Safe Amplification Site Society
Policy Document #18: Communications Officer Procedure Manual
Adopted November 2, 2011
- Things to get from the previous Communications Officer:
- Access to the SASS Mailing List Google Document – the old Communications Officer has to give permission to edit the SASS Mailing List Google Document.
- Access to the SASS Database of Press Contacts Google Document – the old Communications Officer has to give permission to edit the Database of Press Contacts Google Document.
- Access to the SASS Database of All-Ages Venues Google Document – the old Communications Officer has to give permission to edit the Database of All-Ages Venues Google Document.
- Access to the SASS List of Vancouver Concert-Booking Contacts Google Document - the old Communications Officer has to give permission to edit the list of Vancouver Concert-Booking Contacts.
- Passwords for all Safe Amp internet sites including FTP, web hosting control panel, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Myspace, and Ping.
- Website – download the entire website and save it in a folder called ‘website.’
- An HTML editing computer program such as Dreamweaver.
- An FTP uploading computer program such as Fetch.
- Emailing: The Communications Officer is the official mouthpiece of our Society. When people send ‘general inquiries’ emails, they come to the Communications Officer. It’s important to reply to all emails promptly, professionally and with an @safeamp.org email address.
- If the email is relevant to another director, forward it to them to respond to.
- If the email isn’t exactly relevant to another director’s duties, the Communications Officer should reply as they see fit.
- Frequently asked questions: The Communications Officer may use a standard response for certain frequently asked questions. Many of these are on the FAQ page of our website.
- Touring bands wanting to play Safe Amp shows: The standard response for these emails is kept in the List of Vancouver Concert-Booking Contacts Google Document. When a band from another city asks Safe Amp for a show in Vancouver, open the Google Document and forward the band’s message (in a BCC) to all of the email addresses at the end of the Document. Then copy and paste the first page of the Google Document and send this as a reply to the band looking for a show. The Vancouver Concert-Booking Contacts Google Document should be updated by the Communications Officer as necessary.
- Website: The Communications Officer is responsible for updating our website.
- How to update the website: To edit a webpage, edit the file using an HTML editing program like Dreamweaver. When the editing is complete, upload the edited webpage using an FTP uploading program like Fetch.
- Web pages that need to be updated regularly:
- Upcoming and Past Events pages: When a new event is announced, add it to the Upcoming Events page using the same format as other events that have been posted in the past. Whenever an Event happens, remove it from the Upcoming Events page and add it to the Past Events page.
- Meetings page: Post information about all General Meetings here, using the same format that has been used in the past. Post the agendas and minutes for each meeting as well. The Secretary will send these things and any other relevant information about the General Meetings to the Communications Officer to post online.
- Pages that do not need to be updated:
- Financial Statement: This page is a feed from the Safe Amplification Site Society Money Google Document. It will automatically be updated whenever our Treasurer adds transactions to the Google Document.
- Web pages that are updated differently:
- Database of All-Ages Venues in Vancouver – This is a public Google Document that is linked to from the resources section of our website. It can be edited via Google Documents. Whatever changes made there will be visible from our website.
- Database of Press Contacts – This is a public Google Document that is linked to from the resources section of our website. It can be edited via Google Documents. Whatever changes made there will be visible from our website.
- News: Our News page is not actually a web page on our site; it’s a Tumblr page. It will be automatically be updated whenever something is posted on Tumblr or on all our social media pages using Ping.
- How to update the menus on the website: The menus on our website can be edited by editing the file safeamptemplate.dwt in the Templates folder on our website. In the file code, find where the other menu options are located and add new ones by copying the same code and format as existing options. When saving the file, Dreamweaver will ask if you wish to ‘Update all files based on this template.’ Click ‘Update’ and wait while all website files update; then re-upload the entire website. Finally, to edit the menu on our news/Tumblr page, log in to Tumblr and click ‘Customize.’ Next to ‘Custom Theme,’ click ‘Edit HTML.’ In the code that appears, find where the other menu options are located and add new ones by copying the same code and format as existing options. Click ‘Update Preview,’ then ‘Appearance,’ then ‘Save.’
- Email addresses – The Communications Officer is responsible for our @safeamp.org email addresses and they can update, change or delete them by logging into our web hosting control panel at www.safeamp.org/admin.
- Setting up incoming email addresses: Once logged in to the web hosting control panel, click ‘Aliases’ under the heading ‘Email’ on the left hand side of the screen. The words in the left hand column called ‘Alias’ are @safeamp.org email addresses and the email addresses in the second column called ‘User/Email Address’ show what email address each one forwards to. To delete an @safeamp.org email address, click the red X; to edit an @safeamp.org email address, click the pencil. To create a new @safeamp.org email address, click ‘Add An Alias’ above the left column. In the box next to ‘Alias,’ type the email address to be created (without the @safeamp.org), and in the box next to ‘Forward To,’ type or select the email address to forward it to.
- Setting up outgoing email addresses (in Gmail): If the Communications Officer uses Gmail for their email provider, they should follow these instructions to set up their email for outgoing mail from @safeamp.org addresses. If the Communications Officer uses a different email provider, they must find out how to set up outgoing email from @safeamp.org addresses. The Communications Officer should also be available to assist other directors with setting up their email to send outgoing mail from @safeamp.org addresses. In Gmail, go to ‘Account Settings,’ then ‘Gmail Settings,’ then ‘Accounts and Import.’ In the section ‘Send mail as,’ select ‘reply from the same address the message was sent to’ then click ‘Add another email address you own.’ A new window will open, and in that window, next to ‘Name,’ type the name that should appear for email sent from this @safeamp.org address, and next to ‘Email address’ type the @safeamp.org email address. Click ‘Next Step,’ select ‘Send through Gmail,’ then click ‘Next Step’ again. Click ‘Send Verification’ then go to your inbox in the other window. There should be an email from Gmail Team with a numerical Confirmation Code listed – if the email isn’t there, check your spam folder. Copy the Confirmation Code, paste it into the box in the other window, and click ‘Verify.’ To send email from an @safeamp.org address, compose the message in Gmail and select the address you wish to send it from from the drop-down menu next to ‘From’ in the compose mail screen.
