Suggested guidelines for submitting regional event reports

Thank you for agreeing to share something about your regional event. These guidelines will help the editors format your report for publication in Connections or on the Web site. If you have suggestions for improving or clarifying the information below, please send them to Nick Wagner at editor[at]sdiworld.org.

1. Please try to keep your report to 300 words or less. Shorter reports will be given priority for publication in Connections.
   
2. Try to tell a story rather than simply a “report” of what happened.
   
3. In your story, include the W’s. “Who, what, where, when and why.”
   
4. At the top of your story-report, please list the following information:
   a. Your name and title (e.g., Jane Smith, regional coordinator)
   b. Your e-mail address and phone number.
   c. The geographical location and number of your region.
   d. A proposed title for your story.
   
5. Include digital photos if possible.
   a. Be sure your camera is set to take high-resolution photos.
   b. Include clear and descriptive captions. If there are people in the photos, list their full names in the correct order.
   
6. Use Spiritual Directors International style for capitalization, spelling, and abbreviations. You can find a complete style guide at http://sdiworld.org/write_for_presence.html/write-for-presence, but here is a short list of things to remember:
   a. Always spell out Spiritual Directors International.
   b. Include the last comma in a serial list (e.g., “Jane, Tom, Alice, and Sandy were present.”)
   c. Hyphenate e-mail and capitalize Web site (two words).
   d. Include “USA” after U.S. state names. Spell out state names.
   
7. E-mail your story-report in MS Word format to Nick Wagner, editor[at]sdiworld.org.
   
8. Try to send your story in soon after the event, perhaps within two weeks. Then it will still be fresh in your mind.