# Presentation: 918375

## Evolution ofThe Interaction PointtoSLAC Today(daily email/web newspaper)

- Ruth McDunnSenior Web Information Specialist
- Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

## History of Communication Tools

*SLAC News* (1966-1971)
*The Beam Line* (1971-1990)
*The Interaction Point* (TIP) (1990-8/2002)
*Beam Line* (1991-2003)
*Quick News* (1997-2003)
*The Interaction Point* (TIP) (8/2002 - 2/2006)
*SLAC Today *(2/2006 - present)

**Notes:**
SLAC News (1966-1971)
irregularly published newsletter 
The Beam Line (1971-1990)
monthly newsletter 
The Interaction Point (TIP) (1990-8/2002)
monthly newsletter 
Beam Line (1991-2003)
quarterly science publication 
Quick News (1997-2003)
weekly online bulletin 
The Interaction Point (TIP) (8/2002 - 2/2006)
biweekly newspaper 
SLAC Today (2/2006 - )
daily online (email and website) newsletter

## SLAC Today Goals

- Lab is in transition. Directorate wanted to:
- Keep employees and users better informed
- Create a sense of community
- How?
- Consolidate events, announcements, and news
- Provide timely source of information
- Insight into the people who work at SLAC
- Inform and entertain
- Provide archives and search

## Daily Email and Online Delivery

- Low tech
- No content management system/database
- Combination of style sheets, templates and creative use of includes (FrontPage/PhotoShop)
- Freeware used to create emails
- HTML format (Chilkat Software’s “Mail this Page”)
- Plain text format (NirSoft's “HTML as Text” )
- Majordomo mailing lists
- Daily search indexing in a separate collection
- Automated submissions (optional)
- News, Access, Events and Announcements, Flea Market (view example)

**Notes:**
Directorate started planning SLAC Today when the lab transition was announced in May 2005, but  it took until Jan 2006 to get all the pieces in place.
Manager hired November 2006
First meeting with LBL and Fermi 1/19/2006
First issue launched 2/27/2006

## Staffing 

- 1 FTE Manager
- Kelen Tuttle
- MS Journalism
- BA in Physics, Astrophysics,and English
- 1.5 FTE Writers
- Interns and part time writers
- Lots of enthusiasm

**Notes:**
It not just 2.5 FTE, but just the right combination of people, skills, and enthusiasm.

## Layout

**Banner**

**Date**

**Lead Story**

**Image**

**Columns**

**1 – 2 short articles**

**Events****Access**
**Announcements****News**

**Links**

**Notes:**
Main Feature 
Left Column Regular Features
Monday: Dorfan Today 
Tuesday: Safety Today 
Wednesday: People Today 
Thursday: Science Today 
Friday: Colloquium Monday (if scheduled) 
Center Column
One or two articles on various topics 
Right Column
Events, Access, Announcements, News, more links 

## Who Reads SLAC Today? 

- 4100 employees and users
- 4020 as HTML email
- 80 in plain text
- No opt out option
- 140 outside subscribers
- 130 as HTML email
- 10 in plain text
- Communicators at other DOE facilities, family, reporters and journalists, scientists...
- Examples
- HTML, HTML in Pine, Plain Text

## Customer Survey

- 3 months after launch
- HTML email as only option
- Added plain text version
- Cafeteria menu
- Removed
- No opt out options
- Directorate mandate
- _[View Full Results](http://www.surveymonkey.com/DisplaySummary.asp?SID=2147402&U=214740250652)_

## Is it Working?

**Launch**

## Is it Working?

**Launch**

## Feedback

-  “SLAC Today has turned out to be very informative.  I thought it might be an interruption and a waste of time but there are many things in the content that I need to know. It also expands my knowledge of what others are doing. I like it!”

## Feedback

-  “I like it. If it’s not in my mailbox, I'm not going to search for it. I scan the 2-3 headlines (just the right number) and read when interests me. It's just the right format - keep it up.”

## Feedback

-  “I’d like to voice my concern. You never asked us if we wanted SLAC Today, so why are we forced to have it in our e-mail. This is nothing more than SPAM. I’m quite happy to have SLAC Today as my default web page, but quit clogging up my e-mail.”

## Challenges

- Making the science more accessible
- Coming up with the stories everyday
- 8 months, so far
- 5 days a week
- 3 - 4 stories/columns a day (almost 1000 stories!)

## Future Plans

- Basically running smoothly, but...
- Use search to create topic search
- Add more multimedia

**Notes:**
Need more diligence in adding appropriate title tags to each page.
Use CCE to create yahoo style search for this small area of the web.

## Questions?

- Ruth McDunn
- _[mcdunn@slac.stanford.edu](mailto:mcdunn@slac.stanford.edu)_
- Kelen Tuttle
- _[Kelen.tuttle@slac.stanford.edu](mailto:Kelen.tuttle@slac.stanford.edu)__ _