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Post by Board (Admin) on Sept 22, 2014 20:39:44 GMT
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: stjohnspride.boards.net/thread/3/campaigning-guidelinesCO-CHAIR EXTERNAL ROLE DESCRIPTION:The Co-Chair (External) oversees the image of St. John's Pride as a corporate entity and directs public engagement. This includes but isn't limited to media relations, social media, events, branding 1. Some of the expected duties, rights and responsibilities of this Co-Chair are: - serve a two (2) year term (notwithstanding removal or voluntary leave)
- in tandem with the other co-chairs, ensure the productivity of the Board as a whole
- partner with, encourage, and when necessary assist and be assisted by two (2) Directors-at-Large with their portfolios
- act as the primary contact for media requests and delegate them to the best qualified person to respond to said request depending on context2
- manage and update St. John's Pride's Facebook Page, Twitter, and other social media regularly (proofreading is an essential skill for this position)
- plan, make appropriate bookings, and execute all public engagement activities such as: public forums, fundraisers, social events, Pride Festival events3
- take up or delegate the Inclusion portfolio to another Director and ensure that St. John's Pride's mandate of inclusivity is reflected in every aspect of board business
- network and establish partnerships with other non-profits, community groups, and organizations with shared mandates for LBGTQ+ communities with the goal of strengthening the resources of our corporation for the betterment of our member's quality of life
- otherwise oversee public and membership engagement not mentioned above
- complete a comprehensive year-end report and annual return by August of each year
NOTES:1 notwithstanding a Director besides this Co-Chair taking up the Branding and Corporate Image portfolio, in which case this Co-Chair is expected to assist and partner with said Director 2 this Co-Chair is intended to manage requests, not necessarily be the "face of Pride" (such practice is strongly discouraged), especially if a sitting Board member has more experience or expertise with the topic of the request and can better respond to it than this Co-Chair 3 for the Pride Festival this co-Chair will have the resources and input of the full Board available to them, taking the lead but working as a whole to help plan the Festival (aka "Pride Week") |
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Kyra
New Member
Posts: 3 
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Post by Kyra on Sept 29, 2014 15:51:47 GMT
Hi folks,
My name is Ky Rees and I am the outgoing Vice President of Administration and Events Coordinator for St. John's Pride. It is with great enthusiasm that I announce my candidacy for Co-Chair External for the 2015 year.
Let me tell you a bit about what I've learned this year, and why you should give a hoot about it.
The bulk of my work this past year on the Board has been handling the Administrative, Events, Fundraising, and Media portfolios. I spearheaded the planning, booking, accruement of donations for and execution of our 2014 All-OUT Live and Silent Auction, which raised over $3500 (our most lucrative fundraiser to date) as well as the Closing Gala and Ceremonies, Trans Picnic, Brunch at the Rocket, and more! This experience is invaluable, as event planning can be time-consuming if you haven't done it all before; this time around I know all the ins and outs!
As for my work with the media, I cannot express enough how adamantly I am against a “One Sole Voice of Pride” model. The current bylaws reflect a cooperative, knowledge and competency-based model for engaging the media. I am so glad this is the case because when education is our goal the most knowledgeable needs to be the one with the microphone. As Co-Chair External, it would be my duty to assure the media gets to RIGHT person for the interview, which will often NOT be me.
I respect and celebrate that I don't know everything (what a headache that would be), and will hand the microphone over to my colleagues and community members whenever I am not the best person to speak to the issue, as will often be the case! It's far better for a parent to speak on queer parenting or a First Nations person to speak on Two-Spiritness than it is for me to do so. I will act as a kind of “traffic director”, receiving requests and keeping or handing them off according to their subject matter.
That being said, my professionalism and capability in front of the media was well documented (but not ubiquitous) this past year, and I will allow the media interactions and social media visibility of our past year speak to the effectiveness of my efforts with this approach. If you liked what you saw in 2014, expect much of the same this year, only even better as I get a chance to tweak and improve things in my departments!
As a queer, trans-femme person and woman, I am happy to offer myself up for re-election this year. This past year our Board had the greatest diversity ever, with half of our members being trans-identified and with representation from parents and older members of our community. I am offering myself again in the hopes that such diversity can continue, as it was and will always be an integral part of our Festival and greatest strength.
With pride,
Kyra
PS: Ask me all the questions you want! I'll check back here regularly to answer them to the best of my ability! Get engaged!
