What is a Brotherhood of Cheerful Service? As officers, many of you are well-versed with what the Order of the Arrow offers, feel connected to the brotherhood, and regularly participate in service and fellowship events.
New Arrowmen might not feel this way. In fact, even existing Arrowmen face constant pulls on their time—school, work, clubs, sports, jobs—you name it. The lodge communications team’s job is to ensure your event promotion stays at the top of their ever-busy social feeds.
Building Your Team
Talented Arrowmen are like needles in the haystack of our membership—they’re out there, we just need to find them! To sustain a communications team, you may seek Arrowmen interested in writing, graphic design, photography, videography, and other communications-related skills. Consider making regular announcements at lodge events and sending out communications to find interested Arrowmen. Then, have a conversation with each interested Arrowman to determine their skill set and where they would best fit.
Before you can delegate specific projects and responsibilities to Arrowmen, you must build that team first. Consider icebreakers, informal get-togethers, and other means to make your team more comfortable with one another. Hold a brainstorming session to ensure that each team member feels they have a personal stake in the success of your comms team.
Messaging
The most important things to communicate are the SELLING points of an event. Think: if you were a new Arrowman, what would be the difference between you attending the event or spending the weekend at home? What will get people off the couch, in the car, and to your event? These “selling points” can include
- Fun activities
- Food
- New Arrowman discounts
- Unique events
- Brotherhood conversion opportunities
- Fellowship
- Patches
The way to display these things is very simple: show, don’t tell! When you describe an event, keep the wording concise.
Make sure that there are photos taken of everything your lodge does. Post the ones in which Arrowmen have the most fun! If Arrowmen see other Arrowmen having fun, they’ll naturally want to join in by attending your next event.
Don’t just sell event promotions. Show awesome things that are happening in your lodge. This includes showing Arrowmen:
- Having fun at your events
- Doing outstanding things outside of the OA
- Providing service to the camps and community
- Leading their chapters and lodge
Resources
The Order of the Arrow has curated resources to help you further develop your lodge’s communications team.
Communications Team Resources: oa-bsa.org/resources/communications-toolkit.
Part of the mission of the Order of the Arrow’s National Communications Committee is to support chapters and lodges in how to best promote their events and programs. In the coming months, the Local Support Team will fully revamp the Communications Toolkit. Arrowmen can reach out via email at @email with questions.