Expert: Dan Smith - 11/1/2006

Question
I've been asked to produce a booklet for our next agm. This will be used for funding purposes as well as for the general public to view our drama school.
What should I/needs to be included?

Answer
What is an agm? Don't ever assume that everyone knows all the acronyms you know. Acronyms are usually very tribal artifacts except for the few such as DWI (driving while intoxicated) that have made it into the general vocabulary. They are mostly used to show you are a member of the tribe, and they generally impede accurate communication. So cut it out. In all your writing. The trivial convenience of typing ease is more than overcome by what you lose in communication and inconvenience to the reader. Your task is to communicate, not to make typing easier or to show me that you're part of some in crowd of which I am not a member.

That said, I think I can surmise that this a membership meeting of some sort, but that you want to booklet to have a broader use than just at meeting. In general, the booklet should describe the program: how it started, who founded it and why, the curriculum, the faculty and administration, at least an idea of scheduling, and fees.

If I were you, I would look up similar programs on the Internet and see if I could find some examples of such booklets or brochures.

Hope this helps.