If the staple of the Canadian political campaign is the attack ad, the fixture of the WLUSU presidential election this year is overexposure.
But does having your booth in the Hall of Fame blast music or blind passers-by with your colour really make students vote for you? Do you think harassing bar-goes in front of WIlf’s is going to get them to go to the polls on Feb. 4?
Visibility on campus as a candidate is important – but Laurier students have already begun to express their annoyance with campaigners’ booths and their zealous campaigning strategies.
Candidates’ main tactic seems to be simply being visible – and in what many are deeming anyone’s race, having everyone know that you’re colour is blue, orange, purple or yellow and that you occupied the Hall of Fame for two weeks isn’t enough to get you elected.
Any time I’ve walked by, only acquaintances have spoken to me, and definitely not about the candidate they’re supporting.
Instead, all I’ve seen are booths full of volunteers eagerly representing their chosen candidates by simply standing there wearing their t-shirts or bobbing to music from an iPod dock. Sure, they have enthusiasm, but none of it screams that their candidate is better than the one whose both is across the hall.
So volunteers – if you really want to get the student body to vote for your choice for WLUSU president, you better step it up.
Either start telling passers-by about your candidate’s platform, or move over, because you’re forcing them (and me) to walk on The Hawk.
Alanna Wallace
In Depth Editor
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Thank you Alanna, it's the most annoyingly sad thing ever. I doubt they even know anything about the platforms.
ReplyDeleteHi Alanna,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this article. When I looked at how I would like my campaign team to operate during the campaign period I decided to stress three things. First and most importantly, my campaign team will not be rude, intimidating, or aggressive. Second, my team will be trained on my platform and the issues surrounding this election. Finally, the purpose of my campaign is to start discussions and solicit opinions.
Over the past week my campaign team has been wandering around the concourse, business atrium, dining hall, music building, science atrium, the athletic complex, and Brantford campus politely asking students what their concerns at Laurier are.
Thank you again for writing this article, and I felt compelled to submit this comment only because my campaign team has purposefully been avoiding the hall of fame and the tactics that you outlined above. However, if you have experienced behaviour from any member of my campaign team that does not fit the description that I have submitted, then please contact me through www.korypreston.ca so that I can make corrections.
Sincerely,
Kory Preston
Kory that's a laughable calim considering you added a couple of hundred students you'd never met on facebook.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you claim not be be rude or intimidating. You have definitely won the title of most creepy candidate. Also I don't know what could be more aggressive than requesting to become friends with people you have never met.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for engaging in this discussion. My intention in adding students to facebook was to encourage them to engage in the discussion and express your needs and your concerns.
Facebook is a fantastic tool of communication. Too often WLUSU is criticized for not being transparent and not communicating with students. I wanted to address this, and I thought that as many students are on facebook that this would be a good start.
I am sorry if you feel that this is "creepy", but as a current Vice-President I am frustrated when students make the comment that WLUSU doesn't tell them what is going on, or that WLUSU isn't open to their concerns.
I honestly do not know how to fix WLUSU in order to eliminate this criticism, but I'm trying. I'm trying to connect with all students, and I'm trying to connect in a way that does not require much work from students.
Why is it so "creepy" or "aggressive" to try to communicate with everyone at Laurier? No student was coerced or forced to accept my friend request, and in fact a lot of students denied the request which is totally fine. Yet, for those students who did accept my request, they now have an easy way to contact me and an easy way to keep up to date with what I am doing as I represent them (either currently as VP: University Affairs, or in the future).
I'm honestly at a loss. Some students express concern about not know what is going on within WLUSU, and others seem to be insulted when a member of their student executive tries to engage them in discussion.
If we are to succeed as a community, then we are going to have to start acting like one. Finally, why is it so "creepy" to ask someone to be their "friend"? Is it wrong to want to be someone's friend? If it is then I have no idea what I was supposed to learn from kindergarten.
Thank you for your comment, and I would love to meet with you to discuss this further if you have any concerns or questions.
Kory Preston
Presidential Candidate
Steve, there is a difference between being engaging and being annoying. With so many candidates promising an open door policy to engage students it's actually encouraging that someone like Kory is actively seeking their feedback through facebook and proposing platform initiatives such as office hours in common spaces. This doesn't sound creepy, this sounds like engagement. Given his responses in this tread I have no doubt that Kory is serious in his desire to engaging students.
ReplyDeleteLawrence is by far the creepiest candidate. Theres something about those posters thats just plain creepy. He reminds me of a used car salesman. I'm not supporting any of these presidential candidate and will not be voting for any of them. I will write in Laura Sheridan.
ReplyDelete