Because newspapers are under no legal obligation to print information on any particular issue or to present contrasting viewpoints, Letters to the Editor can be a useful way to point out the importance of manufacturing issues to the community.

Guidelines For Submitting Letters To The Editor: (Download as Word.doc)

Letters should be written in response to a recent article or editorial.

Direct your letter to the specific writer, subject editor (e.g., Business Editor) and managing editor.

Include a brief overview of your qualifications to establish credibility.

Point out how your viewpoint affects your community or state

Stress the importance of your view using facts, anecdotes or real-life examples.

If you take a critical position, be sure your letter is constructive and raises valid concerns.

Always include your name, address and phone number so you can be contacted for permission to print your letter.

Do not send the letter without your contact information. Most newspapers will not print anonymous letters.

Limit your letter to 250 words, or shorter.

If the newspaper prints your Letter to the Editor, make copies of the issue and send one to AWS National, ATT: Corporate Communications, 550 N.W. LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL 33126.

Guidelines For Submitting An Opinion-Editorial
An Opinion-Editorial, or “Op-Ed” is a commentary on a specific issue, written by readers like you. Op-Eds are effective ways to raise general awareness of an issue while educating the community. When writing an Op-Ed, remember to support your message with examples, statistics and facts whenever possible.

Before you create an Op-Ed piece, we suggest the following guidelines:

Call your local paper and briefly explain your Op-Ed idea to the Editorial Page Editor. Newspapers are under no legal obligation to publish submitted Op-Ed pieces. Calling beforehand may tell you if you are on the right track, or if your Op-Ed will probably not be printed.

Limit your Op-Ed to 500-800 words.

Include a headline. (The newspaper may decide to change your suggested headline.)

Add a brief (one or two sentences) biographical statement about your background, as it relates to the Op-Ed piece you are submitting.

Don't use technical verbiage.

Write A News Release To Call Attention To Your Accomplishment In The Welding And Joining Technologies.

News releases are a traditional method for communicating: who, what, where, when, and why of your welding story.

To increase your chances of having your news release printed in your local newspaper, review the following suggestions before writing your news release:

Keep it short and simple. Limit it to one, double-spaced page.

Draw attention with a strong headline and informative first paragraph.

Include your most important information near the top, followed by less important information. (To save space, editors will cut press releases from the bottom.)

Don’t be too technical. Readers may not know be familiar with the manufacturing industry.

Use 8 1/2” x 11” paper.

Use your AWS section letterhead or, plain white paper.

Leave a minimum of 1” margins on each side of the page.

Include all contact information in the upper, right-hand corner. Don’t forget phone numbers and email addresses.

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” should appear in the upper, left-hand corner

If more than one page is necessary, write “MORE” on the bottom, center of the page to let reporters know that another page will follow.

At the end of the news release, use three number symbols (###) on the bottom, center of the page to signal the end of the story.

SAMPLE NEWS RELEASE FORMAT (Download as Word.doc)

When finished, your news release should resemble this format. If necessary, please replace the sample information shown in this example, with your own announcement, event, or news item.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: (Your Name)
(Company Name)
(Address)
(Phone)
(Email)
(COMPANY NAME) TO SHOWCASE NEW (PRODUCT) AT
AWS WELDING SHOW 2006

(Your City, State) – (Today’s Date) – (Company Name) is exhibiting at the 2006 FABTECH International and AWS Welding Show, to be held at the Georgia World Conference Center,October 31 through November 2. (Company Name) will be displaying (Product Name) a new product that will (Product Benefits). (Company Name) officials will be available to provide live demonstrations of (Product Name) will be held throughout the exhibition hours at booth #XXX.

Visitors to (Company Name, With Booth #) will have the chance to see the latest (Products And Descriptions) and learn more about the company’s (Information On Existing Products And Services).

To attend the 2006 FABTECH International and AWS Welding Show, call 800-443-9353 or register online at www.aws.org/expo..

For more information about (Company Name) products and services, contact (Contact Name) at (Phone Number Or Email Address), or visit our website at (Your Website Address).