All the News That's Fit to Print
June 25, 2009
Producing a regularly distributed newsletter to staff, management, internal customers, and perhaps suppliers is an oft-cited recommendation to improve fleet management communications and promote fleet operations.
It's a bit of a chore, producing such a communications piece. I know the pressure, having served as a volunteer nonprofit monthly newsletter creator for five years. So I appreciate the effort fleet managers and their staffs expend in developing, writing, and distributing monthly or quarterly newsletters on Web sites or via e-mail or printed hard copies.
One of the most delightful fleet newsletters I've read is produced by Lee County, Fla., Fleet Management. Marilyn Rawlings, a 15-year fleet veteran and the county's fleet manager, has been sending out this unpretentious, highly engaging newsletter every month for more than 13 years.
With a nameplate that graphically plays off the county name FLEET FOCUS, the four-page missive details fleet events, developments, and news, while noting employee anniversaries, birthdays, etc., and citing staff recognition for jobs well done. It's posted on the county's Internet site, circulated to an e-mail list, and printed in hard copy for pick up in the fleet management office lobby and at local libraries.
Over the years, FLEET FOCUS distribution has expanded from the county boundaries on Florida's southwestern coast to reach loyal readers across the country, says Rawlings. And those readers are very loyal. If she's delayed on producing it, Rawlings admits to getting calls or e-mail messages demanding the next issue.
What inspires this avid following are the extra features Rawlings includes in each issue. Like the carrot and stick or spoonful of sugar with a medicine dose , she provides a range of diverting features "to hook people into reading the actual fleet news."
In addition to fleet-related information, the newsletter includes at least one "inspirational" piece, plus a host of trivia, quotable quotes, and a "Did I Really Need to Know This?" column offering an oddball assortment of facts and figures. Here's a sampling from the June 2009 issue:
Quotable Quotes
"Grilling, broiling, barbecuing - whatever you want to call it - is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach." (James Beard American chef)
"No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least five minutes every hour, you'd be more productive." (Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist)
Trivia
People in the Northeast U.S. are the heaviest barbecuers in the nation. The next most frequent barbecues are in the North Central region of the U.S., followed by the South and then the Western U.S.
The word "barbecue" may have come from the French phrase "barbe a queue" (from whiskers to tail) The term refers to the original method in which a whole animal was cooked on a spit over an open fire.
Do I Really Need to Know This?
Swimming as an organized activity dates back to 2,500 BC in ancient Egypt and later in ancient Greece, Rome, and Assyria. In Rome and Greece, swimming was part of the education of elementary-age boys, and the Romans built the first swimming pools. The first heated swimming pool was built in the 1st century BC.
This newsletter is addicting! And while being entertained and amused, I learned Lee County Fleet Management:
- Has begun regularly scheduled meetings with other city department directors.
- Will soon open a new county fuel site (with directions to the site).
- Can now allow County vehicles to use dyed diesel in all diesel-powered on-road vehicles as well as in off-road / heavy equipment.
While the dissemination of fleet information is valued, Rawlings says a personal feature she wrote a few years ago attracted the most response by far, with phone calls and repeated requests for the text. Some messages, it seems, transcend the daily routine and evoke a universally felt experience:
High Heels and Blue Jeans
I have a friend, Katherine, who has lived by a three-word philosophy: "Seize the moment" Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman I've ever known. When anyone calls my "seize the moment" friend, she is open to adventure and available to chat. She invites 12 people over for dinner from four pork chops and no one cares. She wears high heels with her blue jeans and shorts if she feels like it. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. She sometimes goes by Katherine, sometimes by Kathy. If you talk with her for five minutes, you feel like you are the most important person in her life. I always say I am going to get together with her for lunch, but I never do.
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming, or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I read something on the Internet about the women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back on calories. Since then, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How often have your kids tried to talk with you, but sat in silence while you watched the final round of Jeopardy! on television? How many times has someone asked you to do something spontaneously, and you replied with one of the following: "I can't." "I have clothes in the dryer." "My hair is dirty." "I wish I had known yesterday." "It looks like rain." "I have chores to do."
We live on a sparse diet of promises to be fulfilled when all the conditions are perfect. We'll go back and visit the out-of-town grandparents when we get the kids through the "terrible twos." We'll entertain when we replace the living room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get the kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday." Andy Rooney once said, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end, the faster it seems to go."
Katherine died two weeks ago. She fought a long and rather unsuccessful battle with bone cancer.
We never did have lunch.
Do you produce a fleet newsletter? Share your best; e-mail a copy to cindy.brauer@bobit.com