Before Training Starts...
Welcome to the Action Network training for Local Groups joining Action Network for the first time. This document will help you go through the setting up process so that you can get the most out of the first training session.
Who are your admins?
Once you’ve been added to our training schedule you need to give us the name of at least one activist who will become an administrator for your Action Network account. Administrators will be able to post e-mails and more to your Local Group mailing list so it’s a good idea to have at least two admins so that mailings can go out swiftly. Please give us their names and e-mail addresses (or Mattermost handles) so we can get in touch with them.
Your admins will need to have signed the XR Volunteer Agreement, if they haven’t already. The e-mail address you used for signing the volunteer agreement is the one that will be used to log you onto Action network and it must be one to which only you have access; you should not use, for instance, your local group e-mail for this.
Local Group Email
You must have a Local Group e-mail address and that should be the address pointed to on the Sign-up Map . Check the link and that the information on there is correct. If it’s not, let us know and we can change that. If your group doesn't yet have a pin in the sign-up map, let us know.
Your Existing Mailing List
If you have have an existing mailing list we need to transfer that into Action Network, prefereably before training. If you have been using mailing list management software, like MailChimp, we can organise the migration of your list as a whole, just let us know as early as possible that that's what you need. If you are using an e-mail client like Gmail, the easiest way to manage this is to send out an e-mail to everyone on your list along the lines of:
We are moving to a new e-mail system which will help us communicate with supporters and activists in [your group area] and will no longer be sending out news and announcements from this address. To opt into this new mailing system just visit http://joinxr.uk/[your-group-area]* and enter your e-mail address (plus name / phone number / postcode if you wish). You will be able to opt out of this system at any time.
But probably make it friendlier.
*You need to make sure you have this URL correct. To test it visit the page. It should explicitly mention your group. If it doesn't, you have the URL wrong and anyone using will be signed up at the UK level but not to your local group. Contact us if you don't know what this URL should be.
We need something to send
When we meet you online for your training session we will want to take you through the entire process of writing and sending an e-mail to your group. You will need to write your first email in advance on a word processor of some sort so that, during the the training, you can copy/paste it over to the Action Network e-mail editor.
You might want to check out this short page first: Avoiding formatting issues when copy and pasting content
Your e-mail should probably start with a paragraph like this:
This is a message to let you know that we have recently up-dated our mailing system. This will help us better keep in touch with you and let you know what's going on locally. It also means that, if you don't already, you will get occasional e-mails from our /whatever/ region and from the Extinction Rebellion national team. At the end of this e-mail you'll find links that let you opt out any of these lists
When you design your page, keep formatting simple. The email editor is capable of quite sophisticated layouts, but that's something you'll want to explore later if the need arises.
You can use text with the usual formatting options of bold, italic and font size. You can also add images and they can really liven up an e-mail but you need to keep them to a maximum width of 700 pixels. If you don't have software on your computer for that you can easily do it on line. Adobe Express can do that for you and there are many others. Make sure that any images you want to use are easily available on your computer when we come to the training.
After that it's really up to you. Try and find a reason for the mail in addition to telling supporters about the new mailing system. If you have an event coming up, that's ideal, if not then you could find pictures from previous actions or outline more general future plans. If part of your group attended national or regional actions you'll probably find picture of that on line to add.
You might also read the following short pages to help you.
####Your
Your local group welcome message
More to come...