VOICE REPORTER CROSSES 100 K THRESHOLD; WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Rochester, N.Y. -- The executive board of CSEA Monroe County Local 828 would like to thank everyone who visits and shares information posted on our blog. Our first post was May 4, 2009, and in that time frame we have garnered over 100,000 page views on news and information relevant to our community. We are approaching our fourth anniversary this May, and during all the growing pains we believe we have now established a very good web presence in our community.

Over these past four years, we have tried very hard to stay true to our mission. Our mission at the CSEA Voice Reporter is dedicated to speaking truth to power and to give a voice to average working Americans. We will frame the debate in our own words. We will not allow others to define us. Moreover, your CSEA Local 828 officer’s leadership abilities and enduring dedication to our members cause has been second to no one. The Voice Reporter has proven to be an invaluable resource tool for us to communicate, mobilize and demonstrate how important our contributions are to the working fabric of everyday life here in Monroe County.

We look at it this way-- this is 100,000 more interactions with our members and the greater community than if we never created this blog at all. And, it's not as if we have gone completely unnoticed in the past few years. In 2011, the Voice Reporter received peer recognition for its work. We were recognized as a "best blog" by our labor peers.

The Metro New York Labor Communications Council sponsors the only New York area competition that recognizes excellence among labor journalists, photographers, graphic artists, editors and publications. Judges were experts from the labor press, mainstream press and academia.

Just like MNYLCC, the Voice Reporter is dedicated to the importance of all union publications and other labor media. Winning a communications award calls attention to our officers’ talents and the achievements of our publication or other medium in delivering labor’s message. The Voice Reporter also has a very active YouTube Channel and we engage in a multitude of social media strategies.

Talent and good ideas are independent of financial resources and that is what the MNYLCC recognizes. We would like to think so as well. What makes our website/blog so unique is that we create our own primary source documents, photos and videos that document the stories of our local labor community. We are not a repository for other sources-- however, we love to highlight great reporting when we see it. We focus on posting our own original work from our members for all to share through our creative commons license and fair use policies.

In conclusion, thanks for doing your part as well— please visit our web pages often and share this information with friends and family. As we navigate these difficult times together, we are especially counting on you to help us make our community a better place to live, work, play and raise a family.

Best Regards,

Bess Watts, President

Cris Zaffuto, 1^st Vice President

Ove Overmyer, 2^nd Vice President

T. Judith Johsnon, 3^rd Vice President

Sue Trottier, Treasurer

Sue Newman, Secretary