Sheffield Hallam Student s Union Bye-Elections Tips and guidance

Transcription

1 Sheffield Hallam Student s Union Bye-Elections 2014 Tips and guidance

2 Contents Introduction and Information 2 Tips for a Successful Campaign 3 Tips and Guidance Your policy and Campaign 4 Campaigning 5 Where to Campaign? 7 Publicity 8 Poster 9 Video Manifesto 10 Social Media 11 Budget Allowance 12 Key Dates and Contacts 13 Campaign Plan Template 14 City Campus Map 15 Collegiate Campus Map 16 1

3 Introduction Welcome to Sheffield Hallam Students' Union Bye-Elections 2014! This pack will provide you with tips about everything you will need to know to run a campaign. If you have any questions or you're unsure about anything then please do not hesitate to ask. You can us on Let us introduce you to our Returning Officer; Gail Stephens (CEO) - Staff Returning Officer The Returning Officer will make the final and overall decisions about the running of referenda and they can be contacted on the above. 2

4 Tips for a successful campaign Inside this campaign guide, you will find helpful tips about what you need to remember during elections week to make a success out of your campaign. Please ensure you have also read the rules and regulations pack carefully so you know what is required of you and your team prior to campaigning. Here are some of the key things you need to remember to do during your campaign. Your policy Create strong, original policies. They need to be ambitious but also realistic. Think about what you can improve, how you can implement a change and whether this is relevant to the students you want to vote for you. Come up with an original slogan Use a slogan to capture people's attention and make your campaign stick in their minds. Publicity Use posters, leaflets, banners, video and social media to get your message across to as many students as you can. Make these as original and imaginative as you can to stand out from the crowd and attract voters' attention. Reach various demographics It's important to get your friends to vote for you, but to win the election you need to reach students beyond people you'd normally talk to. Remember to target people on different courses, in different years and various demographics - international, mature or post-graduate students. Use your budget wisely It may be tempting to use your whole budget to buy sweets and incentives to win votes, but it's also important to get your message across. Plan carefully how you want to spend your budget and whether or not what you are investing in is essential to your campaign. 3

5 Please note: We know you'll be eager to get out there and start spreading the word, but we ask that you do not start campaigning, under any circumstance until Monday 27 th October Please ensure you have fully read and understood the rules and regulations before campaigning. YOUR POLICY AND CAMPAIGN You should consider the students you hope to represent and why you want to represent them. Let them know why they should vote for you. Make sure you know your policies inside out - if you're going around talking to students, they will probably ask you questions about why or how you plan to do something so it's important to make sure you can answer these questions. Use your briefing with your campaign team as a test run for some of the questions you may face during campaigning. Keep it short - come up with 4-6 bullet points about what you plan to do and how. Students are not likely to sit through a long speech or read a lot of information at once, so make sure you can get straight to the point about why they should vote for you. Where to include your policies: Posters Leaflet Social Media Video Demonstrate your experience If you have any previous experience which you feel makes you a good candidate for the role, make sure to promote this to your advantage. It will make you stand out against other candidates. 4

6 Your campaign slogan Many candidates may wish to have a campaign slogan to attract students' attention and stick in their minds. Tips: Research campaign messages from the past elections Link a slogan to your name to help students remember who you are Make it short, snappy and original Link it to something modern and memorable Campaign Team Campaigning One of the most important elements of any campaign is to have a reliable campaign team. These are people who will help you distribute flyers, put up posters and spread the word about your campaign. Think about having one member of your team to be your Campaign Coordinator - they can give you a hand and keep you motivated! Use the time before campaigning begins to plan and prepare to make your campaign the best it can be. 5

7 Some of the people you could ask to be on your campaign team include your fellow students from your course, University or halls and residence. They have to be a member of Sheffield Hallam University and have a SHU ID with them at all times during campaigning! Hold a briefing session with your campaign team where you can familiarise them with your policies, tell them about how you would like them to campaign and ensure they are familiar with all the rules and regulations of how to campaign. This is also a great opportunity to tell them about how this will help their employability skills, and the benefits it will present them with after graduating. Make sure you keep them motivated and ensure they don't feel stressed or overwhelmed during campaign week. Bring your campaign team members down to a candidate briefing session at Hallam Union. Make sure your campaign team also abide by our regulations, because you'll be held responsible for their actions. Remember that you and your team are not permitted to campaign or discuss your manifesto until Monday 27 th October - this includes posters, flyers and social networking. Please be respectful of all candidates and their campaign team at all times 6

8 Where to campaign? Lecture Shout outs - This is a very useful part of campaigning. Get in touch with course leaders prior to campaign week to organise coming in to their lecture for a few minutes to talk to them about your campaign and try to gather some support. Try and keep this brief as you will be cutting into their lecture time! Student Accommodation - Try and gain access to some student accommodation - you can flyer or put posters up in halls and residence to try and publicise your campaign. Try and be respectful of people's privacy though, and don't go campaigning late at night as some students might be asleep! Canteens, cafes, open areas and study areas. Try and target students in communal areas in each campus - there is usually a place for this in each building. You can ask them for 2 minutes of their time to talk about who you are and what you stand for. Leave students with a reminder - Always have some flyers with you so that you can give students something to remember you by after you have finished talking to them! Don't be disheartened by bad encounters Not everyone will want to vote in the elections - try and focus on the positive reactions and support you are getting as opposed to those who do not seem interested 7

