ARPA News March 2017
Watch out for your ARPA Awards entry form package - with conference brochure – coming by email and by post. (Award entries must be in by 19th May 2017)
2017 ARPA Conference – Auckland
Make sure you have the dates in your diary: 25-27 August 2017. The program for the 2017 conference is being organised and the brochure will be available in later March. Thank you to the local ARPA members and, in particular, our NZ Vice-President Justin St. Vincent for all the work to date (and to come). The conference will be a wonderful opportunity to hear from a range of gifted communicators and also join in our established networking and collegial contact. Some Australian members are already looking forward to also taking time to holiday in New Zealand.
Congratulations to our Communications Officer Sophia Sinclair on the birth of her second son: Sophia ‘reported’ Our little Valentine's Day gift: Frank Paul Sinclair. Born 4.43pm, 14/2/2017 at RPAH. Weighing 3918gm/8lb 6oz. Both mother and baby doing very, very well after a wonderful birth experience. We are very thankful to God for his provision and faithfulness.
Mark Brolly from The Melbourne Anglican writes ‘My colleague Emma Halgren (who was part of the 2013 Conference organising committee) had a boy last Sunday week, "a sleepy, smiley" little fellow. All well, no name for the Bub yet. God bless all, especially the new Mums, Dads and Bubs’ . Mark
ARPA Conference Review 2017
Thank you to the members who responded. The executive will consider the responses in detail, but the following provides an overview. Overall 50 responses were received (response rate 37% ). 86% of respondents had attended a conference.
Summary of the answers to questions.
What is your interest in ARPA? The three top areas were
· Professional Association (and development) – 80%
· ARPA Conference – 62%
· ARPA Awards – 62%
What are some reasons for you not attending an ARPA Conference?
The three top reasons were:
· Other – nearly 40% of people suggested a range of reason mostly related in some way to the general suggestions.
· Lack of funding from own publication – 34%
· Cannot finance own attendance – 24%
What are some helpful reasons for having the Conference?
· The three main reasons identified were:
· Networking (and encouragement) – 92%
· Professional Development – 84%
· Catching up with friends and colleagues – 66%
Note: the ARPA Awards recorded 62%
What is the most important reason for holding an ARPA Conference?
It was interesting to note only 17% of respondents chose the ARPA Awards (the other 83% mainly highlighted professional development, networking and encouragement in their written answers).
What areas of Professional Education are you interested in?
The five main areas were:
· Writing – 66%
· Editing – 62%
· Social Media – 62%
· Design – 44%
· Photography – 38%
What topics or themes would be helpful to address at a conference?
The top three areas:
· Digital Media – 73%
· Contemporary Church Issues – 73%
· The Future of print – 61%
Would you consider attending a conference at any of the following locations?
The number one choice was the Gold Coast – 74%
Second – Launceston – 68%
Third – Perth - 63%
Would you consider attending a conference at any of the following locations if the registration cost was fully covered? (not travel or accommodation)
This enabled Darwin and Perth to come out on top – 76%.
Singapore had perhaps a surprising 66% approval on this question.
What other suggestions can you add to help develop ARPA conferences?
58% of respondents provided a written in response. The executive will take your comments in consideration. The three main areas of comment:
Arrangements for Judging the awards; cost of the conference and accommodation; and content/speakers.
Thank you to all the members who contributed to the survey. This has proved to be very helpful for our future planning and a good base for further survey work.
2017 ARPA Awards
The award details and entry forms will be sent out soon (these will be emailed and also provided by postal mail). Members are reminded of the decision of the 2016 AGM:
At the AGM in September2016, the amount of work put into the organization of the awards and the conference was noted. The following comment was made by a member. ‘The awards need to mean something and have value within the sector. When people don’t turn up to the event to accept prestigious awards it belittles the awards.’
As a result of these discussions, It was moved, seconded and carried, ‘that award submissions from all member organisations will only be accepted if accompanied by a conference registration.’ It was further noted that the Executive will have the discretion to waive this requirement if considered appropriate. This requirement will apply to the conferences of 2017 and 2018 and be reviewed after these dates.
NB: If you do not wish to pay the registration fee at the time of submitting the entries , you will be invoicedfor the amount owing.
ARPA Conference Sponsorship
The Religious Press is not generally a popular avenue for the acquisition of sponsorship. In the past however, we have received some very generous sponsorship from the most diverse sources - Mail houses, printers, conference merchandise providers. On this topic, a reminder that the registration fee for the Conference will depend on the amount of sponsorship we have received/promised by the end of this month as stated in the Minutes of the last Executive meeting in January.
Do you through your publication know of anyone who could offer ARPA a level of sponsorship for our 2017 conference? If you have any contacts please advise the Executive Officer, Elizabeth Harris, admin@arpa.news who can supply you with a sponsorship presentation package.
The ARPA Executive for 2016-2017
President: Peter Bentley
NZ Vice-President: Justin St Vincent
Australian Vice-President: Mark Brolly
Treasurer: Allan Sauer
Communications Officer: Sophia Sinclair
Along with our Executive Officer: Elizabeth Harris.
The next ARPA Executive teleconference will be held on May 9th, 2017.