Do you want your alumni chapter event featured in Madison, the magazine of James Madison University?

JMU's alumni chapters carry the spirit and energy of the Madison Experience way beyond campus, and they have great stories to tell - of service projects, educational and networking programs, scholarships, new adventures, chance encounters, get-togethers and more. Here's how to get those valuable stories in Madison.

Here's how to go about it:

1. Plan early
   For a quarterly magazine's publishing cycle you must work far in advance. Here's why: Planning, assigning, interviewing, reporting, writing, photographing, illustrating, compiling, assembling, storyediting, copyediting, designing, laying out, production, and proofing proofing proofing each and every article takes a staff of three all of three months. Then printing and sorting for mail adds another month. That's why we ask you to plan five to six months ahead. Sometimes we have some wiggle room and accommodate stories more spontaneously, so please go ahead and ask.
   
   For example
   To get an article in the Summer (June) edition, for instance, you'll have had to accomplish these steps by these dates:
   
   • Contact the staff for discussion and approval: Anytime prior to Feb. 1
   • Arrange for photographer: Feb. 7
   • Submit copy and photos: March 1
   • Proof article: April 1
   
   Here is a yearly cycle of Madison production submission deadlines for your reference
   
   • Spring issue (March) -- Dec. 1
   • Summer issue (June) -- March 1
   • Fall issue (September) -- June 1
   • Winter issue (December) - Sept. 1



2. Determine whether you want to publicize an upcoming event (promote) ...
   If you want to invite people to come to your event and let them know what will be happening, that is event promotion. Honestly, promoting a regional chapter event is best done by means other than the magazine. Try Brightening the Lights of Madison, direct mail, e-mail, chapter Web sites and phone trees or use the magazine's "Madison Events" calendar.
   
   ... or cover what happened (news)
   If you'd like to tell readers what happened at your event because you think they will benefit from it, that's news. Skip to Step No. 4.



3. To publicize an upcoming event
   For events with wide appeal, Madison will run the basic facts in the "Madison Events" calendar as space and deadlines allow.
   
   Here's how to get your event into the magazine event calendar.
   
   • Email madisonmag@jmu.edu and put ALUMNI EVENT in the subject line.
   • Provide the following information in your email:
   • Your daytime phone number in case the staff has questions
   • Event name
   • Event date
   • Event location
   • RSVP date
   • URL, phone number or email that readers can use to seek further information
   • Submit your event information by the following deadlines
   • Spring (March) issue: Dec. 1
   • Summer (June) issue: March 1
   • Fall (September) issue: June 1
   • Winter (December) issue: Sept. 1



4. Do you want to tell the rest of the JMU community what happened at your chapter event?
   Here are specific instructions, followed by some advice that will increase your chances of having a good chapter event story for the magazine.
   
   • Start well before your event to make the following arrangements. (All photo and reporting arrangements must be made prior to the event. Keep in mind, for instance, an event that happened in August won't get into print until December.)
   • Several weeks before the event, contact the magazine staff at 540-568-2664 (or e-mail madisonmag@jmu.edu and put CHAPTER STORY IDEA in the subject line) to make your request known.
   • Please provide as much information as possible, including:
   • Your name and daytime contact information (phone and e-mail)
   • The basic facts: event name, date, location
   • Purpose/Type of event: social, service, education, career networking, family, etc.
   • Substance of event: For instance, name of speaker, speaker's topic, who will be there, list of alumni who plan the event, contacts for your chapter's web page.
   • Value of event: Describe the value of this event to the JMU community and/or what makes this event distinct, unique, exciting, or otherwise substantive
   • A staff member will be back in touch to discuss your request and, if it's decided to go forward, set a customized deadline for this story. Please be sure to get the go-ahead and guidance from the staff before you proceed.



5. Here is some reporting and writing advice that will increase your chances of creating a good story for the magazine about your chapter event.
   
   Rarely will a magazine staff member be able to travel to attend and cover the event for you. There are simply too many demands on staff time. (However, never say never. Perhaps your event is the one that breaks the mold. And an event story always has the potential to transform instead into a larger "trend" story on which staff and volunteers can collaborate.) For now, let's assume that you are coordinating your own coverage. Here are some things to think about, followed by some how-tos..
   
