How to promote your event
The most important part of most events and campaigns is to grab as many people's attention as possible. Promotion can be done cheaply or for free, in a number of ways: Back to Get Active Ideas- Use the student radio station for interviews and maybe even get your own weekly slot.
- Use the student newspaper and magazine, before an event and after. If you have any journalism students or someone who writes well in the group, get features in there as often as possible. Give it an interesting spin that will make editors want to use it and students stop to read it, like 'Why I Boycott XYZ Company' or 'A Day in the Life of a Vegan'.
- Plaster the university in posters and flyers
- Stage a publicity event (see below)
- Don't dismiss the local or national press, they want to appeal to all kinds of people so this is your chance to get them interested in what students get up to in their free time.
- Use petitions to show support for your cause. Uni authorities are much more likely to listen if you can demonstrate support from within the university. Think carefully about what you want your petition to aim for and what people are signing.
- Get advertised on the student union website
- Flyer the local area's houses, halls of residence etc prior to an event
- Myspace and Facebook are a brilliant tool for specific campaigns or groups like SAAC, plus if anyone in the group is good at web-design, build a website!
Publicity Events
(Thanks to Naomi Scott of Violence Free Science for these ideas.)
Stunts are a great way to add pressure to a campaign, as well as getting students and the media involved. Small (or large!) publicity events can be a great interest to the local and student media, especially if they are visually striking. Anything is possible, but please do KEEP IT LEGAL!
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Demonstration - Always a good one and often picked up on by the media. Plan a peaceful protest - with banners, a megaphone and drums. Decide on where you want it, where you want it to go (e.g. past the animal labs for an anti-vivisection demo). If you don't mind your university knowing in advance, put up posters around your uni. Better still, tell us about your stunt and we'll e-mail other students in your area beforehand.
- Banner drops - These are quick and simple. Paint up several banners with catchy but short points, check out some good, visible places such as bridges or buildings, and hang the banners up!
- Giant petition - Buy large sheets of paper, sellotape them together and find a central point at your uni. Get people to sign (or even paint their hand and stamp it on) the giant petition. You can then present it to the person in charge of whatever you're campaigning about - which can be a whole different publicity stunt in itself!
- Lock-ons and occupations - For you feisty ones out there, this is a fantastic one to do! Railings are an excellent tool for activism when used with a trusty bike lock... enough said!
Remember, keep it highly visible and make contact with your local media a day or two in advance. This includes radio stations, newspapers and local tv channels. If you contact them by e-mail, consider writing up a press release to get a more effective response. If you make it sound interesting enough they might even send a photographer! Appoint someone as your spokesperson and be prepared to speak to journalists on behalf of your group.