XUNICEF News & Views Editors Meeting Summary - 6 February
New Members Welcomed:
- Rob (Robert Farmer): Recently retired (December); Deputy Rep in Fiji Pacific office managing 16-country program; extensive background across Iraq, Tanzania, Pakistan, Albania; currently traveling with his wife in Albania where he previously served as Dep. Rep.
- Soji (Olusoji Adeniyi): Early retirement 2015 after 21 years in M&E; two-term UN Pensions Board chair; active in ECOWAS, African Union, FCDO consultancies; manages WhatsApp group of 100+ Nigerian retirees;
Introductions by the Current Team Memberss:
- Gautam: Armenia-based, United World College faculty, visual art focus; Iraq veteran, legal practice in London; will attend reunion and South Africa add-on (March 6-23)
- Doreen: will be on leave for medical need but hopeful to return before long; former Chief of Field Services
- Fouad: 60+ years UNICEF involvement starting with Morris Pate; Montreal-based stamp collector; former Director of Personnel
- Tom: Colorado Springs-based; worked in NGOs, joined UNICEF in 1973; Retired at the end of 2006 as RD MENA; previously Director of Human Resources and Rep, PO, in Africa, Asia, Middle-East; stepping back as editor-in-chief end of March
Key Challenges:
- Time zones: Asia/Pacific members (Tim Sutton-NZ, Mary Ann-Philippines, Joachim-Tokyo) face scheduling difficulties; alternate meeting times being considered to allow them to join team meetings; possibility to alternate between two meeting times every other week.
- Contributor crisis: many readers but very few contributors or articles and comments; team members need to encourage friends and former colleagues to contribute; current content heavily skewed toward older retirees; few younger voices or current perspectives. How do we change the mix? With many newly retired staff, how to help their transition from UNICEF and get them to share their experiences.
- Technical barriers: Too many anonymous or unknown comments; cumbersome comment interface requiring blog navigation
Operational Decisions:
- New editor onboarding: One-on-one mentoring preferred over written instructions; team agrees informal learning more effective than formal documentation
- Rotation schedule: Fouad editing this week, Gautam next week, Tom following (unless Deflef returns); Rob and Soji to phase in gradually with mentorship
- Feature gap: Doreen's absence creates need for feature coordinator;
Content Priorities:
- UNICEF at 80: Proposal to create historical series similar to 75th anniversary compilation; recognition that organizational history missing for newer staff
- Blog labels: Need to train editors and readers on using label system to access archived content by topic/author
- Mini-survey: Doreen suggested adding 2-3 questions for new members about interests, hobbies, preferred content
- Potential recruit: Fouad recalled Niloufar's message on Moira, former State of World's Children senior editor, as ideal candidate particularly for history project
Platform Discussion:
- Advisory group working on various new ways to replace or supplement the Blog
- COVID-era chat boxes: Attempt to resurrect interest and chat group forum which Carina may take over as admin
- Blogger limitations: Default anonymous comments, HTML requirements for posting, cumbersome navigation
Governance:
- Two-track structure: Weekly Friday editor meetings separate from "advisory group" exploring communication alternatives (WhatsApp, forums)
- Advisory group timing: Shifted from next Wednesday to week from Monday due to time conflicts for Carina and Margarita conflicts;
- Leadership transition: End-March deadline to identify new team leader; depends on finalizing team composition
- Editorial philosophy: Community owns content—editors don't reject submissions unless violating terms, but emphasize quality pieces through weekly editor commentary
Zimbabwe Reunion Planning:
- Google Photos album: Traditional invitation for attendees to share photos; significant workload mid-March
- Live updates: Gautam committed to sending updates from reunion venue (internet permitting)
Comments
Post a Comment