Board Report – Digital Officer

The Assembly will be held on the 18th of May from 2 pm to 7 pm UK time

As I settle into the role of Digital Officer, I’m grateful for the support and collaboration from the Digital Committee Chair in particular. Sharlotte has been amazing in helping me ease into this position. I want to thank my board members, and service volunteers for your kindness in all the interactions we’ve had in the last few months. It’s been a busy and rewarding first few months, and I’m pleased to share progress made so far, mapped to the core duties of this service position.

1. Develops and implements a digital strategy for Region 9 – To address design and usability constraints on the Region 9 website, I proposed and then assisted with implementing a new theme that allows for greater flexibility in layout and content presentation. With support from the Digital Committee and a newly formed Website Review Committee, the site has been rebuilt to better support our communication goals and digital presence.
2. Identifies opportunities for digital innovation and growth
   • Several small but meaningful changes have already made a difference:
     • A paid calendar plugin now supports recurring events with clarity.
     • A Canva license has been secured and shared with committee chairs as requested for creating visual content.
     • We’ve shifted toward shorter, more focused email campaigns with a single call to action — and we’re already seeing better results.
3. Oversees the maintenance of the Region 9 website
   • The redesigned website is now more accessible and easier to update. New features include improved newsletter formatting and integrated calendar functionality.
   • Being self-hosted we have access to and control of all parts of the website management and maintenance platforms. This has greatly increased the ability to update the website quickly and with ease.
   • Guidance and feedback from the Website Review Committee continues to help shape its development.
4. Manages the OA Region 9 Google Drive – Management of the Region 9 Google Drive is now shared between myself and the Chair of the Digital Committee. This not only ensures smoother collaboration but also strengthens continuity and coverage in case one of us is unavailable.
5. Responsible for keeping and giving out passwords – We’ve taken the same shared-responsibility approach with password management. This ensures that more than one trusted person has access to essential systems, making our processes more resilient and reliable.
6. Maintains and updates Region 9 mailing listings – Mailing list maintenance is also jointly managed by myself and the Digital Chair. Having two people share this role allows for timely updates and support for last-minute mailouts or subscriber queries.
7. Creates effective email campaigns – We published the first newsletter under the new structure on February 7th, with support from the Newsletter Coordinator and the Board Chair. The clearer format and single-action focus seem to be helping us connect more effectively with our audience.
8. Sends communications to the Region 9 mailing list – As I’ve familiarised myself with the rhythm and responsibilities of the role, the Digital Committee Chair has kindly assisted in managing important reminders and time-sensitive notifications. Together, we’ve ensured that essential updates continue to reach the community reliably. This shared responsibility also helps ensure resilience in our communications process.
9. Provides regular reports to measure success
   • While we haven’t yet implemented detailed tracking for website metrics, we are already seeing improved results from our email communications:
     • Open rate: Increased from 28% to 33% (Jan–Mar 2025)
     • Click rate: Increased from 2% to 3%
   • These figures are in line with or above nonprofit benchmarks (25–27% open rate, 2–3% click rate).
   • I’d be grateful for guidance on what types of data and insights would be most helpful to include in regular reports. Some metrics can be genuinely valuable — others, less so. Your feedback will help make reporting useful and implementable, not overwhelming.
10. Provides training and support
    • I’ve supported several board members and committee chairs in accessing their Google email accounts, and shared tools like Canva to assist with content creation.
    • Our first Digital Committee meeting was held on January 25th, with 6–7 members attending, and we now meet every other Saturday from 5:00 to 6:30 PM (UK time). These meetings have been thoughtful, collaborative, and full of great ideas — a real highlight of this role so far.

Looking Ahead: Focus Areas for the Next Four Months

As part of our ongoing digital development, there are a few areas we’ve identified for attention and improvement in the coming months:

• Translation Support – We’re receiving valuable input from the translation committee to help us reach out to service bodies regarding the website translation needs. By the time of our next report, we aim to have implemented several corrected or updated translations to improve accessibility and clarity across languages.
• Digital Expense Claim Process – We’re currently reviewing the financial expense claim form and process with the goal of making it more streamlined and digitised. The intention is to ensure everyone involved has access to the most current information in real-time — and to reduce the need for repeated back-and-forth emails.
• Printable Web Content & User Survey
  • We’re exploring features to improve the usability of the website — such as enabling users to export selected information (e.g., event details or resources) in a print-friendly format.
  • To help us shape future development, we’re planning to distribute a short survey to members to better understand their needs and preferences.

It’s been a joy to step into this role and begin shaping Region 9’s digital presence with such a capable and generous group of fellows. Thank you for the warm welcome and the trust — I’m excited for what comes next.

Region 9 Digital Officer