Difference between revisions of "Communications Vision"

Revision as of 14:53, 28 November 2015

The Communications Department of The Augustan Society, Inc., is charged with the production of print publications, online publications, reprints, back issues, websites, social media, and email services.

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee is lead by a chairman who is styled Editor-in-Chief. This Committee is responsible for all activities of the Communications Department, unless the Board or Editor-in-Chief has created another Committee and charged them with responsibility.

Members are appointed by the Editor-in-Chief and serve at his pleasure, but it is expected that the editors assigned to the various publications will comprise the bulk of the membership.

Augustæum

Augustæum is the members newsletter. By definition, it carries news items from staff, committees, Study Groups, Sub-Groups, and individual members. It is restricted to items that are either not scholarly, or are not of enduring value (which should be sent to The Augustan Omnibus instead). It is intended to be published more frequently than the Omnibus, but may be mailed with it.

While most member news is welcomed, notices that mention Orders of Chivalry, etc., that are not presently recognized by the Society will not be published.

Presently, the frequency is bi-monthly, and the size is four or six pages, as material submitted demands. Longer issues are possible. It is often accompanied by fliers, notices, and other publications, such as Rosarum or the Book Sale Flier.

Regular features presently include:

• Announcements of new members, elections, appointments, honors, arms registrations, recognitions, and condolences;
• News of conventions, meetings, publications, fundraisers, and other programs;
• Help Wanted — an item advertising one particular post, not to be repeated for the following year plus one issue;
• Lists of donors to various campaigns, members of Sub-Groups, or senior members;
• "Library Top Ten", a list of ten items from the Library catalog that one member feels are of interest (when one is submitted); and
• If four pages are not filled, an Editorial or Cartoon.

Proposal: The Society should work toward publishing the members newsletter on a monthly schedule, presuming sufficient funding and material enough for four pages are available.

Proposal: The Society should conduct a survey to test the level of interest in publishing the members newsletter electronically, and a decision made about the value of devoting the time needed to reformat (versus publishing as a PDF file).

Consuls have been authorized by a previous administration to conduct such an email survey, and may do so at their discretion unless authorization is withdrawn.

The "Library Top Ten" is intermittent for lack of submissions, as HQ staff felt it unworthy of their limited time. This could become an assignment for the Library staff (once they and the HQ staff aren't identical).

The Augustan Omnibus

The Augustan Omnibus is the present title of the Society's scholarly journal. As such, contents are restricted to items of enduring value that have appropriate citations in standard format, and to reviews of relevant books, websites, and software. Occasional exceptions are permitted, and recent ones have been memorial tributes to passed members, essays on philosophy, and topical fiction. Also included are occasional official statements from the President, Editor-in-Chief, or Editor, and letters to the editor, which should pertain to the journal and items published therein. Ephemeral items or those not scholarly in nature should be referred to Augustæum.

Proposal: The Society should continue to publish The Augustan Omnibus at not less than 36 pages/issue, and to increase the frequency to as often as quarterly as submissions and staff may support.

To aid in fundraising, advertising is accepted. Historically, these have primarily been support ads from members, but there is also a history of commercial advertising of relevant products and services.

Proposal: The Society should create the office of Advertising Manager under the Fundraising Committee to promote and process both support ads and commercial advertising, the latter perhaps including fly sheets.

The Augustan Society Roll of Arms

The Society's program of Arms Registration is of limited value if those registrations are not made public in some way. The Online Armorial is one tool for this, but it is not the only one. It is also suitable to use published rolls as a general fundraiser, as has been done in the past.

Proposal: The Society should publish additional volumes of the Augustan Society Roll of Arms as registrations permit.

Proposal: The Society should reprint the first three volumes of the Augustan Society Roll of Arms in color.

Proposal: The Society should publish special rolls for Sub-Groups of the Society, such as the Noble Company of the Rose, as those Sub-Groups request.

The Augustan Society Website

Proposal: The Society should monitor and update the Main Website on an ongoing basis to ensure that it remains complete and correct.

The Augustan Store Website

Proposal: The Society should monitor and update the Online Store website on an ongoing basis to ensure that the offerings are complete and correct; that they have full contents data; that the genealogical titles have surname lists; and that pricing reflects current costs.

The Forum; an Online Forum

Proposal: The Society should establish an online forum in some suitable venue, possibly the Main Website, wherein public conversations about the Society and Augustan topics are encouraged, as soon as a moderator and suitable rules may be established.

The Augustan Society Library Catalog

This website is discussed under the category of Library Vision.

Back Issue Sales

Proposal: The Society should convert all former publications to electronic form; first as PDF files, then as text files with improved illustrations where possible.

Proposal: The Society should create independent issues of back issues published as part of the Augustan Society Ominbus so that they may be sold separately.

Reprint Sales

Proposal: The Society should continue to offer Reprints, creating and expanding reprints on a topical basis. Single-article reprints should be phased out as stock is exhausted.

Augustan Books

A Continuation of Paget's Ancestry of the Prince of Wales

This monumental effort has been published in 24 parts in various publications of both the Augustan Society and the Octavian Society. It will take a substantial effort to scan, OCR, reformat and publish, and may run to perhaps 800 pages (more if the author continues to submit material).

Vigil: A Knight's Training Program

This would be based on the Van Dusen program of the previous century, after a substantial edit. It would be best if the Rose Training Officer were on the editorial group, or better, headed it.

Descents from Antiquity Resource Kit

The original set of charts is now obsolete, all potential lines having been disproven. A new set of charts (and accompanying sources) is to be prepared and published.

Guide to Orders of Chivalry

This valuable guide has been withdrawn due to the data within having become obsolete over time. It should be a straightforward matter to edit, and if each Order were to get a separate page or pages, keeping it up to date in future should be easy.

Proposal: The Society should publish the Guide to Orders of Chivalry and see that it is updated as necessary.

Royalty of China by Joseph Uphoff

Under deveolpment.

Royalty of India by Joseph Uphoff

Under development.

The Little Manual of Heraldry

This work is poorly organized, eccentric in coverage, and printed in black & white. It deserves a thorough revision and color artwork. The existence of a large backlog of the third edition should not discourage this effort.

The Augustan Society Email System

Proposal: The Society should obtain an email server that is tailored to the unique needs of the Society. This may be a commercial product, or a custom application running on a Society server.

The email server should support the current email addressing scheme, perform spam filtering, and encourage the creation of groups (such as Directors or members of various Study Groups).

If possible, it should also permit Headquarters to receive most mail in a common inbox accessible by all HQ staff who could either deal with each, or transfer it to another staffer more suited to respond. It must also allow for the storage of emails sent and received in a structured manner so that any staff member could research conversation threads without regard to who participated in them.

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