Advertising @ JHU

The school year’s here and your student group has a bunch of great things planned for the year – performances, parties, trips, recruitment.  But how do you get the message out to the student body?  Well Hopkins has a variety of places and platforms for your advertising (assuming you’re part of a registered student group), and it’s just a matter of knowing what to have, who to talk to, and where to go.  Here’s a quick run-down on some great ways to advertise on the Homewood campus:

Posters\Flyers – This is the simple, old-fashioned college advertising method.  But let me tell you, it works!  If you want to post in the dorms, make a poster (maximum 8”x11”) and drop by the Office of Residential Life in AMR II to get the stamp of approval.  Then make copies of the stamped poster and make sure you follow the rules for posting!  If you want to post anywhere else (academic buildings, breezeways, etc.), you can pretty much post whatever and however you want.

Leaflets – Another standard college advertising strategy is handing out leaflets (quarter-page flyers) in high-volume traffic areas.  This strategy is cheap and efficient.  Generally, the best place to do this is the breezeway between Krieger Hall and Ames Hall.  Again, just get the leaflet approved by the Office of Residential Life in AMR II.  In addition, you can stuff these in dorm residents’ mailboxes or place them in the four-sided plastic napkin holders (“Table Talkers”) in campus dining areas.  Student groups must submit a copy of their proposed table talker to Kelly Davies in the Housing & Dining Office (Wolman 101), and these can’t be posted more than one week in advance of an event.

Tabling – Reserve a table in trafficked areas to have personal interactions with students.  Usually this goes in conjunction with handing out leaflets, giving away free stuff, or having some kind of poster or interactive thing.  To reserve a table outside residence halls, contact the Office of Residential Life (AMRII) no more than 2 weeks in advance, or contact Syreeta Hubbard (bbl@jhu.edu, 410-516-8209, Levering 102) for a breezeway table.

Banners - Banners are wonderful because they’re big and in high-traffic areas.  Contact the appropriate person for where you want it: 
· Mattin Center - Eric Beatty, Mattin Center 210, 516-0774, ebeatty@jhu.edu
· Breezeway - Syreeta Hubbard, Levering Hall 100, 516-8209, bbl@jhu.edu
· Residence halls - Hannah Von Krause, AMR II, 516-8283
· MSE Library - Betty Cook, 410-516-7676

Chalking – Chalking can be a fun and interesting way of advertising.  The obvious drawback is that inclement weather could quickly wipe away your hard work.  To reserve chalking space in the courtyard areas of AMR I & II, contact the Hannah Von Krause (AMR II) at 410-516-8283.  For all other areas, contact Syretta Hubbard (Levering 102) at 410-516-8209.

Mural Boards – These boards are located next to Whitehead Hall and also in the tunnel under Gilman Hall.  These locations get pretty heavy traffic, and the boards can really catch peoples’ eyes.  Latex paint and brushes and trays are provided, but bring a drop cloth and clean everything when you’re done.  Come up with a concept and contact Jillian Rickerd at Office of Student Activities (Mattin Center Suite 131, Jrickerd@jhu.edu, 410-516-4873) to reserve a board.  Your mural will be an attention-grabbing billboard for a minimum of 2 weeks!

Flash Ads – You may have noticed widescreen plasma tvs displaying ads in such places as the library and the Krieger computer lab.  These ads must be submitted at least two weeks before you want the ad displayed, and they can be displayed for up to one week at a time.  Flash ads can be submitted as PowerPoint, Flash (.swf), JPEG, BMP, or GIF files.

Today’s Announcements – These announcements are sent out to every student’s e-mail inbox every day of the school year.  Many students at least scan through these e-mails, and they are relatively easy to submit.  These are great for day-of announcements of events.  Just submit the post by 12 noon the business day prior to posting.

Hopkins Groups – Hopkins Groups is a new, up and coming online community for Hopkins students and student groups (see our previous blog post on this).  The main page prominently features a virtual “Public Flyerboard,” which functions like a cross between a real public flyerboard and FaceBook events.  Register your group, set up the profile, and start posting events.  There may not be many people using it yet, but if you start using it and advertising now, it’ll probably catch on soon enough.  I’ll also mention here that there is a separate Hopkins Events page where student groups can post events.  This doesn’t seem to be linked to the new Hopkins Groups page, but while it exists, it might be worth posting here as well. (events.jhu.edu)

FaceBook – You can never go wrong with a FaceBook event.  Make a FaceBook group for your student group, set up events, and invite everyone you know.  This is great for getting some idea of a head count (though not always accurate) and for sending out messages to everyone invited or RSVP’d.

For more information on advertising and a start-to-finish guide to running events at Hopkins, see the “JHU Event Planning and Promotion Handbook.”  Remember – the key to getting your group name and events out there is exposure.  Use as many mediums in as many places as possible.  So now that you know what to do, start working on yours ads and submit them!