Hello!

Welcome to GMT's monthly e-newsletter for June! We hope you have been having an enjoyable spring and are looking forward to summer.

We are sending out this e-newsletter on the first Monday of every month to share feature announcements, membership tips, links to recent articles from environmental reporters, new members and other helpful resources.

You are receiving this as your organization is a member of Green Media Toolshed and you are currently a registered GMT user. Should you wish to opt out of this monthly communication, please see the instructions in section 8 below.

In this issue you will find:
1. Member Connections.
2. Buzz from the Beat.
3. Link(s) of the Month.
4. Community Coverage.
5. GMT's Newest Members.
6. Be in the Know: Why You Need GMT?s Tools.
7. Support options.
8. Opt out instructions.

1. Member Connections: Events and updates to be aware of...

# The media database is going through an upgrade! On June 19th, the Vocus media database will be upgraded to version PR6. The upgrade will be seamless and shouldn't have any effect on your ability to log in and use the media database. When you log into PR6 for the first time, you?ll see several changes and new features, including easier navigation, enhanced reporter profiles and streamlined email/fax distribution. You can read more about the upgrade here. As the upgrade gets closer, I'll send out another reminder, along with more details and where to find support documents. GMT will also be holding several trainings that will explain the new features and updates to the media database. To sign up for one of these trainings, go here. The trainings are listed in the second section of the page.
# Keep your calendars open for the 2008 True Spin Conference! The conference is finally happening again on January 31st and February 1st of 2008. It will be held at the Curtis Hotel in Denver, Colorado. We'll have more details as the conference gets closer. GMT members will receive an early registration discount and Green Media Toolshed will also be organizing several sessions. Read about the 2006 conference here.
# World Ocean Day is this week! The day to celebrate our oceans and our connections to them falls on June 8th. Activities and events are being coordinated by the Ocean Project, who is also pushing to get the United Nations to officially recognize June 8th as World Ocean Day. Check out the main website for a list of partner events, activity ideas and tips on doing outreach for the day.
# Live Earth is happening on July 7th! Nine concerts will be happening over a 24-hour period in an effort to get people around the world to think about the climate crisis and ways to solve it. Is your group holding an event or campaign around this? If so, let us know and we can promote it on our blog so other members can know what you are up to!
# River Action Day is coming up in September! Learn techniques for influencing lawmakers - Educate your Members of Congress - Advocate for strong river policy - Come participate in American Rivers' 4th annual Capitol Confluence: River Action Day (formerly River Lobby Day) on September 24-25, 2007.

Join fellow river advocates from across the country on Capitol Hill to encourage your lawmakers to be river champions. Capitol Confluence: River Action Day is your chance to tell Congress to support policies that will ensure healthy rivers for all communities. Never lobbied before? American Rivers will host an advocacy training workshop on Monday, September 24, and schedule your meetings with Members of Congress for the following day.

To register, visit this link. There's no charge to participate and American Rivers will provide a limited number of stipends to help offset the cost of travel and lodging.

A past River Action Day participant speaks out: "There?s nothing like speaking directly with your national decision-makers, and for many grassroots organizations, opportunities to do so are few and far between. But American Rivers' River Lobby Day gave that opportunity to many people who wouldn't otherwise have the resources to have their story told on Capitol Hill. It was wonderful to see so many local organizations together to carry a common message: that river protection should be a national priority."
~ Lee Zukowski, Pacific Rivers Council (OR)

For more information, visit www.AmericanRivers.org or contact Josh Klein.

2. Buzz from the Beat: The humpback whales are free!

You've most likely been following the plight of two wayward humpback whales that took a wrong turn and ended up 70 miles from the ocean in the Sacramento River. Eric Bailey of the Los Angeles Times reported that the whales have not been spotted since May 30th and most experts believe they have made it safely back to the ocean. "First spotted swimming languidly May 13," explained Eric, "the pair arrived in the Sacramento River sporting deep gashes likely inflicted by a run-in with a ship." Whale experts from around the country came to California to try to coax the two whales back to the sea. During the whales' journey, many Northern Californians descended upon the river to watch their attempted return home. As the whales traveled closer to the mouth of the river, their health improved and now, with no whales in sight, experts are hoping they?ve returned to the sea. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this is what happened!

Read the full story here.

