Use companywide contacts to sizzle up your newsletter

Marci Kahwaty had to figure that out two years ago when she joined New Jersey-based Atlantic Health and was assigned to oversee a new internal print newsletter. With 10,000 employees, some working through the night, at two hospitals and ancillary health centers, there was a lot going on that never made it into print.

So, like journalists developing sources, Kahwaty and fellow internal communicator Sharon Scalora found nearly 100 point people systemwide to consult.

“Knowing how to reach out to people at the different facilities where the action is happening is so important,” Kahwaty says. “We’re not onsite, so having those contacts out there is crucial. And, 10 times out of 10, they’re leading us to people we know we can talk to for stories in the future and expand on our network of contacts.”

Thanks to this network and the information it provides, many employees are on board with the monthly LiveWire—a key reason it won the 2010 Ragan Recognition Award for Best Nonprofit Newsletter.

In with the new

A discussion of LiveWire’s rise to prominence within Atlantic Health wouldn’t be complete without a mention of what internal communicators faced at the start.