Category: Publicity Posts

Making it Work

How providential that I recently received this email from Larry Bailey, Master of Ocean View Grange:

FYI – The dictionaries for the Ocean View Grange “WORDS FOR THIRDS” project have been ordered. There are two third-grade classes to whom we will distribute the books. The students have always seemed excited and grateful for getting the dictionaries. I was very surprised to see that response when we first gave out the dictionaries given that we live in an electronics and internet-based world.

Larry’s email was sent to members—I was copied. Communication creates involvement and allows people to feel engaged even if they are not directly participating. As another example, we recently completed Valley Grange’s “Dictionary Day” Words for Thirds Program. One of those days received front-page coverage in a weekly newspaper. As a direct result, a woman located some distance away sought out and called our secretary, explaining how much a dictionary meant to her as a child. She also mailed a $100 donation to us to support the program. She wanted to be part of what we were doing.

Words for Thirds is a program with a huge potential impact, particularly when we think about the communication aspect. What child doesn’t enjoy a gift? One reason I strongly urge an in-school presentation is that we are delivering more than dictionaries. We are delivering interest and care for our kids. Our organization and its members care about our third graders and their learning opportunities. I love telling the story of a high school student who saw and recognized me. She approached me to share that. I admitted she had an advantage because I did not recognize her. She explained, “I just want you to know that I still have the dictionary you and the Grange gave me when I was in third grade.”

Gifts are a form of communication. The impacts of the gift and the things we do (and don’t do) are yet another form of communication. It’s trite but true that sometimes what we do shouts so loud people can’t hear what we say. One of the things to love about Words for Thirds is it shouts and does a lot of good things loudly!

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► FACT: We currently have sixteen Granges here in Maine participating in or interested in Words for Thirds!

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Accomplishments

Phew! There could be lots to talk about! We’ve experienced what might be considered a “perfect storm” from a communications standpoint. The aftermath of the State Session always generates a lot of changes and updates, plus this year’s Deputy School resulted in some great resources! There are really too many to list here, but you can explore the Program Books and Information Page and see Master Sherry’s “Presidential Perspective” for a list of some of the available materials.

The online officer directory is updated, and the Granges directory is close to current. (Some additional changes may come when the new Roster is released.)

I hope to release the Words for Thirds Resource Pages soon! Ironically, this year, Valley Grange has had a smashing success media-wise with a feature front page above-the-fold article in our local newspaper and onsite television coverage by WABI-TV 5. This coverage has also generated several new subscribers to our TelaGranger Newsletter. I have maintained for a long time that fundraising is much easier when we are relevant and demonstrating our value to our communities. While publicizing fundraising events is important, it’s important to remember that fundraising events are not community service.

A few years ago, it was fashionable to offer career advice such as, “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” I was also tempted to reply, “Not necessarily.” But there is value and truth in passion. In community terms, passionately serving and supporting our communities will open pocketbooks—but that passion and service must be seen!

When the front-page article appeared, a woman from several hundred miles away called our Valley Grange Secretary and related how important a dictionary was to her growing up. She ended her story by asking how to send a donation to support Valley Grange’s efforts to provide kids with a dictionary.

While watching Alyssa Thurlow interview two third graders who had just received their dictionaries, a member of the school administration team whispered to me that he was one of our first “customers” when we started distributing dictionaries over twenty years ago. I think that’s called “making an impact.”

My goals with the coming soon resource pages include encouraging more Granges in Maine to consider starting a Words for Thirds Program. But perhaps more importantly, I hope to provide ideas and tools that will give your program the maximum impact and put your Grange in people’s minds and hearts.

I first learned this poem many years ago.

The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
The homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles
To tell you what she's done.
And so we scorn the codfish,
While the humble hen we prize,
Which only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise.

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► FACT: The most frequently visited page in the last twelve months was the Directory of Granges. People are looking for Granges!

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A Mishmash of Reminders

As we begin a new Grange Year, it seems fitting that we revisit a few critical points regarding posting news and events.

We respect copyrights! We can only post or include information that has not been copyrighted by someone else. Listing the copyright owner is not sufficient. Written permission of the owner is required. As a writer, I can make this complicated because it’s a potentially complicated topic. It may suffice to say that where the website and Bulletin are concerned, we will maintain a conservative policy. Violations can get expensive! This applies to articles, photos, and artwork. For example, if the local newspaper writes an article about your Grange, we cannot simply repost it on the website. We can, however, report it and post a link to it. The rule of thumb we apply is “When in doubt, don’t.”

