So the elections have come and gone and once again I have the pleasure of saying that all the hard work of my team and I paid off: Congratulations to Graham Lettner, new president of the Students' Union. This is not my first, and hopefully, not my last victory-by-association. In fact, rumour has it, I'm become quite the "legend" (to quote a hack friend of mine) at being a campaign 'ringer' (someone who comes in to deal with certain specific and specialized aspects of a campaign). My specialties? The Myer Horowitz Forum and Demographic Strategy. Anyway, so far I've met with a few people, most of whom I hardly know, who are asking me to 'share my wisdom' and the secrets to running a successful campaign. It seemed like an appropriate thing to post about. Now, I can't promise that I have all the knowledge in the world- I certainly don't. But I can share a few insights that I have regarding the University of Alberta's Students' Union elections, for better or for worse.
Important things to know:
1) When you agree to "help out" with a campaign, it almost always ends up being at least 2 times more of a time commitment than you anticipated. Double that if you are already a well reputed hack. If you agree to put up posters, you will wind postering, banner sitting and working tables. If you agree to be a ringer for Myer, you will wind up a core part of the team and spend the next 2 weeks of your life living and breathing the election. This is not a concerted effort to dupe you into more work. Election fever is catching and it's really really hard not to get caught up in it. Which brings me to my next point...
2) No matter what role you are playing in a campaign, you will miss a proportionate amount of school. So, if you are the campaign manager, expect to attend little to no classes. If you can't afford this academic sacrifice, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T DO IT!!!! But regardless, the more involved you are, the more school you miss. This isn't just due to working the campaing. It also has a whole lot to do with wanting to watch forums, sit at tables, talk to your candidate, go out and party with your team mates at night, meet new people, etc. So don't expect election time to be good for you grades. It won't be.
3) You will NOT always get along with every member of your team all the time. In fact, it is likely that there will be team members that you really don't care for at all. Unless you are the candidate, there is absolutely nothing you can do about this. So suck it up, buttercup! Do NOT talk to you candidate about it! If something has to get done, talk to the Campaign Manager or somebody equally high up on the totem pole of the Core team to deal with it. Often candidates will delegate 'parental figureheads' to deal with these types of situations. If you become the person who deals with the proverbial shit, bear a few things in mind: 1) your job is to maintain peace, not choose sides. 2) Be firm- people only understand firm. That doesn't mean be mean... 3) Once it is dealt with, move on- you need absolutely all your energy to work on the campaign. Moreover, you need absolutely all your volunteers. 4) DO NOT BOTHER YOUR CANDIDATE WITH IT UNLESS THEY ASK YOU TO: they already have enough on their plates.
4) Simple and stupid mistakes will happen all the time. There's absolutely nothing you can do to avoid them. The strong team is the one that bounces back and fixes the problem. If you break any rules, OWN UP TO IT! Seriously, the penalty for honesty is WAY less harsh than the penalty for trying to cover it up. Plus, you don't need the stress of worrying about being caught on your shoulders. Run a clean campaign- you don't ever want to wonder if you won by being dirty. Go easy on your volunteers when they screw up- bear in mind that they are VOLUNTEERING their time.
5) GET SOME SLEEP for many reasons: 1) people who are tired are more irratible- see points number 3. 2) people who are tired make more stupid mistakes- see point 4. 3) people who are tired get more emotional...politics is a hard game, and you need to be tough as nails to play it. You don't want people who are going to read the Hack-O-Rama and burst into tears...not a pretty sight. 4) Fatigue doesn't look good on candidates or on volunteers. Half of this game is appearances. You can't afford to look tired or worn out. 5) MOST IMPORTANTLY: You're going to need all your energy to party hard at the Results night. ;)
6) Know your audience. Many candidates make the mistake of thinking that all students at the U of A are the same and will want to hear the same thing. There are aspects to everyone's platform that will appeal to special groups more than others. Tailor your answers and your approach to the changing demographics. For example, Myer is a notoriously left wing forum...it's like all of us raging lefties come out of hiding for 3 hours in March and pack ourselves into an auditorium. This is not the time to alienate the left wing crowd. Tone down your approach and make it more palatable to them. Likewise, if you are presenting to a corporate law or business class, you may want to go easy on the social platform. There are many different demographics at the U of A- half the work to winning a forum is figuring out who they are.
