Hi guys! Hope you’re all well and looking forward to an exciting campaign period. I thought I’d write a little tips and tricks (or do’s and don’ts) list to help you through these next few weeks, and help you make the most of your time campaigning.

While I’ve been at UEA, I’ve run in a fair few elections – Course Rep, Part-Time Officer, NUS delegate (3 times), Club Vice president, Club president, and Full Time Officer. In these elections I’ve noticed some interesting trends and used them to my advantage – it’s only right that I pass this information on to you too!

PART-TIME OFFICER TIPS:

• Make sure to join relevant group chats for clubs and communities. If you’re running to be a disability PTO, for example, you should definitely be in the Disability Peer Support Group chat. Some roles have small but engaged communities – most of the eligible voters will probably be in these chats!
• Posters are not your whole campaign. Sure, they’re pretty and will definitely get your face out there, but they won’t convince people to vote for you. Everyone has access to canva nowadays, so this should be the bare minimum for campaigning!
• Don’t overdo the posters either. A few strategically placed posters is better than covering a whole wall. FTO candidates will naturally print more posters and campaign material, and they will dominate the available poster space anyways.
• Nobody is expecting you to have a huge list of accomplishments when running to be a PTO. It’s more than enough to say that you have the right principals for the job and that its something you’re passionate about! In my first campaign, my main selling points were that I was proud of my community, gets stuff done, and that I had a proven track record (even if I hadn’t done anything yet or have a proven track record). People will judge you more for your intentions than your previous actions.
• Make your personal brand early – got a favourite colour? Great. Make that the basis of your campaign. It’ll make your more recognisable and people will associate that with you. And if you feel comfortable, make sure to use your face in your campaign. People want to know what you look like, so if they need your help, they can identify you!
• Send your manifesto or campaign posts to different society Instagram’s – if they’re feeling kind they will share with their members. If you’re in a contentious election, beware that your competitors will also submit their posts. If a society shares one candidate’s content, they have to share all content that they receive!
• Do your best to talk to people, but don’t campaign too crazily. Just remember that this is a volunteer position. Continue to prioritise your studies and take care of yourself throughout!!

FULL TIME OFFICER TIPS:

• Similar to what I said about PTO’s, a strong personal brand makes everything easier. Mine was green, and previous successful candidates have done orange, red, and the classic yellow-blue combo for A&O.
• Use your face as much as you can – people know the face before they know the name! When you vote on the website, people see your face next to your name. Don’t count on people remembering your name or your campaign slogan! (I secretly hate how much I used my face in my campaign and in my officer role, but it’s a necessary evil to get people to recognise you).
• Do your best to go to as many lectures as possible – people love that you have bothered to go and talk to people face to face. This can be intimidating – I hated going into a 500-person lecture in LT1, but people respected that I had the guts to do it.
• It’s impossible to reach everyone, but there are some ways to extend your reach during your campaign. For example, instead of using all my time going to lectures, I made a short 2-minute campaign video and posted it to YouTube. I then used UEA school faculty lists (available on the website), copied the emails of lecturers, and emailed the campaign video to them in batches (sending them by BCC means that they don’t know you’ve sent that email to more than one person). I’m sure there would be a way to use AI to scrape the emails – but I advise against this. Not only is AI resource intensive, its also not recommended to process personal information (like emails and contacts) through it. Do the hard work and it will pay off! Using this method, you could easily reach four to five times the number of students that you would otherwise.

You can see my old campaign videos here:

 https://youtu.be/NovSPKRu03w

https://youtu.be/Td79xknW3-8

• Instagram is your best friend, but it can also be your worst enemy. Social media can be deceiving sometimes, but its also a good indicator. My campaign account @NathanUEA had just over 1700 followers when I ran in my first year – this was a great indicator but didn’t translate exactly into votes. I won with just over 1000 votes to my competitors 300, meaning that just over half of the people following me bothered to vote in the elections. Given how competitive this election looks like it could be, it might be even more difficult to use follower count as an effective gauge for votes.
• Social media can also lead to contention between candidates – screenshots, messages between campaigns, vindictive posts, and most notoriously mean concrete confessions against their rivals. Don’t fall victim to using it in a nasty way, as someone can always report your behaviour…
• EVERYONE LOVES A STUNT. I loved pulling a stunt – the old VC’s face on a banner, a 20m wide poster on the ziggurats, and posters next to the toilets saying that things were ‘taking the piss’. These things make you more memorable and show your unique flare!  They can also be done for cheap. My big Ziggs poster was made with Sellotape and A3 paper, probably cost me around two pounds.  But they can also get you in trouble… so be prepared for that!

• Make a nice banner – I can say that in the past few elections I can’t think of one candidate that won with an ugly banner. An ugly banner shows that you haven’t really taken the effort to make something impressive, and if you can’t do it then, will you do it as an officer?? Nice handwriting, no rough jagged edges on the fabric, and even a fancy design are enough to show that you really care. Make sure that you think strategically about your banner’s location too – the best spots are usually reserved an hour or so before campaigning (this is also my favourite election tradition and a great way to meet the other candidates).
• TALK TO PEOPLE. This one might sound simple but its actually really easy to convince yourself that you’re doing it, when reality all you’ve done is stand in the hive all day talking to your mates. If you don’t recognise their face, introduce yourself. If they tell you to piss off, you say okay and thank you for their time. If you think you’ve spoken to them already, make a joke! Say you have a bad memory but that it just shows how bad you want the job or something. If you feel exhausted from talking to people, that’s a good indicator that you have had a good day of campaigning and have had a positive reach!
• GET OUT OF THE HIVE!!!! The number of candidates I’ve seen that just lurch around the UNIO café all day, holding their leaflets as students try to duck them, is incalculable. There are so many different spaces on campus that are better for meeting students. The last thing you want is someone putting in a concrete confession saying that you’re the annoying one in the hive with the posters, and to please leave us alone. Keep it varied and move around!
• You don’t need a huge campaign team to win. One or two friends is all it takes – and honestly all you really need is one friend to walk around with you and give you a confidence boost.

 Me and my campaign team (my mate Lottie)

• Stuff happens during campaigning. Life doesn’t stop, and that’s okay! Take time to yourself to decompress as best as you can – and do your best to keep up to date with your work. The Uni do not grant extensions for those who want to campaign in the elections (apart from self-cert extensions obvs).
• DON’T CAMPAIGN ON SUNDAY. Literally no point. Students on campus on Sunday will be there to study and not much else. This is the only real day of rest you’ll get in the entire campaign, so please make sure you take it.
• It’s not the end of the world if you don’t win. But don’t give up! Its not over until its over. Because we use preferential vote, you don’t have to be everyone’s first choice – you just have to be enough peoples second choice to edge a win!
• Have fun. Keep it light, and don’t be a dick to your other campaigners – the job market is horrible at the moment, and this is one of the only jobs that is guaranteed without an interview. Of course people are going to go for the positions! Just be nice to eachother, let your own personality shine through and let students make an educated choice.