By: Sarah Jewell
Hey! My name is Sarah, and I am a TRC Director for the SSU Board of Directors! I am currently a third-year Film and Television student, and I love photography! This past April, I went through the process of nominations, campaigning, voting, and elections all virtually which may seem daunting if you’re starting to think about doing it for yourself but, don’t fret! I’m here to share a brief rundown on some challenges I faced, things I loved, and a few things that I learned along the way. Let’s go!
Some challenges I faced include audience reach, creative idea development, and time management. It’s hard to reach an audience when you are online; you may find that your audience will start off as just your friends and peers within your program. So how do you expand outside of this? I advise taking a few minutes per day to scroll through socials and find new people you can inform about your platforms and campaign! As well, you will always be invited to SSU events where you can take a minute to introduce yourself to the crowd!
Another main worry of mine with virtual campaigning was creating virtual ideas that could be just as memorable as an epic in-person campaign. To combat this, I tapped into what the kids call TikTok and Instagram Reels - through creating short comedy-style informative videos, I got to explore a new road of creativity! Thankfully throughout all of these roadblocks, the SSU provided support such as tips, media templates, event invitation, and platform posting on thessu.ca.
Enough of the struggles though, let’s dive into the most important part of my experience; the things I enjoyed about virtual campaigns!
One thing I loved was seeing and receiving engagement from peers. Once I received enough engagement and interest in what I was doing, I was able to create a Q&A video with the questions I was receiving. This was such an awesome way to bring my peers into my campaign first-hand. I loved it! Another great thing to see was support from friends and peers. I had never done anything like virtual campaigning before my post-secondary time, and so it was a bit intimidating at first. When I saw the support I was getting, I felt very excited to begin creating posts and media to let people know what I was doing, and why! Lastly, something I appreciated greatly was SSU support. Like I mentioned previously, the SSU provided great support for my platform and if support was ever needed, they’d help out happily in a heartbeat!
Of course, during your virtual campaign you are bound to encounter different struggles and achievements - this is just what I experienced. There are a few things I am sure you will experience as I did. If you take anything from this blog post,
I strongly recommend you take this away into your virtual campaign:
You do NOT need the most professional, beautiful, high-class graphics and platforms. It’s about the quality of the content!
Burnout is REAL. Always reach out if you find yourself in a rough patch, the SSU is glad to provide support!
The online world for campaigning is massive and has a million possibilities JUST as in-person campaigning.
Virtual campaigning is not as daunting as it may seem.
You don’t need 284798274 platforms and 286487927 posts. Again, it’s about quality - not quantity!
Be creative, be yourself! It’s SUPER cliche but it’s just true.
With that, I wish you well in your virtual campaigns! Remember to be organized, be excited, and be informative. You are always welcome to reach out to the SSU or current board members like myself for advice and support. Good luck, you got this!
Thinking about joining the Board of Directors?
Check out our elections page to stay up-to-date and learn more about the process.
“I know it can be nerve-wracking to launch a virtual campaign, especially if it’s your first occasion; but, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s everything I learn along the way”.