Photographs have implications as well. A general rule of thumb is that the photographer may use a photo taken at a public event, but this, too, can get complicated when we try to define a “public event.” (I’ve had some interesting discussions with folks “in the know” who suggest that a Grange meeting might not be considered a public event.) As many know, I am particularly obsessive on this point when it comes to minors. The Communications Department will not accept photos of children (under 18 years of age) without written permission of a parent or guardian. Again, this can get complicated. There is some additional information in the MSG Communications Handbook.

For example, quite a few years ago, a mom submitted a photo of her daughter accepting an award, asking if we would publish it, and we did, identifying the child. Shortly after that, I received an email from the estranged child’s father, objecting to the photograph primarily because the Mom had used her maiden name as the child’s last name, which was incorrect. I resolved the issue by removing the post because I gently refused to get dragged into the argument.

Much of this can be avoided with common sense and common courtesy, but that’s not always enough. Thanks to my work in schools, I have an appreciation for the fact that common sense may not be sufficient. I occasionally hear, “Oh, they’re Grangers, so it’s okay.” Grangers deserve the same treatment we give non-Grangers!

With all this said, it is certainly not my intention to discourage the submission of news, events, etc. Quite the contrary! Approximately 400 people visit the website every week. Those visitors to our site most often use “resources pages”—the program books and information page is consistently near the top of the pages visited. But directories are used, and the Grange Events Page is popular. These pages are very dependent on Granges submitting the information. We can’t post what we don’t know! Remember, we offer statewide publicity at no cost to you! It’s extremely easy to share event posts on social media from the site. It doesn’t work the other way around! Tell us what you’re doing and keep information about your Grange current and accurate!

By the way, we increasingly depend on “AI” (artificial intelligence) for proofreading and editing, but it is far from perfect! One thing it doesn’t handle well is the word “Grange.” As a reminder, the word should always be capitalized! Note, too, that many visitors to our site are not Grangers, so we want to beware of using Grange speak—terms that non-members might not recognize. I remember a Dictionary Day with third-graders. I accidentally mentioned Grange deputies, and the hands went up with questions. “Do they carry a gun? What does their badge look like?” It did capture their interest, but I don’t think I’ll make that mistake again. Try to explain what a Grange Deputy is to a nine-year-old.

You know, that’s not bad advice. More than half (54%) of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level, according to a piece published in 2022 by APM Research Lab. Keep it simple, and make sure it’s complete. Some years ago, I was accosted by someone who insisted, “Everyone knows where the Grange Hall is…” I’m reasonably sure she wasn’t right, but I replied, “Well, it still doesn’t hurt to remind them!”

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► FACT: The most frequently visited page in the last twelve months was the Directory of Granges. People are looking for Granges!

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Annual Report, 2023-24

Oops! It seems a bit ironic that I accidentally sent last month’s column about communication instead of thus month’s!

The Communications and Website Annual Report is posted on the site. For this month’s column, it seems appropriate to include a  few important excerpts from it. I certainly encourage you to read the full report and welcome your comments and questions!

There have been 17,985 site views from September 1, 2023, through August 31, 2024—an average of nearly 1,500 monthly. However, these visits do not include subscribers receiving the posts without visiting the site. While this represents a significant decrease from the previous year, the number of actual visitors hasn’t changed much. One could rightly conclude that a similar number of visitors are viewing fewer pages and posts.

Considering the decline in Granges and Grange membership, the site is doing well. Some of that success can be attributed to the site design and content. The site is resource-rich and appeals to both members and non-members. The top pages visited are the information pages, such as the directory of Granges, program books and information, etc. This year, the Grange Event Calendar received the third most visits.

During this past year, I have continued to add resource documents and tools to our collection of communication resources available on the site. There is value in our website.

Several significant accomplishments this year include:

• Added additional resources for Grangers, including timely posts that seem to be of interest to them on a variety of subjects.
• Completed interviews with media representatives and researchers. One example is a favorable feature article in the Bangor Daily News and Piscataquis Observer.
• Completed another significant purge of the website’s oldest posts and images.  This makes the site much more manageable and saves server space and remains an ongoing focus.
• Continued to work with an editorial calendar to ensure regular, consistent posting. This includes Grange Heirlooms and Why I Love the Grange.
• Continued to make “under the hood” improvements to the site.
• Continued posting of “special events” being sponsored or hosted by Granges. These events have also been added to the MSG Calendar Page.
• Continued to facilitate an email service that allows information to be sent directly to officers, directors, and deputies on short notice.

