a good response (only 3). It is suggested that we need to run it as a campaign letting people know via the newsletter, website and word of mouth reminding them that every little bit helps to cut costs.
    • Consider finding a sponsor or running ads to help/cover cost. This would require a change in the advertising rules found on the bottom of each newsletter. Jon will bring this up during the next council meeting.
    • Instead of mailing the newsletter which costs a little over $100 a month, we look into paying a neighborhood teen to deliver for a smaller fee. The concerns of not being able to put them in the mailboxes and potentially not making it to the residents, outweighs the savings.
    • Look into updating the graphics and adding a kids’ corner. Do we have anyone in the neighborhood with graphic design capabilities that could help with this? Lois will do as much she can but is limited with her computer.
  • Kiosks
    Greatest Issues – In need of repair or replacement. Too small, the info within needs to be really small and is hard for the residents to read, this may cause them to no longer view the kiosks.

    Suggestions:

    • Repair or replace as needed. There is concern that this is cost prohibited at this time.
    • Put signs in yards announcing important info (meetings, etc.). To do this, ordinances relating to signs in yards will need to be revisited. Jon will address this at the next council meeting.
    • Let neighborhood kids decorate the outside of the kiosks to help promote new events.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.
Next meeting Tuesday, May 29, 7:00 pm at Jones residence.

PREPARED BY:

CHAIRPERSON: