POINTS TO PONDER
Issue 02-16
From Your Federation President
NARFE Members of California:
CALIFORNIA FEDERAL RETIREE (CFR) - As some of your know,
your Federation Executive Board is embarking on a new endeavor by publishing
our CFR as a magazine. The first issue (December 2002) is now available and is
being distributed to the Chapters by the Officers of the Federation Executive Board.
This project began as a suggestion by our State Legislation Director, John Ellis,
back in February 2002. At our post-convention Board Meeting last May, your
Executive Board approved this project based on John Ellis's commitment to take
the lead on the project, be the CFR Editor, and to publish and mail the magazine
to each California member at no cost to the Federation. The "no cost" was based
on the premise that we would get enough advertisers to put ads in the magazine to
make it self-sustaining. John, alone, has worked very hard to get advertisers and
to layout the pages for the publisher. John Ellis is to be commended for his
perseverance and diligence in getting this idea to fruition! THANK YOU, JOHN!
Many potential advertisers are reluctant to put an ad in the magazine until they
see a finished product. Well, we now have a finished product which we can show
and which should attract more advertisers.
However, with the advertisers we currently have, we could only publish 10,000
copies instead of the 40,000 we initially planned on publishing, and there are
insufficient funds to mail 10,000 copies to the 102 CA Chapters. Thus, the
Executive Board Officers are delivering the first issue of the magazine to the Chapters.
We have accomplished Step 1. Step 2 is to obtain enough advertisers to pay for
40,000 copies, basically one for each California member, and to pay for the cost of
mailing. In addition, the magazine will be distributed to other senior organizations,
and our California Legislators which will provide a greater visibility for NARFE in
California and should attract new members.
In order to accomplish Step 2, we are going to publish the magazine every other
month, rather than every month, as was originally planned. Considering that the
previous CFR was only published twice a year, this bi-monthly effort is a major
improvement, and as the magazine gets up and running, we can hope to publish it
on a monthly basis.
When you get your copy, please read it and let me know your comments, good
or bad. You will see articles by our Congressmen, California Legislators and Senior
Coalition folks as well as NARFE Federation folks. Unfortunately, the articles by
your NARFE officers are not as timely as they should be but they are still Okay.
We thought we would be publishing the first issue in July or August, so the articles
were written then.
Be sure and support the advertisers in the magazine and when you are finished
with the magazine, leave it in a strategic area, such as doctor/dentist office, hospital,
senior center, barber/beauty shop, social security office, legislator's office, other
federal agencies, etc. In fact, place a label on the cover, "For More Information,
Call (Name, phone number)". In fact, this idea could also apply to "Retirement Life
Magazine".
Please include this article in your newsletter so as to get the widest distribution
possible. I believe the magazine to be a great public relations tool. Let me know
what you think!
Till next time....
Lea D. Zajac, Your California Federation President
Return to Start