November 2007

 

Dear Congregation Beth El:

 

This is the first in what will be a series of columns in which I hope to inform you of some of the “behind the scenes” happenings at Beth El, and to try to clarify the role of my staff (defined as Rachel Nissenblatt, Denise Seccurra, Dorothy Fields and Gregg Williams) and how we interact with the lay leadership, committee chairpeople and the congregation at large.

 

Today I’d like to focus on Communication.  In the future I will cover such topics as programming, volunteers, building/house, I could go on and on.  If there is a specific topic you would like to know about, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will try to make it one of my priorities.

 

As everyone is aware, the methods and timing of communication has drastically changed over the last 10-20 years.  When I started my career, telephone, mail, fax, telex and overnight delivery were the norm.  Today we live in a world of text and instant messaging, cell phones and emails. 

 

Personal Communication

In a busy synagogue office, where one must answer to over 600 “bosses”, it is sometimes difficult to function at the hyperspeed that is expected by today’s society.  My request is that you give us an opportunity to respond accurately and appropriately, but understand that it may not be immediate.  We must frequently do research, make phone calls and chase people down before we can provide an answer.  In addition, it is sometimes difficult to follow through on a task when there are so many people knocking at our door and demanding our full and complete attention.  We hope that you will understand that we always try to respond to everyone in a timely manner.

 

Event Publicity and Synagogue Wide Communication

At the current time we have a myriad of ways in which to let people know about what is happening at Beth El:

BETH EL BULLETIN  This publication is carefully collaborated and published on a monthly basis.  A dedicated team, consisting of Deborah Kolin, Karen Schwamm, Mike Imber, Erika (the graphic designer), all of the various contributors, rotating proofreaders, myself, Dorothy and Denise all work together to ensure that the information published is accurate, timely and as complete as possible.  The deadline for submitting information to bulletin@congbethel.org is the 10^th of each month, with the goal of the arrival in your mailboxes by the 1^st of the following month.

MONTHLY MAILINGS Mail for the various event flyers and all forms are sent out on the 10^th of each month.  We therefore request that all information is submitted to office@congbethel.org by the 1^st of the month prior to the mailing date.  Please note that while we proof read each flyer that is submitted, there may be times where something is mailed that is not 100% correct.

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS The weekly announcements are available in print format at the synagogue each Shabbat and are emailed to our entire email database each Thursday or Friday.  Please contact me at execdir@congbethel.org if there is something that you would like me to include in this communication.  It provides a comprehensive overview of the events that are occurring within the next several weeks at Beth El.

LIFE CYCLE ANNOUNCEMENTS We blast our entire email list regarding births, deaths and shiva information.  Information is distributed as soon as possible after we receive all of the details.

BETH EL WEBSITE www.congbethel.org Our website is, and has been for many years, ably updated and maintained by our webmaster Leonard Shwartz.  He can be reached at webmaster@congbethel.org .  Recently, Eric Fanwick has generously volunteered to assist Leonard as needed.  Some of the material you can find on the website are:  current and past Beth El Bulletins, contact information for the office, board, executive and committee members, photos, forms and flyers for upcoming events, our ONLINE CALENDAR, and more.

ONLINE CALENDAR Although a printed version of this calendar appears in the monthly bulletin, the online version is regularly updated.  Please view it frequently for dates and times of upcoming events.

NITZAN, NAVASKY and YOUTH Email blasts directed to a specific group of people at Beth El on an as needed basis. 

OTHER EMAIL BLASTS In an effort to reduce the number of emails that we send to our congregants, we try to minimize emails sent out for specific programs.  We aim to capture all or most information in our weekly emails, but if there is something that we have missed, or the timing is off, we will, on occasion, send out an additional email.

 

All of these communications would not be possible without the help of our dedicated volunteers and office staff.  Your help is ALWAYS appreciated.  Please contact me if you are interested in getting involved in one of these areas.

 

B’Shalom

Rachel Nissenblatt