[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, 10/19/2004

[Elizabeth Thomson]

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from October 19, 2004*

The hardy souls who trudged through the rain (or down the hallway) to 
attend this meeting of MIT Editors' Club were rewarded with...free 
books! (One of my colleagues has been cleaning her office.)


*Video Clips & More*

Take a peek at the new web site for Academic Media Productions 
Services at http://web.mit.edu/amps/portfolio/video/. Margaret 
Meehan, web content writer for the site and a new member of Editors' 
Club, gave a quick primer on key parts of the new site, including 
links to videos of MIT lectures. There's also a nifty box titled 
"What can we do for you?" that many Editors will no doubt be 
interested in: AMPS can help with a slew of communications-related 
projects such as building or improving your web site and webcasting 
key lectures or special events.

My favorite part? The portfolio of video clips about MIT research 
(http://web.mit.edu/amps/portfolio/video/).

Margaret notes that AMPS is currently putting together a "best of 
AMPS" series for this January's IAP.


*Science Writing Resources*

Several of the folks who've joined Editors' Club recently are new to 
the field of communicating university research to the rest of the 
world. To that end, I thought ya'll might find the following list of 
resources helpful (they are my personal favorites):

--the Media Guide for Academics. Selections from the Table of 
Contents: Going Public (Who? Me?), Why Spread the Word (Nine good 
reasons to talk to a journalist), Support your Public Information 
Officer (Nine ways to work together). Cal 213-851-7372 to order a 
copy.

--A Field Guide for Science Writers. This one covers science writing 
for newspapers, TV, the government and, of course, universities. Call 
516-757-5664.

--PIOnet (Public Information Officer network). This is an electronic 
list just like Editors' Club that allows you to ask questions of 
university science writers from around the country. Go to 
http://www.newswise.com/community/pionet/ for more info, including a 
set of directions for participating.

If you have additional resources to suggest, please let me know! I'd 
love to add them to my list.


*Who ARE We?*

One new member of our group inquired whether there's a list of 
Editors' Club members and what we all do. "That way I could contact 
specific people to answer a given question rather than send a note to 
the whole group," she said. I do indeed keep a MicroSoft Word list of 
all ~150 Editors. I try to update this list about twice a year, at 
the same time encouraging folks to send me one or two sentences about 
what they do. If you'd like to get a copy of the current list, send 
me a note.

*Next Meeting*

The next meetings of MIT Editors' Club is Wednesday, November 10, 
from 12-1 in the News Office (11-400).

Cheers,

Elizabeth
-- 
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Elizabeth A. Thomson
Assistant Director, Science & Engineering News
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
News Office, Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)
<thomson at mit.edu>

<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www>
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