THE BULLETIN NEEDS YOU!

There have been various occasions over the past couple of years where I have spoken to groups from other towns and they have all mentioned that they wished their town had a community paper like the Tatura Bulletin. There are several nearby towns that have a community paper but none of these are free to every house in their area. The Tatura Bulletin is almost unique in that regard.

Tatura has been fortunate over the last 38 years that there has always been a hardworking core group of volunteers on hand to publish and distribute the Bulletin each month. However, it should not be taken for granted that this group will be around forever. In fact, the number of volunteers working on the Bulletin is slowly dwindling for a variety of reasons.

An influx of new members is therefore vitally important if the Bulletin is to continue to exist. I can assure you that the workload is not onerous as the various categories of editing, advertising, proof-reading and distribution are shared out amongst the various staff members. However, a basic understanding of Word on a computer is fairly important although there are jobs that don’t require this. My point is that you would only need to dedicate a few hours each month if you were willing to help out at the Bulletin. We would be happy to train anybody who was interested in the editing and advertising portfolios as these two areas are essential and are very thinly populated at the moment.

An influx of new blood is essential for any workplace that wants to continue to grow and develop. I brought many new ideas with me when I first joined the Bulletin ten years ago, and the other team members have done the same. However, we all eventually run out of steam in this area and then tend to chug along with the same old format and processes. The addition of new members will tend to revitalise things as they bring new thought processes and ideas to the table.

Succession planning is vital for any enterprise but unfortunately, at the Bulletin we don’t have enough staff for a succession plan to be put in place. If you think you would be a good fit for the Bulletin and you can spare a couple of hours each month, please send an email to info@ tatbulletin.com.au with your details. No experience is necessary and you will start out on exactly the same pay rate as everyone else, nothing. As the old Hawthorn coach John Kennedy famously said, “Don’t think! Do!”

- John Kriesfeld, President