Fellowship, community, and caring are hallmarks of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and, while the BPOE, or Elks, has been around since the 1800s, today's Elks continue to be vibrant and active, welcoming members from all walks of life.

The San Francisco Elks Lodge No. 3 is the oldest continuously active Elks Lodge in the world, and the San Francisco Elks have not only created a community for members, but also provide opportunities for members to volunteer for good works in the community.

Each Elks Lodge is required to produce a monthly bulletin and they all vary with each lodge.  The bulletin not only serves as a conduit for lodge and membership vitals, but it also features each month's community and lodge activities.   In modern times, the bulletin is not only traditionally mailed, but also delivers via e-mail and is posted on lodge websites.  And, like so many community organizations across the country, bulletin contributors and editors are volunteering their time and talents.

Using InDesign, Brickstreet Communications started providing monthly layout and set up services for San Francisco No. 3's bulletin in spring 2008.  Working with the existing formatting and framework, I wanted to keep the spirit of the bulletin's reflection of membership activities, but also try to simplify the presentation gearing towards a magazine-style layout that was easy to read and focused as much on people and visuals as much as possible. 

This is a great group of people and they put their hearts and souls into the mindful goals of fellowship and community service. My goal each month is to reflect the energy, vibrancy, and sincerity of the membership as much as possible.  And, the bulletin shares the efforts of the lodge within the global organization as well.

From a logistical standpoint, I worked with the bulletin team to determine a workable monthly time and action schedule for each bulletin -- we are on deadline.  As soon as deadline approaches, the team sends me content, visuals, and ads and I storyboard out the issue, preliminarily setting up placement and getting an understanding of use of space, and we move forward.  (We are blessed each month with too much content.)

Visually, I simplified the newsletter to two simple fonts -- one serif (Times New Roman) as the primary and one sans serif (Helvetica) for accents, gave it a print media feel, and then set forth to simplify photo image presentation (simple drop shadow for clarity and depth).  I created consistency in appearance and placement for the monthly features, and each month's feature stories.

We have the luxury of member feedback, so I can work with the team to respond and  adjust as we go, and the bulletin team is getting

regular positive

feedback from the

membership.  The

newsletter is successfully

encouraging member

pride in Lodge No. 3.

I really enjoy working on

the bulletin each month

and I am always impressed

with the sincerity and

kindness of the San

Francisco Elks.