austraLasia #2661
Newsletters new and renewed
ROME: 18 June 2010 -- Having just come away from a lengthy exchange with a number of Provincials, including two from our own region (in Rome for their so-called 'new' provincials course), and noting the good things being achieved, each in their own way, in communications matters, it seems a good moment to comment on something we note, at least from a 'birdseye' point of view, if a Roman department could be said to have that. Over the past year or two, many provinces and many Salesian activities in those provinces are moving from a purely paper communication to an online one - and the intermediate step is the range of quality pdf-attached newsletters. Some have gone further with a fully digital version.
Just this week three of the pdf items arrived from two separate provinces (AUL and THA-Cambodia), and while we know that they exist in many other provinces in the region it is only possible to comment when we actually receive them, obviously. A comment on the three, then, as they highlight different aspects.
One that regularly arrives from the Cambodian part of THA is called FfF for short or Frontpage for Friends. The big 'plus' for this attachment is that it is only ever just a page. No wasted words, colourful, lots of pics a brief message or two and that's it! It is largely the work of a Volunteer. Cynthia deserves congratulations for it. It is subtitled as a 'Salesian Youth Missionary Animation Newsletter'.
From AUL two items came in; one stands out because it is a first, the first Salesian newsletter from a presence in a country that only came into being this year in Auckland, New Zealand. Fr Mathew V (my spell check gets confused with his surname!) has produced a classy information bulletin, six pages worth, which do what such a bulletin must for a new presence: explains who the Salesians are, (in general, but also in particular in the parish setting in suburban Auckland); introduces classic 'Salesian' themes including information about the Past Pupils which reaches out the the Salesian presence in the city long before the Salesians came there permanently; Mary Help of Christians, the Rector Major's Strenna. There is as yet no Salesian Bulletin produced in the New Zealand context and that may be some way off - but the first 'bulletin' noted here, is a step in that direction.
And the third item is not the sort of attachment you would normally be hoping for at nearly 4 MB, (in its favour it is actually available online at the Boys Town Engadine website), but it's true 'weight' lies elsewhere. This is a 'classic' item in very sense of that word, joining the past and the present with a very clear vision of the future as well. Its contents are of historical interest far beyond Australian shores - anybody who knows anything about some of the great Salesian characters in the 'anglophone' world of yesteryear will want to read material which deals with Fr Joseph Ciantar, or Fr Edward (Neddie) Power, or if you are interested in how to really draw the interest of 'old boys' (Past Pupils). The Good Ol'Town is also an excellent example of how a traditional newsletter from way back can be reinvented in today's setting.
As indicated earlier, there will be many, many more of these items around the Provinces. Why not send them in? We will be delighted to read them and from time to time comment on them.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Newsletters new and renewed
ROME: 18 June 2010 -- Having just come away from a lengthy exchange with a number of Provincials, including two from our own region (in Rome for their so-called 'new' provincials course), and noting the good things being achieved, each in their own way, in communications matters, it seems a good moment to comment on something we note, at least from a 'birdseye' point of view, if a Roman department could be said to have that. Over the past year or two, many provinces and many Salesian activities in those provinces are moving from a purely paper communication to an online one - and the intermediate step is the range of quality pdf-attached newsletters. Some have gone further with a fully digital version.
Just this week three of the pdf items arrived from two separate provinces (AUL and THA-Cambodia), and while we know that they exist in many other provinces in the region it is only possible to comment when we actually receive them, obviously. A comment on the three, then, as they highlight different aspects.
One that regularly arrives from the Cambodian part of THA is called FfF for short or Frontpage for Friends. The big 'plus' for this attachment is that it is only ever just a page. No wasted words, colourful, lots of pics a brief message or two and that's it! It is largely the work of a Volunteer. Cynthia deserves congratulations for it. It is subtitled as a 'Salesian Youth Missionary Animation Newsletter'.
From AUL two items came in; one stands out because it is a first, the first Salesian newsletter from a presence in a country that only came into being this year in Auckland, New Zealand. Fr Mathew V (my spell check gets confused with his surname!) has produced a classy information bulletin, six pages worth, which do what such a bulletin must for a new presence: explains who the Salesians are, (in general, but also in particular in the parish setting in suburban Auckland); introduces classic 'Salesian' themes including information about the Past Pupils which reaches out the the Salesian presence in the city long before the Salesians came there permanently; Mary Help of Christians, the Rector Major's Strenna. There is as yet no Salesian Bulletin produced in the New Zealand context and that may be some way off - but the first 'bulletin' noted here, is a step in that direction.
And the third item is not the sort of attachment you would normally be hoping for at nearly 4 MB, (in its favour it is actually available online at the Boys Town Engadine website), but it's true 'weight' lies elsewhere. This is a 'classic' item in very sense of that word, joining the past and the present with a very clear vision of the future as well. Its contents are of historical interest far beyond Australian shores - anybody who knows anything about some of the great Salesian characters in the 'anglophone' world of yesteryear will want to read material which deals with Fr Joseph Ciantar, or Fr Edward (Neddie) Power, or if you are interested in how to really draw the interest of 'old boys' (Past Pupils). The Good Ol'Town is also an excellent example of how a traditional newsletter from way back can be reinvented in today's setting.
As indicated earlier, there will be many, many more of these items around the Provinces. Why not send them in? We will be delighted to read them and from time to time comment on them.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
