However, it’s no good just sending out groups of unprepared volunteers or student staff. Make sure you research where your target audience is going to be and prepare your street teams with answers to as many questions you can think of.
As Kishor Krishnamoorthi, President of University of Essex Students’ Union, explains “Our primary and perhaps most effective tool is known as ‘tower runs’ at Essex and probably as accommodation runs at other University. We basically, along with your campaign teams, go to all the on campus accommodation, distributing flyers and speaking to students about the event we are promoting. We usually go around dinner time so that all students are in the kitchen cooking and this gives the opportunity to speak a large group of them at once.”
Tom Dolton, Communications officer at Union of UEA Students, reflects on using a student staff team to promote the demo “They went around campus and halls telling students about the event and selling tickets for the coach. I would probably use more students as part of the street team. It worked really well.”
Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT) they used their volunteer street team to create competition between local institutions. Ben Kinross, Student Liaison Officer at BCOT describes “We stirred up a bit of competitive feeling between ourselves and the local 6th form, talking to students we said “wouldn’t it be great if we could get more people going than Queen Marys, or even Winchester Uni”, playing on the perception that outsiders believe FE students aren’t interested in politics. We did this whilst simultaneously talking to the local 6th form and letting them know how we were doing asking if we could help them and letting them know what support we had got from the college.”
Next Lesson Learned: Value your volunteers