Politics & Branding
If there is one thing that stuck out at this convention, to me at least, it was the influence of Trump’s election in the presentations. In four out of the ten presentations I attended, the election was referenced at least once, and out of those four, twice the election was the main topic of the presentation.
In the second presentation I attended, with speaker Tim Harrower, from the very start recent politics were introduced. He used childhood fables to convey comical, yet serious messages to the audience about Trump’s recent election. I would have preferred if he had left politics out of it, but with all the “fake news,” chatter that's been going on, it seemed almost mandatory for him to do that. He did an excellent job of keeping it under control; he backed his statements with hard cold facts and handled critical questions from the audience carefully. At a time like this, when politicians have such easy access to the public, many things can be hacked, photoshopped, and falsely claimed that can discredit news publications. Harrower was very smart to bring awareness to a new reality.
Make your publication a brand. The most important advice I learned on this trip. In order to make our newspaper more than just a paper we must learn as a staff to brand ourselves in school and in the local community. We should be able to walk into the LC and see kids who aren't on the staff with BFC merchandise. In order to do so I think the first step is deciding on one name for the newspaper and the online site. This makes it 10x easier when it comes to branding. Secondly, we should have fun contests around the school and get involved in supporting other clubs. Also, giving away free t-shirts, pens and other labeled items is great for free advertising.
In addition, getting involved with local charities as a team is a great way to draw attention and create a strong reputation in the community. This will make it easier for us to approach local businesses with propositions for selling ad space because they will have a better understanding of who we are. But it’s not just ad spaces in your paper that you can sell. Sponsored t-shirts, flyers, signs and other ways are great for bringing in cash.
-Aidan