We wanted to clear up several factual inaccuracies in the editorial of October 23.
Listservs – We sent out announcements about the GA over the SSMU general listserv on October 7, 19, and 20, the SSMU Clubs and Services listserv on October 7 and 15, and the First Year listserv October 20.
Web site – The General Assemblies link is under the “About SSMU” section. We made the GA a feature box of the SSMU front page from October 3-22 and the front page post October 13-16, and 19-22.
Facebook – We created the Facebook event, invited 1,247 people (240 replied “yes”, and an additional 265 replied “maybe”), and posted the event at least 30 times. We also bought Facebook ads, which had 241,000 impressions (views) and 116 direct clicks.
Posters – We posted 60 posters in high-traffic areas all around campus.
In person – We held a GA motion writing session, made classroom announcements at over a dozen classes, tabled at Leacock and the SSMU kiosk on Monday, and made announcements all over campus in “TODAY IS THE GA” T-shirts the day of the General Assembly.
Word-of-mouth – Targeting specific influential people to spread the word is indeed a “legitimate publicity campaign” tool, called influencer marketing.
Targeted advertisements – The targeted advertising technique described both advertisements to the entire student community with specific buzzwords (“environment,” “pornography”), as well as sending out general announcements about the GA to specific student groups.
In brief, the campaign designed by the GA Committee was much more extensive than described in the editorial. That being said, we take The Daily’s criticisms and suggestions to heart. We will revaluate the successes and failures of the fall GA to improve our strategies for the winter GA. A successful winter GA is a top priority for us.
Sarah Olle
Vice-President Clubs and Services (SSMU)