Northern News

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A publication of the American Planning Association, California Chapter, Northern Section

Making great communities happen

Now YOU can join our excellent Board

By Michael Cass, Director-elect, Northern Section

Do you want to be more involved with APA? Do you want to serve your fellow Northern Section members? If you are ready to build your professional skills, consider joining your Northern Section Board in one of our vacant positions:

  • Communications Director
  • Distance Education Coordinator
  • Events Program Manager
  • Marketing and Sponsorship Manager
  • Mid-Career Planners Group Director
  • Northern News Associate Editors

What’s in it for you?

  • Have a strategic impact on the Section’s direction
  • Collaborate with your peers
  • Grow your network of local planning professionals
  • Build your skillset
  • Enrich your résumé
  • Meaningfully give back to the planning profession
  • Have fun
  • Make new friends
  • Mentor future generations of planners
  • Celebrate leaders in the industry.

Click here to read more about these positions and how to apply.

A special note: Help build our Communications Team

This is a pivotal time with our communications. Northern Section is about to launch a new logo and website, we are working with a consultant on new branding guidelines, and we are executing a strategy for the next generation of Northern News — our signature communication that each month connects with our 1,700 Section members and more than 4,300 other planners and related professionals across the country. This will be a rewarding time to have a significant impact to help shape the Section’s communications.

We hope to build a stellar communications team. And to lead the team, we’re looking for a Communications Director to develop a robust, informative, and engaging experience for our members. We’re also looking for additional associate editors for Northern News to be part of the team.

We’re interested in people who are quick learners, comfortable online, and organized. Familiarity with social media and understanding how to leverage the various platforms are crucial. Working with Constant Contact and WordPress is a plus, but certainly something we can help with. On average, our Communication Director will typically spend three to four hours a week for Northern Section, but the time commitment will depend on your experience and availability. We can assure you that the Communications Director is supported; duties can be shared so tasks are manageable.

According to our Section’s bylaws, your duties will be to:

  1. Develop and oversee the communication program for the Section, including coordinating with Section Board Members to publicize Section activities and programs via Northern News, our website, social media, and other forms of communication;
  2. Assist Section Board Members and event coordinators in notifying the local press of Section activities and programs;
  3. Oversee the preparation, editing, and publishing of the eNews to members and the public; and
  4. Assist the editor in preparing and publicizing Northern News. Coordinate with the Social Media Coordinator and others to ensure the dissemination of information about professional development programs and other Section events on the Section’s social media channels.

If you are interested, send your résumé to me, Michael Cass, at directorelect@norcalapa.org. Tell me why you’d be a great fit. Feel free to include examples. If you have any questions before applying, I’ll be glad to answer them.

Return to Northern News here.

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