7) Do you homework: There is no perfect platform (with the exception of possibly Mustafa Hirji- whom even after hours and hours of pouring over his material, I was unable to find the slightest flaw- props for that!)- Have someone, a good solid researcher who is quick and efficient (arts students are particularly good for this) look into the various different aspects of every campaign (including your own). Compile any questions or concerns that come up because they will be brought up during the question periods. Know the answer to questions like: Where are you getting that statistic, How do you plan on doing this?, Have you talked to any government officials about this? And so on...
8) Assemble a Dream Team: that doesn't mean scout out the university campus for the best and the brightest. It simply means that you need to make sure that every single set of skills is represented on your core. If you have a team that is very logistics heavy but has no strategist or anyone with campaign experience, go after someone who does. Here are the following sets of the skills that are pretty vital to a successful campaign: 1) Logistics (posters, tables, so on) 2) BUDGET (get someone good here or you'll regret it), 3) Volunteer Coordinator (someone who knows a lot of people, who isn't afraid of talking to strangers and is extremely well organized), 4)Researcher/Policy Development/Strategist (this is that one person on each campaign that they call the "brains" behind the operation- often they are more informed than the candidates and many people wonder why they aren't the ones running in the first place), Events planner- this sounds pretty silly, but I've always found it was a good idea to have someone who double checked the schedule of the candidate at all times- knows what time and where the forums are, knows when the candidates meetings are, when the budget is due, when interview times have been set up, etc. Not vital, but a good idea. And whatever else you think you need. And a solid CM- Always have a solid CM. And if you don't have a solid CM, have a solid Back Up CM.
9) The rest of the team: these are your general volunteers. Treat them well. Stop by at tables often and thank them. Make sure they have everything they need. Email them often with words of gratitude and encouragement. Make sure that they remember that they are working towards a great goal. They need to believe that their candidate is the best. Remember, this is your number one cohort of voters. Treat them nicely. And say thank you...ALL THE TIME! Make sure your core team meets as many of them as possible. These guys are going to want to know who they are answering to...
10) Tie up all lose ends: A campaign doesn't end on election night. There are still things to take care of. Make sure your team knows the election results (including the average volunteer), have responses prepared in the event of winning and in the event of losing. If you lose, make sure that you thank everyone who helped you regardless and be gallant to the winner. This is important for the WHOLE team to remember. By this point, you have become associated with the candidate for better or for worse- it is your responsibility to be gracious. For the winning team, enjoy it while it lasts but your work is far from over...Organize a volunteer party, talk to your core team to make sure that everything is wrapped up and keep in touch with them throughout the year. Bear in mind that it is a team effort that gets a candidate elected- naturally, a team effort will be more effective in terms of holding the office. The people who got you there will be your biggest asset throughout the year. And get ready for transitioning. Get your researcher working even more indepthly on your platform points so that there are action plans ready for when you take office. Keep them informed of important things that come up during the transition period that they might need to look into. Make sure that all concerns are alleviated so that you walk in with a clean slate. And say thank you again, just for the record. If you're a candidate, send out our personalized thank you cards to your core team. If you're a volunteer coordinator, send out cards to your volunteers as well.
So that's it, my top 10 elections tips list. Like I said, I have some pretty extensive back ground in this but I'm certainly no expert. I can think of others who would know a lot more than I do- but these are some tricks of the trade that I've learned over the past few years (by few I mean 5...) Always remember to have fun, or it's not worth it at all!
Livin' It Up,
Zita Dube
Team Lettner 2005
