269 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
269 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
## PRO
|
|
|
|
#### Nanda Vinayakrishnan
|
|
|
|
### Duties
|
|
|
|
Your duties as a Public Relations Officer are usually to promote the society and its events.
|
|
|
|
As part of this, you might have to take photos at events, reply to direct messages on social media, and post on social
|
|
media.
|
|
|
|
#### General Overview
|
|
|
|
You will need to at least have three of the following things done for **every single** event.
|
|
I recommend using a per-event checklist, maybe a Notion page or whatever suits you.
|
|
|
|
It needs to have:
|
|
|
|
- [ ] Wolves
|
|
- [ ] Email
|
|
- [ ] Discord
|
|
- [ ] Poster (Optional)
|
|
- [ ] Social Media
|
|
|
|
More elaboration on what each of these sections entails is below.
|
|
|
|
Part of your job will also involve delegating some of these tasks to other folks, like your Assistant PROs.
|
|
Trying to do everything yourself is a recipe for burnout.
|
|
|
|
##### Wolves
|
|
|
|
- **Every** event needs to be posted up on Wolves.
|
|
- Familiarize yourself with the Committee Panel on ulwolves.ie, especially the "Events" section.
|
|
- For each upcoming event, you need to navigate
|
|
to https://cp.ulwolves.ie/manage/events/add and fill out the form.
|
|
- For the "Description" section, you can copy and paste the email or discord announcement (removing things like the "
|
|
``@everyone``" tag).
|
|
- Every event needs to be bookable, so click on the "Book on UL Wolves" radio button in the "Pre-Booking" section. You
|
|
don't need tickets (unless its big events like PyCon) or booking notifications.
|
|
- Leave all settings as default with respect to bookings, unless otherwise specified.
|
|
- (Consult with the Treasurer if you need to charge for tickets, if so, how much, and how to handle the money.)
|
|
- Once you've created the event, go to https://ulwolves.ie/whatson, filter by "Computer" and check that the event is
|
|
listed.
|
|
- Click on the event and copy the link, and put it in your discord, email, poster (as a QR code), and social media posts
|
|
and tell people to book on it.
|
|
- More people booking on Wolves is better for record-keeping.
|
|
|
|
##### Discord
|
|
|
|
- **Every** event also needs to be announced on Discord.
|
|
- The society usually conducts most communication and activity on Discord, so you should try to point people
|
|
to https://discord.skynet.ie as much as you can. Especially in the beginning of the year.
|
|
- Every announcement begins life as a thread in the "pro-forum" channel in the Committee Discord. You'll need to create
|
|
a new post on the forum with the format as follows: ``YYYY-MM-DD {Event Name} Comms`` with the date referring to the
|
|
date of the event.
|
|
- For example, if the event is a capture the flag on the 1st of October, the post should be titled
|
|
``2025-10-01 CTF Comms``.
|
|
- In the thread, you want to link to the committee forum thread in the first post and any important information you
|
|
might need to make an announcement off of.
|
|
- Start making a base announcement, there isn't a specific format, but usually ours followed something like this:
|
|
|
|
Hey everyone/@everyone,
|
|
|
|
{Quip about the event}
|
|
|
|
We'll be having {Event Name} on {Day} the {Date} of {Month}.
|
|
It will be held in {Location} at {Start Time : End Time}. [WRITERS NOTE: TRY NOT TO USE 24HR IT CONFUSES NORMAL PEOPLE]
|
|
|
|
See you then!
|
|
|
|
Book your slot on Wolves: {Wolves Link}
|
|
|
|
{Any other important links} [P.S. Do not use embeds, have the links out there. People wouldn't feel secure clicking on a random link they cant see at first glance in an email]
|
|
|
|
- Ideally you want to include more than just the base format, you don't want things getting too same-y
|
|
- After making the announcement, put it in the pro-forum thread and wrap it in triple backticks to make it a code block.
|
|
This will make it easier to read and copy. (The backtick is usually above your Tab key)
|
|
- Post that into the thread, and reply to it with a "@Committee" ping. You will need the assent of at least two other
|
|
committee members to post it (one if it's an emergency).
|
|
- Being funny in the announcements channel is completely fine, make sure you're not annoying people or making the
|
|
announcement difficult to read.
|
|
- Don't use the ``@everyone`` tag for stupid reasons, you don't want people to start muting the announcement channel.
|
|
|
|
##### Emails
|
|
|
|
- **Every** event should also be announced via E-mail.
|
|
- It's completely fine to copy the Discord Announcement and paste it into the email, but make sure to fix the
|
|
formatting.