- Social Media: The Communications Officer is responsible for communicating and promoting Safe Amp news, meetings, events and activities via social media.
- Ping: This is a website that automatically posts to different types of social media. The Safe Amp Ping page is set up for the six social media sites we currently participate in, so when the Communications Officer posts to Ping, they automatically post to these six sites:
- Twitter: Tweets are limited to 140 characters, and anything beyond that that is posted via Ping will be cut off after 140 characters. Tweets can also be made manually by logging in to Twitter.com.
- Myspace: Myspace ‘Stream Posts’ are limited to 140 characters, and anything beyond that that is posted via Ping will be cut off after 140 characters. Myspace posts can also be made manually by logging in to Myspace.com
- Facebook Profile: Safe Amp has a Facebook Profile that makes it look like a person. All its friends see its posts in their news feed. The Communications Officer can also log in to Facebook manually and post something only there if necessary.
- Facebook Page: Safe Amplification Site Society has a Page that people can ‘like.’ Anyone who ‘likes’ the Page will see its posts in their news feed and in their ‘updates’ section. The Communications Officer can also log in to the Facebook Page manually through the Safe Amp Facebook Profile that administrates it if they want to post something only there.
- Tumblr: Safe Amp’s Tumblr page is also our website’s news page so whenever something is posted there, it is going on the website. It is also visible in the dashboard of anyone who follows Safe Amp on Tumblr. The Communications Officer can also log in to Tumblr manually and post something only there if necessary.
- Flickr: If an update to social media is made using Ping, and it has an image attached, the image will go on Flickr. If there’s no image, Flickr will ignore the post. The Communications Officer can also log in to Flickr manually and post something only there if necessary.
- Facebook Group: In addition to the Page and Profile, Safe Amp also has a Facebook Group. Each of the directors are listed as admins of the Facebook Group. The Group is not part of our Ping page, as the Group cannot post things. Monitor the Group wall from time to time to keep track of discussions occurring there.
- When to use social media: Update our social media pages as often as possible. They should be used multiple times to promote upcoming Safe Amp Events and General Meetings as well as to share our news and pass on links to relevant news items. Be sure all content is appropriate and relevant to Safe Amp.
- Adding new social media sites: From time to time, the Communications Officer may decide to create new social media pages for Safe Amp. If more pages are added, be sure to add them to our Ping page so that they can easily be updated.
- Social media messages: There are notes on each of our social media pages asking people to email us rather than send messages via Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. But people often ignore them and send us messages via social media anyway. Check the mailboxes of each social media site from time to time in case there are any important messages there.
- Events: The Communications Officer is the first point of contact for a member wishing to hold a Safe Amp Event.
- What to do when someone asks to hold a Safe Amp event: See Policy Document 3 for our policy on Events and the Communications Officer’s role in deciding whether or not to approve event proposals.
- If the event is approved:
- Post it on our website: See 3.c.i. above.
- Post it on Facebook if the member hasn’t already done so. Log in to the Safe Amp Facebook Profile. Click on Groups and go to the Safe Amplification Site Society Group. Click on Create Group Event and follow the instructions to create the Event Page. When it is done, click the option to ‘invite members of the host group.’ Then manually invite all of Safe Amp’s other friends to the event. This should also be done for General Meetings; the Secretary will pass on any necessary information.
- Monitor the event page from time to time to check on the discussions taking place on the wall of the event page.
- Mailing List: The Communications Officer is the caretaker of our mailing list, though other directors may use it as well.
- Using the mailing list: To email our mailing list, open the SASS Mailing List Google Document, highlight all the email addresses under both sections, click copy, then paste the email addresses into the BCC field of an email.
- When to email the mailing list: The mailing list should be contacted once per month in the form of a monthly newsletter. The Communications Officer is responsible for writing and sending this newsletter. The mailing list may also be contacted at any other time as necessary. It can be used as a communication and promotional tool and should be used similarly to our social media sites.
- Adding people to the mailing list: If the Communications Officer receives an email with the subject ‘Mailing List,’ someone is wishing to be added to our mailing list as per the instructions on our website. Open the SASS Mailing List Google Document and add their email address to whichever section applies to them (depending on whether or not they are also a Member of the Society, which can be found out by accessing the Membership Roster Google Document).
- Removing people from the mailing list: If someone writes asking to be removed from our mailing list, access the SASS Mailing List Google Document and delete their email address.
- Flyers: The Communications Officer is responsible for Safe Amp flyers. If the flyer needs to be updated, access the old flyer found in the Communications Officer computer folder that was passed on from the old Communications Officer and edit as necessary. Be sure to replace the old version on our website and print out plenty of copies of the new flyer.
- Future Communications Officer Goals as of October, 2011:
- Press contacts database – We have a database of press contacts linked to from the resources section of our website, but the database needs to be cleaned up and finished in order to be more useable.
- Press releases – We would like to be sending press releases for all Safe Amp news and promotions; this should be the Communications Officer’s job.
- Event calendars – We would like all Safe Amp Events to be listed in local newspapers’ / websites’ event calendars. This would require putting together a list of contacts for the event calendars and then writing them in advance of every event.
- Improvements. Feel free to make improvements to the way the Communications Officer position works; it is constantly evolving to become easier and more efficient. Be sure to update this manual before handing the position off to someone new.