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Post by perinsquires on Sept 29, 2014 19:55:33 GMT
Hey Ky! Your platform looks great  ---------------------------------- Hello readers! please find below my own platform for reference if you'd like to ask me any questions. I am all for discourse and look forward to any matters you'd like to discuss! "Hello! My name is Perin Squires and I would like to run for Co-Chair External for the 2014-2015 St. John's Pride Board. A little bit about myself: I am 22 years old and currently in my last year of my BA in Theatre and Drama, and a Minor in Film Studies at MUN. I also currently hold a Diploma in Performance and Media Communications. I have a cat, I have a dog, and my hair color changes almost weekly. I identify as genderqueer and have been active on and off in the LBGTQ*2 community in Port au Port, Regina, and St. John's since the ripe ol' age of 10. My experience includes starting my first QSA in my (very religious) High School in grade 10, being on the LBGT MUN Board of Directors 2012, and having been the Co-Chair and Merchandise of St. John's Pride 2013. In 2013 I also organized St. John's first Trans* Contingent in conjunction with the Pride March (though I unfortunately was unable to walk in it), and have organized past Queer Proms and Un-Conferences (in conjunction with Jamie Harnum and others). I have been called "The Human Swiss Army Knife" as I have the ability to pull talents and skills from nowhere at the moment of relevancy. I also have the habit of offering my skills and services to everyone I work with. You need it done? I can do it. (Or I will spend the following night googling how to do it, until I can do it! Haha). I have had many experiences as social marketer for quite a few endeavors, including but not limited to: o Marketing and co-producer for "The Laramie Project", which me and my fellow classmates produced at The LSPU Hall. o Marketing and office administration for Perchance Theatre for two years. Though these experiences are theatre based, Marketing and office administration share the same responsibilities as Co-Chair External. Why am I so special? (Well, if you've ever seen Fight Club...) What I think I can bring to the table for Pride this year is past experience with a readiness for learning from my fellow board members and a drive for success. I am a team player, and I thrive in organic settings (Theatre companies and The Pride Board operate very similarly). Not only do I strive for excellence, but I also strive to be better than before - Which is exactly where I see St. John's Pride heading. I want to be a part of that development. I would also like to strive to incorporate more of St. John's, Mount Pearl, and Paradise in our Pride Events, and create more of a network with Atlantic and Canadian Prides (we are all in this together!). Inclusivity and Youth events are also very important to me, as are our the other issues that fall under the LBGTQ*2 spectrum (i.e: Feminism, Body positivity, Disabilities, Racism etc.) and would like to address these issues in the context of Pride and LBGTQ*2. Pride is very important and personal to me, and I want people to feel the joy and acceptance during Pride Week that they deserve all year 'round, and hopefully we can have even MORE of a year round presence for St. John's Pride. Cheers, Perin Squires" |
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Post by taylorstocks on Sept 30, 2014 16:29:52 GMT
Question to all External candidates-
Though the portfolio of media relations falls in your lap, it is impossible (and unwise) to have one person do all the talking, especially when that includes multiple interviews, keeping up the website, and constant posts to facebook letting people know what is going on.
How will you manage the media portfolio so that the board has a unified stance, has a democratic way of coming to decisions about how we will respond to a request, and all board members have a chance to speak?
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Post by perinsquires on Sept 30, 2014 19:02:55 GMT
Hello Taylor! I'd love to answer your question, but I have a question of my own before I answer I was just wondering if I could get the "low-down" on what a Media Portfolio is? This concept is new to me so I would like to be educated on that before I make a reply. Thank you! |
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Post by taylorstocks on Oct 1, 2014 17:21:47 GMT
Yep- the media portfolio basically contains all things related to media. The main mandate is to determine a general 'institutional line' that Pride as an organization has to tow. Then, all media requests have to be doled out and addressed and trying to actually get to all the people who want to talk to Pride at particular points in the year. It can also involve actively seeking out stories or article possibilities that Could feature Pride and get us into the mainstream. It also involves juggling all of the other media outlets, namely our facebook page and the website.
Basically (tl;dr) media portfolio=everything that can be categorized under "media relations".
