What I love about Edmonton is that it has a small town feeling in a big city. It’s pretty much the same for our Jewish community. You may not know someone directly, but you may have a connection via a person you know. When you work in communications like me, you hope the relationships you build lead to a ripple effect of community engagement. 

I’m approaching my two-year anniversary of working at the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. During this time, I’ve been quietly observing who is connected to who. For a small community of just over 5,000 people, it’s interesting to see that some people still don’t know others while many are interlinked.  

As part of my job, one of my goals is to help you connect with others. It could be through a story that is published on our website or in Hakol. Perhaps you saw a social media post that enticed you to attend one of the Federation’s events. Others may feel this connection by getting an overview of what is happening in Jewish Edmonton by reading our weekly e-newsletter, The Bridge. 

Behind all these pieces is a communication formula that involves research and evaluation. Don’t wander away from this writing yet because you think I’m going to dive into a boring tirade of what is research and evaluation. It’s actually where you fit in. 

I like to think as humans that we are all on a path of self-improvement. We renovate our homes for improvement. If we make a mistake in a relationship, we strive to do better next time. Organizations such as the Jewish Federation of Edmonton are also on this path, especially in the communications portfolio. But how can we improve unless we get feedback? 

You may have heard about the Federation’s strategic plan and part of this plan was to improve the organization’s communications and marketing. We’ve increased our storytelling via the website, on social media, and have done a ton of surveys to find out if we are hitting the mark on our events and programs.  

You are probably like me when you see an email asking you to fill out a survey. You may want to run the other way. I confess that I also don’t like filling out surveys even though I know how important they are. But we are soon taking on a very important project—redesigning the Federation website.  

We know that Federation website plays an important role in our Jewish community. In the last seven months alone, our website has had over 24,000 page views. In 2022, it had almost 35,000 views. That’s a lot of eyes looking at our content and exploring what our community and the Federation has to offer. I want to ensure we are delivering the right content. 

I have a huge favour to ask of you. If you are approached over the next several months and asked to participate in providing feedback about the website, please don’t run the other way. Engage with us. Help us improve what we have to offer. Our website is a reflection of our community to Edmonton, Alberta, and the rest of the world.  

Let’s work together to tinker, make improvements, and engage with each other. Let us know what we are doing right and wrong in our communications, including the website, and see how we can help you connect with our community in a way that works for you. 

Shabbat shalom,

Tammy