Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!
On Wednesday I had a conference call with Kim, my supervisor at Chipotle, and two other SBM’s from UT and UF. We brainstormed ideas about how to get Chipotle in the student’s hands, what kind of events have worked and what haven’t.
I had briefly discussed a partnership with SGA for Election Week with one of my classmates – but nothing really took off. Until Friday afternoon. In a matter of minutes, I was planning a major grassroots campaign for our new partnership with SGA.
We thought about all the different avenues. Bringing food to the voting site, flying the burrito, encouraging voters to stop by the restaurant with their “I Voted” sticker and a USF ID, etc. We came to the conclusion that the best way to get the most reach would be to bring all the buzz to the Marshall Center voting site.
The first 500 students to vote at the Marshall Center tomorrow get a free burrito via our “burrito bucks” card. That way – the students are encouraged to vote – we get them to try Chipotle (on their own time, with their own unique order, not our standard hosted lunch items), and everyone should be happy!
This is especially awesome for all parties involved because SGA will get more votes (the whole reason they’re having the runoff), students that may not have been to the Marshall Center since it’s rehab will now see it in all it’s glory, and ::snickers:: the other guys will see what freshness and quality can do for a burrito. (Don’t like what I’m sayin – refer to my disclaimer)
So here’s a quick how-to on getting a campaign started in a timely fashion.
1. Communication is key. When my classmate emailed me asking if we had any plans to partner up with SGA, I immediately called Kim and conferenced in my classmate and her supervisor. It was a rough conversation at first, just trying to figure out logistics, as this conversation was happening at 3 pm on a Friday, with the plan to be executed on Tuesday morning. Had we not been able to connect so efficiently, both via email and phone, we might have missed this opportunity.
2. Patience is also key. While Kim and I were very excited about this partnership, it was clear that we were going to have to work quickly to get the idea off the ground. Kim had to talk to her supervisors, the store manager, and I had to be the liaison between her and SGA. In today’s society, with communication being so instant in a lot of areas, it’s hard to be patient enough to wait for people to call back or return emails.
3. Adapt, adapt, adapt. We had to resize logos, re-format graphics, and draft the announcement at least four times. You have to be able to adapt to the demands of the people you’re working for (or with) but also have enough of an understanding of the audience to be able to expect them to adapt as well.
4. Create an event on Facebook and link it to your network. This is a vital step, especially for things here at USF. Sit down in any classroom, and 50% of the students on computers will be on Facebook. By linking the event to your network, anyone affiliated with that network will be able to see the event. RSVP’s are nice because they give you an idea of how many people to expect – but for things like this, it’s more about getting the message out there for people to see.
Have you ever had an opportunity come up that you just had to pursue? What did you do to get the idea from paper to action?