Challenges in creating a useful newsletter center on two parts of the editing process. First, there is the challenge of getting enough useful material to create a newsletter. After enough material has been gathered, the problem becomes one of dissemination.

Getting enough material together to create a useful newsletter is often a problem faced by the volunteer staff of TESOL affiliates. Without a staff of paid writers, editors have to rely on members to provide content for the newsletter or find content from other sources. In the past, we have talked about having a newsletter exchange that would serve as a source of material that we could all draw upon. It would mean adopting a standard (Creative Commons Attribution might work well) for the distribution of material. We would also need to have a means whereby we could store and disseminate materials in an organized fashion.

After the editors gather content for the newsletter, dissemination becomes the second challenge. At MDTESOL, we hire a professional to take articles, pictures, and announcements and turn them into a newsletter, while other affiliates use their own skills to create a newsletter. The form that a newsletter takes varies as well. An electronic newsletter can be posted on the affiliate’s website or sent via email to the members. A simple paper newsletter can be reproduced in house and mailed out, while a more complex newsletter may need to be sent to a publisher who then prints and mails the newsletter for a fee.

The choices that an affiliate makes to provide the membership with timely and useful information will vary according to the needs and resources of the affiliate. There does not seem to be one universal solution to the challenge. It is a hopeful sign that we are meeting at TESOL International conventions to exchange information and build bridges. This exchange can only bolster the resources available to each editorial team as it creates the best newsletter possible.