For Your Approval

Call for submissions: Internal Publications that Matter!

Internal publication editors live in an isolated world where they rarely get to see the work of their peers in other organizations.

Lately I've been getting emails from editors asking me to comment on their publications. I love to see other communicators' work, and I'm honored that they care what I think. So I thought, hey, why not turn it into a new feature for my blog?

I'm calling it Internal Publications that Matter. The idea is to give you an opportunity to get some feedback from me, showcase your publication to other communicators, and get comments from them, too. It's a chance for this little online community to share some best practices, and it gives me great blog fodder.

How it's going to work

The ground rules are simple: send me an issue of your internal publication as a .pdf file (try to keep the file size relatively small - I don't care if the photos are a little grainy).

In the covering note, tell me the basic info about your publication (who puts it together, how often it comes out, what's the circulation, who reads it) and answer these two questions:

• Why is it an internal publication that matters? and
• What kind of advice/feedback are you looking for from me and FYA readers?

I'll provide a link to the file in a blog post in which I'll give you some feedback and invite comments from readers.

This blog isn't moderated, and I want engaging comments. But I'll delete posts that I think are purposefully insulting or just plain mean. On the other hand, don't submit your publication if you can't take some ribbing along with the praise and constructive criticism.

And, finally, don't forget: this is the Internet. When you send me a file, I'm assuming you have authority or permission from your organization to share it, and that you recognize that, if and when I post it, it instantly becomes a public document whose contents are your responsibility, not mine or anyone else's.

So, if you edit an internal publication that matters, send me a copy, please!

A cautionary message from Roger D'Aprix

In today's ragan.com Daily Headlines, reporter David Murray brings us a condensed version of a speech by internal communication god Roger D'Aprix, an old dog who's wary of the new tricks of social media. It's a thoughtful look at the pros and cons of this industry-sweeping trend, and well worth a read.