Saturday, April 21, 2012

WFSE Communications Conference

This weekend, April 21-22, WFSE members on the Communication Committee and the Public Affairs staff will present an exciting and important conference.  Communications is one of the most important functions of the union.  We communicate constantly - with our words - both oral and written, with our body language, even our clothing.  Yet no matter how many ways we communicate, there will always be members of groups who will say "I don't know what's going on.  Nobody communicates these things."

As we know, the hotline, the newsletter, text alerts, Facebook, Twitter, the websites at WFSE and AFSCME are available to members all the time.  When there are opportunities to communicate through other media, such as the news programs, we do that too.  Communication is a challenge.  In today's world there is so much information coming at an individual member, it's sometimes hard to capture and keep that member's attention.  It's a different world than it was even two years ago.  The technology changes so rapidly and we change in response to it.

The Communication Conference promises to be an exciting and skill building experience for all.  The Communication Committee and the Executive Board of WFSE support the communications efforts of the local unions and hope that this conference will bring new and exciting skills to the members attending that they can then share with the members in their locals or use to further communication within the locals.  After all, the most effective communication is the sharing of information and skills one on one.