|
|
- To make an email, navigate to https://cp.ulwolves.ie/mailbox/computer#compose and click on the "BCC {Number}/{Number}
|
|
Active Members (who have opted in to emails)"
|
|
- You don't need to add any other users to the email, as the BCC will send it to all members.
|
|
- Make sure to include the subject line, which is usually the type of event and what event it is. For example, for
|
|
events, we'd have the subject as "``[Event] Capture the Flag``" or "``[Event] PyCon 2025``".
|
|
- Every time a link is pasted into the email box, select the link text and click on the "Link" button in the toolbar.
|
|
This will make it a clickable link.
|
|
- The same requirements as Discord announcements apply, make sure the UL Wolves link is in the email, and make sure to
|
|
include any other important links.
|
|
- E-mails can't be taken back once sent, so make sure to save things as a draft before clicking "Send" and making sure
|
|
you have the assent of committee members.
|
|
|
|
##### Posters
|
|
|
|
- Posters can be a bit time-consuming, so you don't need to have one for every single event.
|
|
- You absolutely should, if you can, have a poster for your larger events.
|
|
- If it's allowed, you can also use preexisting posters for the event as the poster for the event.
|
|
- This poster needs to be uploaded on UL Wolves Event Creation page in the "Image/Poster" section.
|
|
- Some Guidelines for Poster-Making:
|
|
- Make sure to include the following information:
|
|
- Time
|
|
- Date
|
|
- Place
|
|
- Event Name
|
|
- UL Wolves Booking link QR Code
|
|
- 10-word tagline (optional)
|
|
- Make sure to use the UL Computer Society Logo, in any corner, usually the top left
|
|
- You can include the Time, Date, Place, and Location in the corner of the poster
|
|
- When putting information in the corners, make sure it floats off of the corner to prevent cropping.
|
|
- Attach the poster as an attachment in the Discord Announcement and the E-mail.
|
|
- Make sure to include the poster in the pro-forum thread
|
|
|
|
##### Non-Discord Social Media
|
|
|
|
- We have a few social media accounts, but they are not very active.
|
|
- We have official accounts on Instagram and LinkedIn, though we usually use the Instagram account.
|
|
- People will often try to reach out to us on Instagram direct messages, so make sure to check them regularly.
|
|
- You can also use the Instagram account to post about events, but make sure to check with the committee first.
|
|
- There isn't an established format for announcing, but since Instagram's visuals-heavy you'd want to only promote
|
|
events with posters or good visuals
|
|
- Consider handing this to an Assistant PRO, since its really easy to get outstretched with managing insta, discord, and
|
|
emails on top of everything.
|
|
- LinkedIn has been dead forever, consider not bothering with it or don't, whichever one works.
|
|
|
|
##### Photography
|
|
|
|
- Take pictures at most, if not all, events.
|
|
- CRUCIAL: ASK PEOPLE FOR PERMISSION TO TAKE THEIR PICTURE. IF NOT, MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT CAUGHT IN THE ANGLES OF OTHER
|
|
PHOTOS.
|
|
- You can use these in the budget and for insta posts or other archival stuff.
|
|
- The Society has its own camera, so make sure to use it. Also use your own phone camera if needed.
|
|
- Take a million pictures of the same scene if you have to, you can get a better chance of a good picture if you do.
|
|
|
|
##### Registering events on open-governance
|
|
|
|
- Another part of your job is to archive events that happened on open-governance.
|
|
- What you want to do is clone open-governance to your system, navigate to open-governance/Events/{YYYY-YYYY}/ and
|
|
create a new file with the name of the event in the format Semester-{Semester Number}_Week-{Week Number}.md.
|
|
- At the top will be a title, with one ``#`` followed by the event name, so "``# PyCon``".
|
|
- Then you want to create a table with the date, location, time, type, and lead.
|
|
- The type is usually either "Technical" or "Social," and the lead is usually the person who organized the event.
|
|
- For the "Lead" section, try to use the forgejo handle of the person who organized the event.
|
|
- You can use the following template:
|
|
|
|
# {Event Name}
|
|
|
|
| Date | {Date} |
|
|
|----------|---------------------------|
|
|
| Location | {Location} |
|
|
| Time | {Start Time} - {End Time} |
|
|
| Type | {Type} |
|
|
| Lead | {Lead} |
|
|
|
|
## Overview
|
|
|
|
{Overview of the event}
|
|
|
|
## Requirements
|
|
|
|
{Requirements for the event, if any}
|
|
|
|
## Promotion
|
|
|
|
### Email
|
|
|
|
{Email for the event}
|
|
|
|
### Discord
|
|
|
|
{Discord announcement for the event}
|
|
|
|
### Poster
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Upload any posters to the same directory as the event file, and link to them in the "Poster" section.