   • Writing Considerations--These are things the staff will discuss with you when you call:
   • Identify your purpose or intent. What do you hope to communicate or express?
   • Be aware of your audience. Madison magazine readers are fellow alumni, parents of students, faculty members, friends of JMU. About half of Madison's readers live in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. The other half live all over the United States and abroad.
   • Determine how you will use both your writing and your photos to communicate your event/story to your audience.
   • Qualities of a good story
   • Information: a good story is based on content, not language. The writer must gather specific, accurate pieces of information to include in the story; so basically, you must actually report, not just write. And don't worry about whether you are a good writer. Magazine staff members can help with that if you have supplied the content.
   • Relevance: There should be a reason for your story. A story should pass along information, challenge readers' beliefs, or simply help them go about daily life.
   • Context: Readers need perspective to understand a story. You personally might have followed the particular event from the planning stages to the event's fruition, but the readership of Madison may have not. You'll need to fill everyone in on the history in order for people to understand the present.
   • Focus: Ernie Pyle wrote, "If you want to tell the story of a war, tell the story of one soldier." A broad topic like "diversity" or "town/gown relations" will not make a good story. You need to find some piece of that to cover; a person or a group of people maybe. Or an event to show the readers to represent the whole issue.
   • Start with the basics - the five Ws.
     Every reporter learned in school that every article should address the five Ws - Who? What? When? Where? Why? (Who was involved? What happened? When was it? Where was it? Why did it happen?). If you answer those questions (as well as how) substantively, you should have a solid start.
   • "What happened" will constitute the bulk of the article.
     After noting that a speaker addressed your group, for instance, it is important to relate what the speaker said in his speech. Quote the speaker directly if you can. Use quotation marks. That increases the authenticity of the article and readers gain some knowledge. An article that says "So and so spoke about preventing childhood obesity" is of little value. But an article that tells the reader that "So and so says the following tips to prevent childhood obesity" is an extremely helpful and thus a newsworthy article to lots of readers.
   • Good photos and on-the-scene reporting make the very best stories because they communicate the substance of the event.
     Here's how to optimize that.
   • Tap the journalism, communications or public relations major from your chapter to attend the event and report on and write the article. Covering the story (in words and photos and on deadline) will be second nature to these grads. Ask him or her to check this Web page and contact the staff.
   • Capture and communicate the serendipitous moments that naturally happen whenever and wherever Madison alumni get together. Listen in on conversations and write down the dialog. You might find a legacy, a business partnership in the making, a friendship re-ignited, an alum who needs to be honored by the JMU community, a common Madison experience that spans generations.
   • The magazine heartily welcomes stories and photos that show the dedication of JMU alumni. Educational, service, career networking and family events show alumni chapters off in the best light. They will get top billing from the magazine staff.
   • Events for older alumni (mini-reunions, lunches, field trips, etc.) will get special consideration.
   • A word about photography
   • The cliche is true. A picture is worth a thousand words. Really. Often the best way to tell a story is through one or several great photos and captions spelling out the five Ws (above) and identifying the people in the photos.
   • Photos must be of top quality. With old-fashioned film cameras, that's pretty easy. Just send us the film or the prints. With the variety of digital cameras on the market, however, the situation can be confusing and frustrating. Most family-affordable digital cameras are best for Web pages and personal prints. Magazine reproduction, however, requires much higher quality than most people are aware of. Your camera might be capable of that quality if turned to the highest-resolution setting. Some digital cameras, however, are just not capable of creating magazine-quality images. Generally speaking, digital cameras with a minimum of 4 pixels will produce the quality Madison is after.
   • Digital image specs
   • Use a camera that is a minimum of 4 pixels
   • Set the camera to the highest-resolution possible
     300 dpi (dots per inch) is the optimum resolution for print
   • The image should also be a of 3x5-inches in dimension (simultaneously with 300 dpi)
   • The resulting file should be 2 MB or above (if it's less than a MB, the resolution is not high enough for Madison. Borrow someone else's camera.)
   • Your chapter-appointed photographer should take care when covering social occasions. Is everyone holding a beer or glass of wine? Three or four innocent photos like that can create an inaccurate picture of the significance of your chapter event and undermine the hard work of volunteers.
   • On rare occasions, the magazine will send a freelance photographer to your event on a special mission. We will ask the chapter to provide a contact person at the event for the photographer.
   • Sometimes a photo essay is just the thing. If you've got a great idea and can handle it yourself, read on to learn how to conceive of a photo essay. But a photo essay is pretty advanced stuff, so contact the staff for assistance. Your idea might merit a visit by a professional photographer or simply some support by the magazine staff.
   • Instead of writing a story, show your story with a photo essay and write a text to accompany the photos. You should work with the interplay of textual and visual expression to establish and substantiate thesis/story based on your observations. Pictures narrate the story. This is ideal for those who aren't as comfortable in the literary arena. This of course will require the chapters to take and submit quality pictures that are pertinent to the story and tell what is going on. The following are potential instructions and further considerations to help the chapters get started with their photo essays.
     
     Instructions
   1. Choose a subject matter or an idea for your photo essay and submit your proposal.
   2. Collect your "data" by taking several photos that may relate to your event.
   3. Sort through your photos and discover what theme or themes emerge.
   4. Choose one theme and several photos that support that theme.
   5. Organize your photos by determining an introduction, body, and conclusion.
   6. Write concise, sharp, meaningful text for each photo.
   7. Choose a title for your story that expresses your theme/event.