9 Publicity It's important to get your message out to reach as many students as possible and there are various ways of doing this. Remember to create lots of visual aids, such as posters, websites or video but also to go out and talk to students. Checklist of election essentials: Fliers Posters Blu-Tac Card Paint Large sheets for banners Sweets T-shirts HOW TO MAKE A BANNER 1. Your banner(s) must measure 3ft x 4ft pieces of fabric to create your banner with. 2. Lay it on a surface that you don't mind getting messy - cardboard, concrete or in the garden. 3. Stencil and paint your design with acrylic paint 4. Make holes in the corners of the bed sheet to allow it to be attached to things later 5. Leave for 24 hours to dry 6. Hand in your banner to Hallam Students' Union by the deadline Thursday 23 rd October 5pm. NB: Please Note that the maximum size for your banner is to be 3ft x 4ft 8

10 Poster We ask all Candidates to design their own poster which demonstrates why students should vote for you. Hallam Union will print 50 x A4 sheets for you. How you would like to use the space on that paper (A4, A5 or A6 posters/flyers) is up to you but you must ensure you edit the poster accordingly to suit. Tips and hints: Make you publicity eye-catching, but simple. Don t overcomplicate your design. Keep the amount of text to a minimum - simple, concise statements are more likely to be read than paragraphs of text Use a legible font, nothing too fancy, to make reading as easy as possible Don t stretch images to fit, keep their proportions the same. Spell check and proofread or get someone to check it for you - a great design won t matter if it s full of spelling mistakes. If you know how to use design software, such as Photoshop, you can book time on the Mac in the Activities Pod in The HUBS or in Addsetts. Printed publicity is useful but don t just rely on posters and flyers to get your message out there - talk to people! What must go on the poster? Hallam Union website - hallamunion.org/democracy The voting dates: Voting 27 th October-31 st October Details of the results night: Tuesday 4 th November, 6pm, Hallam Students Union (HUBS) The Hallam Union logo and elections logo You must include this statement The views expressed in this communication may not necessarily be the views held by the Students Union. Minimum size 12 font to be included. Poster printing costs are outlined in the rules and regulation guidelines booklet. Please submit your poster to no later than Thursday 23 rd October 5pm. 9

11 Please pick your poster up from the Activities Pod, The HUBS from Monday 27 th October 9am. If you require any additional printing this must be requested before Wednesday 29 th October 12 noon. NB: Please ensure you have read the rules and regulations regarding publicity before distributing your posters. Video Manifesto Making a video manifesto is a great opportunity to explain your election pledge in a creative and visual way. You are given the opportunity to film and edit a video manifesto, which will be shown around campus and on the Union's website. This is your chance to tell the students what you want to achieve and why they should vote for you. Please ensure you have read the rules and regulations on video publicity and campaigning carefully before creating your video. Be creative - bring your personality to your campaign. Get your fellow students involved. Keep your video clean and nonoffensive. No Hallam Union staff members (includes student staff members), University staff, current Officers, Trustees and members of Union Council excluding yourself may appear in your video Please ensure you have informed us by of any video channels you have uploaded or created. You will need to bring your completed video file on a USB stick to the front desk of the HUBS by 23 rd October 5pm. 10

12 Social Media Setting up a Facebook group to publicise your campaign is a great way to gather support from students and have a way for them to contact you online. You can publish your manifesto, post updates on the progress of your campaign, and encourage people to vote for you. Make sure your group is public so that everyone can view it, and that you have added Hallam Union ElectionsOfficer to site admin. Twitter is a great way of communicating with voters - You can post about your campaign in 140 characters and follow the elections by using #Hallambyeelections. Get your campaign slogan trending by using a hash tag, and get all of your friends and followers to do the same. You can also post photos and make yourself known to various student clubs and societies this way! You can set up your own website and have this as a tool for students to go online and learn about you and your manifesto. You can have links to various social networking sites on here and blog about what you are doing or where you will be during campaign week! Don't forget the fees for this will come out of your budget! Useful Websites:

13 Budget Allowance All Part Time Union Representatives, NUS Delegate candidates and Union Council Open Space Representatives will have a maximum budget allowance of 20.This is a strict limit in the interest of fairness. Buy fun, student friendly incentives such as sweets or balloons to grab students' attention, so that you can talk to them about your campaign. You can often buy these in bulk for cheap prices online. Shop around, but remember to do this before campaign week and ensure all your materials will arrive in time! You need to account for your campaign expenses so please keep the receipts. Please hand in your budget claim form, along with all receipts to Mahsa Aria at the HUBs by 7 th November If you do not hand in your receipts we won't be able to reimburse you. You may collect your money back from by the end of November We will not be able to reimburse you after this date. 12

14 Key Dates - Bye Elections 2014 Event Date Location Nominations Open Close Nomination Candidate Briefing Breakfast Materials Deadline Campaigning Week Starts/Voting Opens Campaigning Week Ends/Voting Closes Monday 6 th October 12:01am Sunday 19 th October 11:59pm Thursday 23 rd October 10am-11am Thursday 23 rd October 5pm Monday 27 th October 12:01am Saturday 1 st November 5pm POD4, Students' Union Students' Union Sheffield Hallam University, Students' Union Sheffield Hallam University, Students' Union Question Time Tuesday 28 th October Students' Union Results Night Budget Form Deadline Tuesday 4 th November 7pm Friday 7 th November 4pm Students' Union Students' Union Your Notes 13

15 Campaign plan template We understand that this is a difficult time with regards to University work and deadlines; we therefore want to ensure we support you by helping you to map out your campaign. Below is a campaign plan template which we recommend you use to ensure you have thought through every aspect of your campaign. This will maximise your campaign's impact. Remember to look after yourself and to take regular breaks, drink water, eat and sleep! Day Monday 27 th October from 1am Time you will campaign Where are you campaigning? Collegiate/City/Halls/Online etc. Who is helping you campaign? What are you doing/ what materials do you need? Tuesday 28 th October Wednesday 29 th October Thursday 30 th October Friday 31 st October Saturday 1 st November until 5pm 14

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