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THE ‘NUTS’ AND ‘BOLTS’ OF SUBMITTING A TORCH AWARD APPLICATION. What ‘TO DO’ and What ‘NOT TO DO’ to give your application the best chance of winning!. WHAT YOU ARE STRIVING FOR…. THE ‘PERFECT’ APPLICATION. Your submission will be reviewed by three (3) judges
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THE ‘NUTS’ AND ‘BOLTS’ OF SUBMITTING A TORCH AWARD APPLICATION What ‘TO DO’ and What ‘NOT TO DO’ to give your application the best chance of winning!
WHAT YOU ARE STRIVING FOR….THE ‘PERFECT’ APPLICATION • Your submission will be reviewed by three (3) judges • It should take the judge 15 – 20 minutes to review • You want the judge to focus on the content, not the idiosyncrasies of your application • An application / submission can never convey the spirit of the program, so don’t try through inundation of content • That this Men’s Club / Brotherhood program is worthy of award and should be duplicated by almost every Men’s Club.
MISTAKES TO AVOID! • Paper Submissions (we don’t take them!) • Electronic files which are TOO BIG • Inserting too many non-relevant pictures or graphics or not inserting the pictures and graphics into the submission document • Electronic files which are poorly named • Creative formatting choices & fonts which are too big • Too much detail • Sending in a format which the receiver may not be able to read! • Filed too late • That it isn’t clear the Men’s Club did the program in the application & supporting docs
AVOIDANCE #1PAPER SUBMISSIONS • Submissions are retrieved by the judges electronically, so a paper submission has to be converted {by a Conservative Rabbi} (i.e., scanned). • Hand-written applications are hard/impossible to read. • The Torch Award Chairman has other things to do than scan your documents.
AVOIDANCE #2ELECTRONIC FILES WHICH ARE TOO BIG • Submissions are retrieved by the judges electronically, so a submission which is too large takes too long to download • There are a number of file compression software programs, for both Windows and Mac, which will make a graphics and/or picture file smaller. Use them BEFORE you put a picture in your submission document.
AVOIDANCE #3REDUCING THE SIZE OF GRAPHICS INSERTED • Crop image before processing • Windows • Microsoft Office Picture Editor (comes with MSOffice Professional) • If your computer didn’t come with one, check out www.download.com for lots of freeware (public domain) and shareware programs (try before you buy) • Mac OS • Graphic Converter (available at www.lemkesoft.com/ or www.download.com) • If your computer didn’t come with one, check out www.download.com for lots of freeware (public domain) and shareware programs (try before you buy)
AVOIDANCE #3aTOO MANY UNIMPORTANT PICTURES • Remember, the Judge doesn’t know who the people in the photographs are. Don’t just put pictures in your submission because you took them. • Pictures should tell you something which the text description can’t. • Pictures don’t have to show each and every detail of the event, no matter how minor.
AVOIDANCE #4POORLY NAMED FILES • You may have only one (2) file named ‘Torch Award Submission,’ but the Chairperson has many related to submissions. • Name it with the ID# or ID# and Name of Program, i.e. TA11-068.doc or TA09-068.pdf TA09-068_Hearing_Mens_Voices.pdf • Don’t name it generic ‘TorchAwardSubmission” • Remember, there are many submissions downloaded, & your file should be understandably named for the receiver…. not you!
AVOIDANCE #5FORMATTING ISSUES • Professional Submissions are generally done in 11 or 12 point Times Roman (serif) or Arial / Helvetica (non-serif) font. • Fancy fonts on your computer may not be on someone else’s computer, and your operating system’s ‘font substitution’ may not result in an attractive and persuasive document. [Other than a document converted to be a pdf, in which the font information is imbedded with the document.] • If you can’t read 11 or 12 point font on your computer, change the magnification size of the image, not the font size of the document itself.
AVOIDANCE #6SENDING IN AN ELECTRONIC FORMAT THE RECEIVER COMPUTER CAN’T READ • There are a number of operating systems and file formats, and Microsoft likes to change file formats so older software can’t read newer created files. • Learn how to ‘Save As’ and if you are going to save in Word format (which many word processes can read), save it in a version which the most types of computer systems can read • Best Bet. Save as an Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf), so that what you see is exactly what the reader on the other end will see. With the Mac OS, you can do this automatically with any file you can print.
AVOIDANCE #7STARTING / FILING TOO LATE • Even if the format for the submission changes a little next year, the information needed likely won’t change that much, so prepare your submission RIGHT AFTER you hold the program. Make it part of the responsibility of the program chairman. • Have your Program Chairperson fill out a Torch Award Application RIGHT AFTER the event… awsiwrt(Anything Worth Saying Is Worth Repeating TWICE!) • Torch Award Rules are out now. Use them.
TO THOSE WHO SAY PACKAGING ISN’T IMPORTANT… • There were many MP3 players prior to the introduction of the ipod … • There were many cell phones prior to the introduction of the iPhone … • You want your submission to stand out for its simplicity and understanding!
Remember the following ! • A submission Template is available to download in MSWord from the Torch Award page of the FJMC website. Download and use it when submitting your document • Be professional in your submission. • You can submit your application now, or right after you do your potentially award-winning program. Prepare it and submit it while your enthusiasm is high, not months later.
FINAL THOUGHTSKEEPING INFORMED OF DEADLINES • The FJMC has many methods of communicating with your club leadership… but they have to be read • The Advantage newsletter for club presidents (sent via mail bi-monthly) • HaShofar (the email bulletin of the FJMC) • Flyers which come in the bi-monthly dues status mailing sent out by the FJMC • FJMC HQ – 1-800-288-FJMC (3562) • Your Regional Officers • Please, use them all • You wouldn’t want your program’s submission to be rejected because it was filed too late!
WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING YOUR SUBMISSION(S) IN 2010 & 2011GOOD LUCK! For further information: Bill Becker, 2011 Torch Award Chairman TorchAward@fjmc.org Allan Kahan, 2009 Torch Award Chairman AllanKahanFJMC@gmail.com