Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

A 4th Division position with high compensation is open!

I need help with Grab Iron and 4D web site content. There are two main reasons – continuous (and at times high) volume, and (more importantly) we should have more than one person “managing the pipeline” of 4D news and information through the Grab Iron newsletter and 4D web site. In particular, Grab Iron post notification is currently a manual process (through Constant Contact newsletters) versus the previous automatic e-mail notification process. When I’m not available to create the Constant Contact newsletter, time critical Grab Iron (GI) posts wait until I’m able to create the newsletter. We need more than one person managing GI content to improve this bottleneck.

So what is the compensation? It’s not money or stock options (hah!). I’ve been compensated with the connections and friendships I’ve made in (and outside) the 4D community (whether model railroading or prototype railfanning). I’ve been compensated with the satisfaction of spreading useful information within the 4D community. I’ve been compensated with learning about aspects of this hobby I would never have thought about.

Specifics:

  • Creating GI posts from content e-mailed to me or gi_editor@4dpnr.com (clinic reports, articles, promotions, announcements, ads, etc)
  • Editing GI posts created by others (some need only a few minutes of minimal editing or formatting, others longer to simplify or correct grammar and sentence structure; photo arrangement and addition of URL links also takes time)
  • Creating Constant Contact newsletters
  • Requesting GI articles and content and helping promote communication within (and outside of) the 4th Division

We use WordPress software to manage all of our web site content including the Grab Iron blog, so volunteers will learn the basics of WordPress usage.

While the Grab Iron help is the most constant need, there are other areas of our 4D web site that need volunteer help, for anyone interested:

  • Creating and managing events in the 4D calendar (events from around the division and the PNR are regularly added)
  • Installing, configuring, and moderating a 4D discussion forum
  • Managing and improving the “look and feel” of the website user interface, through WordPress themes

Please contact me at gi_editor@4dpnr.com.