We’ve Grown … and We Might Be Drowning Just a Little

We’ve been wanting to run this story for a while … but we haven’t had room!

Perhaps you’ve noticed that you’re scrolling farther and farther down your screen to get to that very last Daily Flyer story. No, you’re not imagining it — the DF has grown! In October 2022, we were averaging about 16 article submissions daily. That’s a lot! In October 2023, we now average 25 (and we have raised the cap on what we can actually run from 15 to 20). This is a good sign. At almost four years old, the Daily Flyer is an informational tool that has become important to the NOVA community! The volume of story submissions, which represents a dynamic mix of happenings across the College, is very exciting; but it’s also a delicate balancing act.

The Daily Flyer comprises information for NOVA faculty and staff that includes (but indeed is not limited to) urgent announcements, event reminders and original writing with features about our amazing Nighthawks and our faculty and staff. The automated submission form makes it easy for units across the College to share their updates with the Daily Flyer staff, the folks responsible for deploying the Flyer every weekday morning.

Recently, we’ve received an influx of submissions with requests to run for multiple days or even weeks, especially in our Events category. We care deeply about what’s going on across the College and our campuses, but we simply have more content than we can realistically share on a daily basis. Please have patience with us as we try our best to disseminate communications from NOVA and VCCS leadership, critical HR updates, professional development opportunities and event details alongside the inspiring stories of NOVA’s top-notch employees and our talented Nighthawks.

Please also bear in mind that the Daily Flyer is one among several communications tools at your disposal. For event reminders that you’d like to send on multiple days, consider utilizing your own department- or division-level listservs. The College events calendar is another great tool. For programming that is open to students, the weekly Nighthawk News is also an option.

The Communications team takes great pride in the Daily Flyer, which we hope you value as a timely, accurate and balanced source of NOVA news as it relates to our dedicated faculty and staff. In an effort to continue bringing you quality information on a daily basis, we ask that, before you submit a story for inclusion in the Daily Flyer, you consider the following:

• Urgency: We need to work together to make sure we’re reporting on issues that affect faculty and staff across the institution. Executive-level communications have priority.
• Target audience: Is it truly for ALL faculty and staff? Or are you trying to reach a select group of individuals?
• Frequency: A story that runs for multiple issues affects the daily news pipeline. We need to share the wealth with our colleagues. In addition, the adage (which I just made up) is true: The more it runs, the less it is seen. We call this information fatigue, and we want to try to avoid it.
• Length: If your story is just a quick blurb, does it warrant an entire article in the Daily Flyer? Perhaps there is another communications channel you can use to get the word out.

We thank you for your support of and interest in the Daily Flyer! We love putting it together for you and serving it hot with your coffee each morning. Our effective communication relies on your ongoing collaboration, and we sincerely appreciate it! Please email dailyflyer@nvcc.edu with any questions.

Submitted by:
Lucy Williams, Writer/Editor, LYWilliams@nvcc.edu