Compiled by the Bedford Citizen
The Bedford Citizen is happy to introduce our new Community Editor, Elizabeth Hacala. Elizabeth is a native of Bedford who returned to town 20 years ago after living on the west coast. She joined The Bedford Citizen in mid-April, and we sat down with her to compile this introduction:
Why did you decide to work with the Citizen?
I have written articles on and off for the Citizen for several years, primarily covering meetings. I believe strongly in citizen involvement in government. I feel the Bedford Citizen is a unique opportunity for the residents in Bedford to get highly localized and high-quality news about what is going on in town.
What did you do before this?
I started my career in the software industry; since leaving that I have been working in the non-profit industry. I have served in both management and operations roles for various organizations. I have supervised non-profits’ operations, run conferences, and worked on membership, it is a pretty eclectic mix. I also currently serve on the Board of Trustees for the Bedford Free Public Library and was a member of the Bedford Community Preservation Committee when that committee was initially established.
What does the Community Editor do?
The Community Editor is focused on BeTC, the Bedford Town Calendar, including posting events and working with local organizations to help them post their events. The members of the Citizen board and Julie Turner have done a fantastic job creating the calendar. My goal is to build on their work, reaching out to organizations around town to help them learn about the calendar.
BeTC?
BeTC, the integrated town calendar on The Bedford Citizen, has been a goal for a long time. It’s a single place where readers can find up-to-date information about Town board and committee meetings; events that are organized by Bedford non-profits or that feature Bedford residents; and school events of community interest. A grant from the Bedford Cultural Council brought BeTC to live, and the first events were listed on Bedford Day, 2016. The Community Editor will bring more attention to BeTC by coordinating with local individuals and organizations and effecting the best possible publicity for local events.
Who can add to The Bedford Citizen calendar?
Any individual or Bedford organization can submit a calendar event. The calendar focuses on events held in Bedford, sponsored by Bedford organizations, or featuring citizens of Bedford. We have posted cultural, educational, faith-based, fundraisers, class reunions, and family events. We are currently working on a full FAQ to help people understand how to use the calendar.
How do organizations add items to the calendar?
There are two “Submit Event” links on The Bedford Citizen web page, one is a pull down from the top menu, the other can be found in the sidebar. Both of them bring up a form that requests all the relevant information. In addition to the basic details and your full press release, there are options to create live links to your website or add graphics, including videos. The form is already being used by some organizations in town with great success.
How will people see my event?
Published events for the coming several weeks are listed as part of The Citizen’s Sunday Summary that goes out each week to our email subscriber list. A selection of events is featured on the home page of The Bedford Citizen as part of our Calendar Highlights, and finally, some events are promoted to Twitter and Facebook a few days before they take place. And they can be seen from the calendar link on the web site.
How long will it take for my event to be published?
Although most events are processed more quickly, we ask people to allow up to three business days for us to review and publish your event. We encourage people to submit events well ahead of time. The sooner events get into the calendar, the more often they will be seen in the Sunday Summary emails.
What if I have a problem or make a mistake? How do I correct or update my event?
If you have any corrections or changes to your event please email your changes to [email protected]. Please do not resubmit your event. Although we encourage organizations to submit their events directly, I am available to help with any problems, just email me. I look forward to hearing from you!
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