Association News - 21_CW07 - A news about news

Some years ago, there was the impression in the community that the club is not really active anymore. There was the statement "Is DMXControl 3 already dead before it is really on the world?" through the forum. Among other things from this impression the news area was created. The news started in the form of news postings in a subforum of the "normal" forum. There we wrote the topics only in German at first. With the update of the entire forum in April 2018, our news received a completely separate area and since then can be found there quite prominently in their own style. From that point on, the news was also published in both German and English. In the meantime, the News has become so established in our association that we have also aligned our processes accordingly. For some years now, news has been the second item on the agenda of our weekly project meetings.

At this point "News", everyone present at the project meeting briefly reflects on the topic that moved us or the community during the previous week. As you know, we report alternately on topics around DMXControl 3 like the latest news from the development and the beta test, tell you tips and tricks about the software or give you an insight into projects realized with DMXControl 3. Our second news section covers all topics that are currently coming up in the association. This includes especially the specials about the annual meetings, but also general topics and news about the association. Beside the current topics we have of course a watch list for new news in the background. In this list we collect all topics, if in a short time a lot of interesting things come together, which are all worthy of a mention in a news. However, these can also be items that are planned for a longer period or are only relevant in terms of content at a later date.

Based on the hot topics of the week from the club, the community and also our watch list, we then create a timetable for the publication of the next news - especially if there are several important topics. In this timetable we also consider if it is possible to finish the news after the definition during our Sunday project meeting until the following Wednesday at 10:00 AM, taking into account all related issues. At short notice, however, more important topics may lead to the news being published later.

On the other hand, it can also be that a topic for the next Wednesday is already set for the news item in the project meeting. So, it was also with this news about the news: With our project meeting to 07.02.2021 the desire came up that Jens-Peter and Stefan as main responsible persons for the news area write once again something to topics from our association. But since the watch list didn't offer anything suitable at that time, after a bit of brainstorming the idea for the "non-news" came up. By chance, two drafts were available almost at the same time. Because of their different ways of writing, two news were created from these two drafts in the end - namely the rather shorter, but with wit written news last week and the rather with backgrounds provided news this week.

There is not much to say about the writing of the news itself. As already mentioned, this is done by Jens-Peter and Stefan alternately, as time permits. Jens-Peter and Stefan also take over the first review of each other's news. In a small group, the news are regularly more or less taken apart again - both on the basis of content and with regard to a good readability for you. Most of the time a very coherent version is translated into English. For this we have been using various tools for some time, which also deliver very useful results. This initial translation is then improved manually. If the English part is also finished, the new news gets its concrete date for the publication. This is done automatically by our forum. At the same time the whole team gets the info that the news is ready. Everybody who has time then takes another look at the news to correct last minor spelling and punctuation mistakes. Of course, there is still the possibility to intervene and adjust the content of the news - or to cancel the publication at short notice.

If there were no objections, etc., after the publication in the forum as the center of the entire community for the news then still the transfer to our social media channels, here so Facebook and Instagram. In the latter we publish the news a little more irregularly, because here, as is well known, the focus is on the photos. If there is no adequate picture for a news item, it will not be published there. But where our news will definitely appear is on Facebook - here also either on our club page DMXControl Projects e.V. or on the page of DMXControl. Here you will find - if there is no additional picture - a short summary and the link back to the forum. Especially more detailed news can be better presented here than in a status update on our social media channels.

So, you have a complete picture the next time you stumble across a news item from us. And there are bound to be a few more. By the way, one item on our watch list is YouTube: we are already planning our next livestream. The details - especially the exact date - will follow as soon as we have found a suitable date and the content has been finalized.

Your DMXControl-Team