Forms Talk

Marketing Council Openings

By: Lisa Lee, CEBS, FLMI
VP, Administration

The Marketing Council produces Forms Talk and helps to market BFMA’s program offerings. A major goal this year is to develop a marketing plan, which will provide direction for the future, including positioning and changes to the website.

We are looking for members with writing, editing, graphics or technical skills to join the Marketing Council. Perhaps you’d like to work on the newsletter, write a monthly member profile or help produce collateral. We are also interested in folks with education and/or experience in developing marketing plans, and in strategic planning. If you have an interest in helping to advance BFMA this could be a rewarding role for you. The time commitment includes weekly council meetings, project work, and several hours a month on the newsletter.

Serving on the council is a way to contribute to BFMA’s future, and to develop professionally. If you would enjoy working with others as part of the Marketing Council or would like more information, please contact Lisa Lee, Raymond Garner or Krista Hampton.

Blog Lurve

By: Justiss Boyer-Cowland
Marketing Council

So here’s the skinny, the news, the haps, the 411, all that jazz.

Last month I talked a little bit about the perception of the newsletter/blog and the Marketing Council's objective of creating an interactive tool to not only inform and share but to also collaborate and invite you to participate in the discussion.

“But wait, isn’t that what forms space is for?” SURE! Forms Space is absolutely for that, but the newsletter is our device to relay specific topics for discussion open to anyone who wants to participate. For example, Margaret Tassin’s post about the new I-9 affects every business that employs personnel, that form change mandated by the Federal Government affects our Industry.

So, how do you interact with the newsletter and the Blog? It is so simple, and I’m glad you asked.

First, when you receive the newsletter you’re given great lead-ins to the articles and then links to read on. Once you’ve selected the link and read the article posted on the Blog, you’re then given the opportunity to post a comment. Just type in your comment and contact info. The comment is sent directly to the author and placed within the post.

Save the blog site to your favorites and check back throughout the month to see what comments have come in from others. (New comments are easy to spot in the right column, under the pictures.) Follow the conversation and jump in when you are so moved. The more comments we have the more interesting the discussion will be. Here's the link to save: http://bfma.typepad.com/blog

We look forward to reading your comments!

Comments in action:  http://bfma.typepad.com/blog/2008/01/the-forms-manag.html - comments

A new year, a new name

By:Justiss Boyer – Cowland

Marketing Council

First of all I would like to thank everyone who participated in helping name the newsletter!  We had some great titles to choose from and it was no easy task, believe me!  The winner is… Forms Talk!  This name was actually submitted by our lovely Lisa Lee, but since she is on the board she has graciously given up her spot at a webinar.  However, we still need to give it away so be on the lookout for your chance to grab it!

The new name has been created into an awesome graphic by a marketing council member, Sarah Richart, as you can see above.

Along with this new name, there are tons of new things going on in the world of forms and we want to use the newsletter as an interactive tool. As technology has expanded, we’ve had to grow and redefine as well and we hope you’ve been doing the same.  There is always a need for an outlet, and I don’t know about you but until I heard about the headline in Houston’s Chronicle, I hadn’t heard of forms being newsworthy enough to be talked about!  But then again, maybe Forms are being talked about and I don’t know!  Not only are we here to share the news, we’re also here to listen!

So how do we use the newsletter as an interactive tool?  When you click on a link from the newsletter it takes you to the BFMA blog, the placeholder for the newsletter articles.  This is where you can read the articles and search for old ones.  We’ve also got calendar information and photo albums!  Add something about: bookmark this site so you can come back throughout the month and check out the comments. Communicate with us first and foremost by leaving a comment.  Just saying hi and giving us an opinion about an article is a great start. Then, if you want to go further, ask a question.  Did you know that when you leave a comment, an email gets sent DIRECTLY to the author of that article?  It is amazing!  So please leave your name and email so we know who you are!!

Blogs, though they have been around for about 10 years or so, have become very popular within the last 3 or 4 years and are gaining momentum every day.  Do you have some favorite blogs you venture to?  Are you new to the blog-scene?  Or maybe you’ve got no clue how to use this thing!  Or better yet, you have your own! Leave a comment, and let us know!  Maybe there are some form blogs out there and we just didn’t know!

Next month I will list a couple blogs I’ve found on the subject of forms. Hey, we might even be reading the same ones!

Top Five

By: Justiss Boyer
Marketing Council, BFMA

Have you ever seen High Fidelity? Or maybe you've read the Nick Hornby book. The main character, Rob, can give you a bibliographical account of his life in the form of Top 5 lists. We’ve sort of done the same thing, except with BFMA and Forms in mind. It wasn’t easy, but we think we did a fine job picking the top 5 finalists who best epitomize or express the BFMA newsletter. It has been great to see your response to the BFMA sponsored contest, Help us Name the Newsletter! SO many choices and all were excellent! It was really hard deciding which five would make it to the finals, but we did it and we are so excited even we can hardly wait for the winner!

The Top 5 finalists are (in no particular order)!

1. In Good Form

2. All About Forms

3. Forms Talk

4. BFMA Live!

5. TransFORMer

Thanks again so much for helping us out! The winner will be revealed in the January edition of the newsletter!

It’s a sign of the times…

By: Marketing Council
Justiss Boyer, Raymond Garner, Brian Hadfield, Lisa Lee, Sarah Richart

Hey, what’s this? An email, a newsletter, and a blog – oh my!

Yes folks, that’s right: BFMA has jumped on the blog bandwagon and we’re excited to bring you along for the ride. A top priority for BFMA is to open up communication and build a solid community with its members and sponsors. We are very thrilled to introduce this newsletter and blog! Our hope is to collaborate and share beyond symposium and formspace. If you ask what the content is going to be all about, you’ve asked the right question. The content and direction of the newsletter will be driven directly by your interests. We ask you to help shape what it will become. You can do this by commenting, sending emails to your board members, sharing information, even by helping us name the Newsletter and the Blog!

BFMA’s 50^th year anniversary is also an awakening. Half a century of forms and processes and we’ve gone from purely paper forms to paper, electronic and web applications! Knowledge is power and the only way to that knowledge is through sharing, education, and collaboration.

We need to know what you need to know. What do you want the newsletter/blog to address? Articles can be very specific to your interests. Topics could range beyond forms themselves. They could include professional journeys, developments in the industry, features and more. By leveraging today’s technologies we can interact even though we are geographically distant. Just click on the comments link and add your perspective. Other members will be able to see your comments and add their own.

We know you are in complete AWE of this awesome tool and what the future holds in terms of communication. Help us keep the awe alive! There are 3 ways you can do this! Help name this thing, tell us what should be in it, and share your comments!