3. Links of the month: Sign up for GMT's next training...

# You have probably already received the reminder for GMT's next skill-building training. This month?s training will focus on pitching opinion editorials (op-eds) and letters to the editor and will happen on June 13th at 2pm EST. June's guest host will be Peter Kelley of Kelley Campaigns. Peter spent 10 years as an award-winning newspaper reporter and has been creating successful issue campaigns for public interest causes in Washington, DC since 1990. He has held top communications jobs at four national environmental groups: the League of Conservation Voters, National Environmental Trust, American Rivers and Environment2004. One especially interesting tidbit is that Peter was recently trained by Al Gore to deliver the Inconvenient Truth slide show.
# If you haven't already heard, the 2007 State of the News Media has been released by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The Project lists seven major trends to pay attention to in 2007. The most interesting trend explains that "blogging is on the brink of a new phase that will probably include scandal, profitability for some, and a splintering into elites and non-elites over standards and ethics." The report also highlights how technology is changing the way audiences are measured, the state of digital media (along with profiles of different media websites) and how the Internet as a news medium has grown, but not without certain problems.
# Looking for another way to connect online? Change.org, which was recently launched in February 2007, is a site that is hoping to "transform social activism by serving as the central platform that connects likeminded people." The site allows you to create a profile for yourself and your organization and connect with other nonprofits and people working on similar issues. You can also see a list of campaigns and choose the ones you wish to support. I am already on the site, along with several GMT members, including the Rainforest Action Network, CompuMentor and CODEPINK. If you add yourself to the site, remember to connect with all of us!

4. Community Coverage: Coloma-Lotus community's 4th annual Trail Fest...

The American River Conservancy recently sent out a release about the Coloma-Lotus community's 4th annual Trail Fest happening on June 11th. This year?s theme is "Bridging Trails for Communities" and funds raised will go towards land purchases and trail construction along the American River in California. The Trail Fest will involve a silent auction, featuring donated items from many local businesses, such as a hot air balloon ride over the river. Blue Turtle Seduction is the event's featured band. The American River Conservancy's Development Director, Rene Hamlin, explained that they have already received several inquiries about the event after sending out the press release in late May. For more information and tickets on attending if you are in the area, go here.

Learn more about the American River Conservancy and the American River here.

Read the full press release here.

Read about issues GMT members are working or post your press release to the GMT News Feed.

Do you have a success story you'd like to share? Submit it to yvonne@greenmediatoolshed.org to be featured in our next e-newsletter.

5. GMT's Newest Members: Please welcome the following groups to the GMT network!

1. American River Conservancy is endeavoring to protect the natural habitat along the American River in El Dorado County in California. They are also providing "quality nature programs to thousands of school age children each year."
2. Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is working to conserve the landscapes of Maryland?s Eastern Shore "through strategic land conservation and sound land use planning."
3. Kent County Conservancy is striving to "acquire and protect property and easements on land with important rural heritage resources" in Kent County, Delaware.
4. SafeLawns Foundation is working to create a coalition of organizations "committed to educating society about the benefits of organic lawn care and gardening." Check out the SafeLawns blog here.
5. Urban Age Institute is helping "urban leaders change the way their cities work" to make them more sustainable. They publish the quarterly Urban Age Magazine, which you can read about here.

6. Be in the Know: Why You Need GMT Tools: Call and let us know what you think about GMT!

Green Media Toolshed has a new comment line! Simply call (202) 730-9468 and leave a message with your thoughts about GMT membership, our tools, our training program or anything else that is on your mind that you would like to share. GMT can then share these voicemails with the GMT community as MP3s on our website. As always, we love getting feedback from our members! Interested in setting up a comment line for your own organization to gather feedback from your own members and supporters? Send me an email and I can give you more information on how to use GrandCentral.com to do just that.

Stayed tune for the upcoming guides from MobileActive, a project of Green Media Toolshed, on how to use voicemails and ringtones to gather support for your organization and its issues. The MobileActive site currently features information about how to make a ringtone for your organization and three very informative guides on mobile advocacy.

7. Support Options and Monthly FAQ: What if I have a question about writing a press release or hosting a media event? Where do I find answers to these questions?

GMT office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm Eastern Standard Time.

For a full list of web browser requirements and support options for the media database, please visit here.

For web tools or general GMT support, contact Yvonne Archer at 202-464-5357 or yvonne@greenmediatoolshed.org.

*FAQ of the month: What if I have a question about writing a press release or hosting a media event? Where do I find answers to these questions?

If you have a specific question about doing communications outreach or advocacy work, a great place to look for an answer is within the Skill Building Library of the GMT Training Center. The library has an extensive archive of files and links on everything from planning a press event, to getting your letter to the editor published, to how to leave out unnecessary jargon in an interview. The library even has sample press releases and tips on blogging and social networking. The GMT membership team makes sure to keep the library up-to-date with any new content we feel can benefit our members.

8. Opt out or Submit feedback: Come on, ask me a question...or better yet, pay me a compliment!

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View past e-newsletters in our monthly e-newsletter archive section of the GMT Training Center.

Hope your summer starts off well!

Take care,
Yvonne

Yvonne Archer
Green Media Toolshed
(ph) 202-464-5357
yvonne@greenmediatoolshed.org