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Kyra
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by Kyra on Oct 4, 2014 0:32:14 GMT
Question to all External candidates- Though the portfolio of media relations falls in your lap, it is impossible (and unwise) to have one person do all the talking, especially when that includes multiple interviews, keeping up the website, and constant posts to facebook letting people know what is going on. How will you manage the media portfolio so that the board has a unified stance, has a democratic way of coming to decisions about how we will respond to a request, and all board members have a chance to speak? Great question Taylor, I've addressed this concern somewhat in my platform. I believe strongly that although the Board need to have a unified position on many issues (certainly at an institutional level on "the big picture" stuff) I don't believe that "unity" necessitates one person being the Sole Voice of Pride. I will work collaboratively with my colleagues on the Board and upon receipt of a media request I will delegate the request to the most appropriate person for the job (e.g.: if its an interview request for LBGT parenting, then I would delegate it to a person with parenting experience). I did find that media requests took a long time to respond to this past year. This year, I will work to gain the trust of my fellow Board members so that I can have their faith that I will speak diplomatically and acknowledge multiple viewpoints during last-minute or time-sensitive interview requests. As for the website and Facebook I would use similar systems to what we used this year, having another "moderator" for the Facebook Page who can post if necessary in my stead. I hope this answers your question. |
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jef
New Member
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Post by jef on Oct 4, 2014 12:27:42 GMT
Hello candidates.
I have found that in my experience and awareness of social issues/justice, that people tend to pay a lot of attention to, and seem to support, endeavors that center children and seniors.
What will our strategies be to move forward in including these groups as much as possible, but also to garner widespread public support in association to this effort?
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Post by perinsquires on Oct 4, 2014 17:57:17 GMT
Yep- the media portfolio basically contains all things related to media. The main mandate is to determine a general 'institutional line' that Pride as an organization has to tow. Then, all media requests have to be doled out and addressed and trying to actually get to all the people who want to talk to Pride at particular points in the year. It can also involve actively seeking out stories or article possibilities that Could feature Pride and get us into the mainstream. It also involves juggling all of the other media outlets, namely our facebook page and the website. Basically (tl;dr) media portfolio=everything that can be categorized under "media relations". Ah, I see! I was slightly confused because I was imagining a literal portfolio (art brain, duh). Well, similarly to Ky the way I handle social media for St. John's Pride would be to assess any requests from other media outlets and determine who from the board would be most suitable for the job/have the availability. Then, I would work with that board member to prepare them in advance as much as possible for the interview/talk show/whatever the media request is. Often radios and other outlets will send you a set of questions or the jist of what they want to ask before hand so as to not catch you too off guard. This is not to say I, or anyone on the board, would be telling who-ever is going to do the interview what to say, or that there will be any policing, but I think said method will give a more unified front while still upholding each board members individualityand unique experience. Hopefully this will make for a candid, but organized social media front. As for medias such as Facebook and Twitter etc. most of that can be handled by myself, but I would make all the board members (excluding directors at large) moderators on the page. This will open up any avenues in the case that I cannot answer/post on the medias and at the same time hopefully ensure that there isn't disorganization or multiple answers from us to one question (unless it is an opinion question for the board, in which case I encourage each board member to speak up!). I do think though that things such as pages and facebook and twitter can be majorly monitored and posts done by myself. However, do not mistake this for saying that all answers and opinions would be mine. I do not think I would be the "face" of Pride, as it where, but more the mouth piece for the online medias. For small, time-sensitive answers I would ask the board for consultation, but if I do not hear back in a timely manner I will answer to the best of my abilities. Otherwise I would take anything I need extra counselling on to our board meetings to discuss a unified answer from the board. I would also make it my duty to be sure to know where the board as a whole stands on our opinions and would be sure to express them. As I understand the position is that I am someone who takes requests and expedites them to the most qualified board member for a response, handles the small social medias, sends out PSAs to other social medias/reaches out for media coverage from other medias, and assists any of the other board members with their needs as best I can Hopfully that covers it Taylor! |
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Post by perinsquires on Oct 4, 2014 18:09:50 GMT
Hello candidates. I have found that in my experience and awareness of social issues/justice, that people tend to pay a lot of attention to, and seem to support, endeavors that center children and seniors. What will our strategies be to move forward in including these groups as much as possible, but also to garner widespread public support in association to this effort? Hello Jef! I think the best policy is to build upon our current events! So far St. John's Pride has created a very stable base in regards to events, but as anything their is always room for improvement and for the inclusion of groups such as children and seniors who are not forgotten, but are hard to plan events for/are not usually accommodated during Pride. I would like to suggest a variety in our current Pride events that not only encompass the LBGTQ*2 spectrum, but also a variety that encompasses age ranges such as youth and seniors and families. Though we only have a week, I think it is possible to have smaller youth/senior events during Pride's larger events (such as youth dances, wine tastings/socials, incorporation of The Queer Theatre Festival, film nights etc). As well, I would like to look for places around town that cater to these age groups and see if Pride can partner with them to create a variety of events that can canter to everyone as much as possible. While my initial job would be more focused on advertising for our events, these are the suggestions I would make in an attempt to incorporate those groups. I hope I answered your question adequately |
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