Most of Design
Task 01 · Energy Plus · Internal newsletter

Energy Plus Insider — Rosh Hashanah 5787

Holiday issue of the internal newsletter, modelled on the Kayco Insider magazine. Received 8 Sep 2026. Must be out before Rosh Hashanah.

Deadline. Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins at sundown on Friday 11 Sep 2026. The client wrote “Rosh Hashanah is Thursday” — read as: the issue must be sent by Thursday 10 Sep. Roughly half of the planned sections still carry placeholders that only Matthew can fill.

Summary

Client
Brand Lift for Energy Plus NY (internal communications)
Deliverable
Rosh Hashanah 5787 issue of the Energy Plus Insider — the company's internal newsletter
Format
“We are doing same flipbook also for Rosh Hashanah” — a paginated, letter-size magazine published through FlippingBook, like the Kayco reference. To confirm: flipbook only, or flipbook plus an email — the Shavuos issue in May was built as an HTML email.
Length
Kayco reference: 28 pages. The content plan targets 10–14 pages, cutting weak sections rather than stretching.
Reference
Kayco Insider — Rosh Hashanah 2025 (flipbook; the PDF was received too)
Previous issue
Insider — Shavuos 2026 (May): masthead, palette and section language to carry forward
Content sources
Three pages shared by the client on 8 Sep: content plan — 15 sections · Dvar Torah spread · EV team page & new hires. Superseded the same evening by the master copy for design (also received as a Word file) and a written design direction. Copies are kept in the repository under 01-materials/chatgpt/.
Deadline
Thursday 10 Sep 2026 (see notice above)
Status
Master copy + design direction received (8 Sep evening) · page system built from the Figma specimen · all 16 sections poured as a text draft · waiting for photography and the placeholder facts

What the client sent (verbatim)

we are doing same flipbook also for ROSH HOSHANA, this https://online.flippingbook.com/view/456055625
here are the sections: [three shared pages, links above]
Rosh hoshana is Thursday

Planned structure — 15 sections and their readiness

✅ copy locked⚠️ draft with placeholders❌ text not received
✅Cover
ENERGY PLUS INSIDER · ROSH HASHANAH 5787 · five cover teasers (Presidential Address · בונה עולם · Energy Plus in Motion · Inside EPlug · Around Energy Plus). Restrained, no generic tagline.
✅01 Presidential Address
Moshe Lefkowitz — full letter locked. Prime placement, breathing room; this is the piece employees should “really read”.
❌02 A Rosh Hashanah Thought
Matthew Polaniecki's Dvar Torah, 1–2 page feature: header היום הרת עולם · BUILDING A WORLD, his text as written, one enlarged pull quote — “A world, by definition, is not one thing. It is countless things, each sustaining the others.” The full text is not in the shared pages — only the opening line and the pull quote.
⚠️03 Since Our Last Issue
Four short updates — VUE, Energy Savings & Compliance, Google Chat, Rebate R&D. Each has an opening sentence and a [CONFIRM] placeholder for the actual result.
⚠️04 VUE feature
Only if there is meaningful progress since June. Intro copy drafted; current development, adoption fact and “what's next” are placeholders.
✅05 Inside EPlug — Bedford
Draft copy ready: 44 DC fast chargers · Williamsburg, Brooklyn · DOT approval received. Confirm construction status and whether “Coming Fall 2026” still holds.
✅06 EPlug — Level 2, New Jersey
30 chargers · New Jersey · $0 out-of-pocket to the owner. Confirm property, incentive wording, and whether the $0 figure may be published.
✅06b Inside EPlug — Built by the Team
Michael Elhav (Head of EV) letter locked + “EPlug in Motion” figures: 100 Level 2 chargers/month goal · 67 new ports under construction · 2 new Level 3 sites · first battery-storage proposals · first Connecticut EV program agreement (Avangrid). Order: EPlug progress → Michael → numbers.
⚠️07 By the Numbers — 5786
Known: 1,000+ buildings under LL97 · 300+ mediated-resolution filings · 44 chargers at Bedford. Five more figures are [X]. Six tiles maximum.
⚠️08 Behind the Work
One project story (challenge · work · result · team). Project not chosen yet — question to Matthew.
✅09 Good News
Mazel Tov, Frimmy Greenfeld (baby — confirm details) · Welcome back, Mrs. Green (closes the loop from the May issue).
❌10 People Behind the Progress
Two employees, four questions each — names and answers not received.
⚠️11 Welcome to the Team
Mrs. Raizy [last name], Mr. Moe Baum, Mr. David Ordel — titles, divisions, one line each and headshots still needed; confirm “Ordel” vs “Orgel”.
❌12 Behind the Scenes
Recognition of one person's quiet accomplishment — person not chosen.
⚠️13 This Year at Energy Plus
Light list; two lines are callbacks to May (“browser tabs”, “five minutes”), three need the team's answers.
⚠️14 Looking Ahead — 5787
Intro line ready; the 3–5 initiatives already underway are placeholders.
✅15 Closing page
שנה טובה ומתוקה · greeting from The Energy Plus Team. Mostly visual.