Looking ahead to 2024-2025, some objectives include:

• Continue researching options for a site subscription. The current process is time-consuming, and more automation is needed.
• Continuing to keep communication positive, helpful, and engaging.
• Investigate the feasibility of sponsoring at least one virtual roundtable discussion. Due to time limitations, this was not achieved last year. I am upgrading my computer system and hope this becomes more feasible soon.
• Continue to research further connections between the MSG website and social media.
• Continue searching for resources, including additional guest columnists and regular topical information that can be reposted with attribution.

I believe the primary role of any state position or function is to support Subordinate and Pomona Granges and their members. But communication is not a “one-person job.” Individuals, Community/Subordinate, and Pomona Granges can best support our communications efforts by providing positive news and information.

I will continue encouraging open communication throughout our Order and with the public. We must generate interest and excitement among our communities, prospective members, and ourselves.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you and your Grange.

Thank you for your continued confidence and support.

► FACT: The events page on the website continues to be one of the most frequently visited pages on the site! Are you submitting your programs and events?

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Are We Driving or Communicating?

So, at least in theory, I recently learned how to work with an oxen team. I’d been saying that I was going to learn to drive oxen. Among my many discoveries was that working with oxen is more about communicating with them than driving them.

I heard one of my instructors say more than once. “You’re confusing them. They don’t know what you want them to do!” Staying focused on communicating was a bigger challenge than it might seem. And at times, it was funny. Mostly though, it was frustrating!

In brief, trained oxen receive information from the teamster in three ways. The first is (or at least should be) spatial—the body position of the teamster. Second is the “goad” or stick and where and how they are touched. The third is verbal. There is some indication that they hear vowels best. So “whoooooa” works better than “whoa.” The best example of confusing them was when I’d say, “Whoa!” but keep walking. (In my mind, it made sense because I wanted to get in front of them. In their bovine minds, I was sending mixed signals.)

Instructor Rob is a school teacher. We had lots of fun making comparisons. I finally reminded myself of the comment, “What you’re doing shouts louder than what you’re saying.” You don’t have to work with kids for long before you realize “Do as I say and not as I do” doesn’t work well.

While a 2,000+ pound ox doesn’t engage in what we call “higher levels of reasoning,” the basics are the same. That said, two of the teams I worked with were extremely well-trained. One team of Devons would stand and let me walk some distance away. I could then raise my goad and call, “Right here, boys,” and they would walk to me and stop with their heads on either side.

We students had to learn a bit about herd instinct and survival from predators. Rob occasionally reminded us that building trust with the beasts was important. “You may have to convince them you’re not trying to kill them.”

Here’s an interesting comparison. My Ram pickup truck weighs about the same as a large pair of oxen. During Road Trip 2024, I drove that truck over 3,600 miles, mostly by pushing pedals, turning the wheel, and flipping switches. (I’m purposely omitting occasional arguments with the voice feature of the GPS.) The truck doesn’t have a mind of its own or any instincts. It just does what you tell it to do.

Oxen require a bit more understanding and communication than my truck or your car. You can’t just drive them. One of the things I found challenging is the amount of attention required with oxen, particularly when pulling something. There is no cruise control!

Of course, all analogies break down if you press them, but in addition to the joy of working with these large animals, it was great to be reminded of some of the basic truths about effective communication. I’m still processing, but a few important lessons can be learned.

Don’t send mixed messages! If you say “whoa,” stop moving. If you invite someone to attend your Grange, make sure your invitation is positive and complete.

Use multiple communication strategies! Oxen expect to be told and shown by position and the goad. With humans, say it, write it, demonstrate it. If you invite someone to attend your Grange, offer to give them a ride. Send an email or postcard reminder.

Speak the language of the listener! With oxen, “Come here!” is not the same as “Right here!” If you invite someone to attend your Grange, be aware of using “Grange Speak.” “We’ll open in full form” is not the same as “We start at…” Remember, nuances are important. Are you inviting your friend to a meeting or a program?

Use the listener’s name freely! To make a team of oxen turn sharp left one to slow down and perhaps to stop completely—it’s like driving a bulldozer. You’ll need to tell one ox, “Haw!” and the other, “Whoa!” (The goad and your body position are important. Use multiple communication strategies!) “Walter, I’d like you to come to our Grange…” sounds different than “I’d like you to come to our Grange. Actually, it is different!

I’m trying to resist the temptation to suggest that we invite people to join the herd. I may not be able to resist the temptation to make a comparison to being yoked into a team.

► FACT: The events page on the website continues to be one of the most frequently visited pages on the site! Are you submitting your programs and events?

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