|
|
- Copy the same filename as the Markdown file, and rename the poster to it.
|
|
|
|
##### Committee Meetings
|
|
|
|
- At every committee meeting, there'll be a section for PROs.
|
|
- In that section, you want to ask if the previous event has been archived on open-governance and if not, who'll do it.
|
|
- Usually that's you.
|
|
- Later down the meeting, usually, there'll be a section for upcoming events.
|
|
- There, you need to ask yourself (and maybe the assistant PROs too) the following:
|
|
- Is the event up on Wolves?
|
|
- Is the announcement ready?
|
|
- Is any information needed?
|
|
- Is the poster ready? Do we need a poster?
|
|
- Don't rely on your memory, make sure to write down important stuff in the minutes.
|
|
|
|
#### Flavors of PROdom
|
|
|
|
###### Vanilla (Announcement Goblin PRO)
|
|
|
|
- Typically, has no assistant PROs or just one semi-inactive one.
|
|
- Work on emails, discord, and instagram optionally.
|
|
- Reply to Direct Messages on Social Media
|
|
- Discord
|
|
- Instagram
|
|
- Photography
|
|
- The Society has a camera, and you can use your mobile phone camera
|
|
- Once again: Ask for permission to take pictures of people.
|
|
- Posters take a backseat, and you can use preexisting posters for events if needed.
|
|
|
|
###### Marble (Announcement Goblin PRO + PRO who does Posters)
|
|
|
|
- Person 1:
|
|
- Manages Discord and Email
|
|
- Person 2:
|
|
- Manages Posters and Instagram
|
|
|
|
This distribution of labor isn't set in stone, you can shift responsibilities around and add and remove some ones.
|
|
This is just a suggestion based on a previous way the society's public relations was done
|
|
You want to not overwork one side over the other, since unfair distribution can make people burn out faster.
|
|
|
|
###### Neapolitan (Announcement Goblin PRO + PRO who does Posters + PRO who does Social Media)
|
|
|
|
- The PRO team has never gone past 3 people and never needed to.
|
|
- Having 3 people is nice because you get more flexibility when delegating work.
|
|
- Generally, it follows the same distribution as the Marble team, but with a third person who does instagram and can pop
|
|
in to help elsewhere like archiving.
|
|
- Same as Marble, you can shift things between roles and add new ones like archival, photos, etc.
|
|
- This is going to need more management of people, so make sure to ping them to remind them of things and to ask them
|
|
how things are going along.
|
|
|
|
### Misc/Experience
|
|
|
|
The position's really fun since you get a lot more space to just do things you want, but you also get a load of chances
|
|
to fumble, especially with things like emails which are hard to take back.
|
|
You don't really need to be technical to be a PRO of this society, you can be completely new to everything and still do
|
|
a good job.
|
|
The committee is also full of helpful people who will help you out if you ask them, so don't be afraid to ask for help.
|
|
|
|
One important thing that needs noting is that everyone on this committee is a volunteer, and they are all doing this for
|
|
free.
|
|
This means that you need to be respectful of their time and effort, and not expect them to do everything for you.
|
|
You can't be overbearing, since that's just socially not the done thing, but you also can't be too hands-off that people
|
|
forget they're on the committee.
|
|
|
|
Golden rule for doing anything PRO-related: **If you can finish the task in the time its taking you to ping someone else
|
|
and wait for them to get it done, you can do it yourself.**
|
|
|
|
You should also get used to pinging Committee to re-check your announcements.
|
|
Always better to have someone get annoyed at you for pinging them than to have a bad announcement go out.
|
|
|
|
Also, remember that this is a volunteer position, not a job.
|
|
If it starts to feel like one, take a step back and consider delegating more or raising it with the committee.
|
|
It's okay to take breaks, and it's okay to drop off the face of the earth for a while as long as you let folks know.
|
|
Additionally, if you see someone else getting burnt out, be the first to step in and help them out.
|
|
People are more likely to accept other people helping than they are to ask for help themselves.
|
|
|
|
### Summary
|
|
|
|
The Public Relations Officer is a committee position who's main purpose is to manage, well, the Public Relations of UL
|
|
CompSoc.
|
|
Your job will be to announce events, keep people informed, maybe promote things, take pictures, and archive events.
|
|
Depending on the situation, you might also be the first point of contact for people who want to talk to the society.
|
|
You'll need to work with a team, or on your own, but the most important part is that you don't get burnt out.
|
|
Being a PRO is almost as much teamwork as it is actual public relations, and just enjoy stuff.
|
|
|
|
And of course, the first rule of PROdom: ✨ **Have fun** ✨
|