Reference — Kayco Insider, Rosh Hashanah 2025

28 letter-size pages: cover, contents, leadership pages, product and business features with real numbers, people pages (FaceTime, Welcome to the Team, Employee Appreciation), lighter material, closing greeting. Leadership, business stories and people are mixed rather than grouped — the client wants the same rhythm.

Contact sheet of the 28 pages of the Kayco Insider Rosh Hashanah 2025 issue
Kayco Insider — Rosh Hashanah 2025, all 28 pages. Reference for pacing and page types, not for visual style — the Insider keeps the Energy Plus look established in the Shavuos issue.

Design direction from the client — 8 Sep, evening

A written brief for the look arrived after the content plan. Kayco is the benchmark for editorial quality, not a template. The issue should read as a professionally art-directed company magazine: one consistent system, every major story with its own composition, thought in spreads.

Look
Sophisticated, modern, warm, premium. Unmistakably Energy Plus — buildings, infrastructure, NYC/NJ, field work, technology, people — with a subtle Rosh Hashanah layer.
Palette
Brand as foundation + restrained seasonal layer: warm cream, honey/amber/gold, maybe a muted deep green. Not an all-gold issue. No apple/honey/pomegranate/shofar clip art.
Hierarchy
Very large headlines · short decks · comfortable body · oversized pull quotes · strong stats · captions · white space. Avoid "headline + paragraphs + stock photo".
Photography
Real Energy Plus photography wherever possible — people, sites, chargers, buildings, office moments. Client supplies; this gates most pages.
Per section
Presidential Address: most elegant page, portrait + one pull quote. Dvar Torah: conceptual, not literal religious imagery. EPlug: energetic, bold numbers, possibly darker/technical. Numbers: infographic. Good News / Welcome: warm, personal, photos. Closing: team collage, no holiday graphic.
Where the holiday lives
Strongest on the cover, the opening leadership pages and the closing. The middle looks like Energy Plus. Cover: architectural/NYC image in warm late-summer light, at most one restrained seasonal element.

Three things the issue must say without words: Energy Plus is growing · a lot is happening here · there are real people behind it. Full text: 01-materials/chatgpt/05-design-direction.md.

Scope

In scope
✅ Layout of the full issue in the Insider's visual language (Energy Plus brand, continuity with the Shavuos issue)
✅ Cover, editorial spreads, numbers tiles, people pages, closing page
✅ Placement of Hebrew headers and the pull quote
✅ Export: print-quality PDF for FlippingBook (+ a light web PDF)
✅ One round of client corrections
Out of scope unless agreed
❌ Writing or fact-gathering — Matthew's answers, employee Q&A, numbers
❌ Photography, headshots, site photos
❌ Uploading to the FlippingBook account and sending the email
❌ A separate HTML email version — only if the format question below says so

Open questions

  1. 1
    Format: flipbook only, or flipbook plus an email?blocks design
    The May issue was an HTML email; the message says “same flipbook”. A paginated magazine and an email are laid out differently.
  2. 2
    Matthew's full Dvar Torah textblocks pages 3–4
    Only the opening line and the pull quote are in the shared pages.
  3. 3
    Matthew's answers to the eight-point request
    Company developments since May · VUE status · ES&C / Google Chat / Rebate R&D results · year-end numbers · one project story · new employees · shout-outs and simchos · what's underway for 5787.
  4. 4
    New hires: titles, one line each, headshots; Mrs. Raizy's last name; “Ordel” or “Orgel”
  5. 5
    Visual assets: headshots for People and Welcome pages, Bedford and New Jersey site photos, office moments
    Kayco's pages work because of real photography; placeholders will show.
  6. 6
    Target page count — 10–14 pages as planned?
  7. 7
    Hebrew headers — exact strings and nikkud: היום הרת עולם · בונה עולם · שנה טובה ומתוקה · כתיבה וחתימה טובה
  8. 8
    If facts don't arrive by Wednesday 9 Sep — which sections are cut?
    Design starts with the locked pages so that placeholders drop in last.
Next step
Confirm the format (Q1) and send the Dvar Torah text (Q2). Design begins with the locked pages — cover, Presidential Address, Inside EPlug with Michael's page, Good News, closing — while the remaining facts come in.