Sunday, February 5, 2012

Page: the Magazine of the People, for the People, by the People


With the  “Occupy Woodson” segment of our publicity campaign officially completed, the time has come to focus on the learning seminar component of our campaign.  Hopefully by the end of today you will all receive a “speech” outline with points to touch on during your presentations to the various English classrooms. On Tuesday, February 7, we will have a brief meeting to go over some final notes on the presentations before commencing the presentations during learning seminars on Wednesday, February 8.

Remember, Page, like the U.S. government, is “of the people, by the people, for the people”*.  If you’re excited about the magazine, the students in the classroom will get excited about it, too. Let your enthusiasm shine through, keep things brief and casual, and with any luck, we’ll have tons of submissions. At the very least, we’ll have English-classrooms-full of students grateful for the interruption in their learning seminar activities…

On a related note, if you’re at all nervous about public speaking, I suggest you watch the below video. If Elmer Fudd can get up and speak to an audience, you cewtainly can, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZeqL0CUvjY

The End is Nigh.  

-Hayley

*From Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Occupy Woodson Part Two


Greetings, dedicated demonstrators!

Now that we’ve concluded “Occupy Woodson” Part One, it’s time to turn our attention to the next demonstration, this Friday, January 13. While our first go at demonstrating went quite well, a number of folks misinterpreted our messaging, drawing the conclusion that a) all work submitted to Page must respond to the Apocalyptic theme or b) that we were a group of religious zealots. Either way, we need to determine a way to clear things up for next time.

This is where this Wednesday’s meeting comes into play! While we’ve begun considering a few different ideas, such as ditching the signs and turning to some less-serious, though still-Apocalyptic-themed, music, we’d still like to sit down as a group and discuss ways to enhance the effectiveness of our publicity campaign.

If we all put on our problem-solving hats (or masks, as previously suggested), there’s no telling what new direction our publicity campaign will take. Shall we tune things down just a hair to make our ironic tone more apparent? Should we plaster Mayan hieroglyphic writing across our boards?
 Please take some time Monday and Tuesday to brainstorm some ideas for tweaking the publicity campaign.  The Time has Come to refine our campaign. Come to the meeting this Wednesday to make your voice heard. The End is Nigh.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Make Me a Sandwich (Board)!

The beginning of the end quickly approaches! As of this meeting, we have our logo, a cross between a HAZMAT sign and an angel designed by EIC Hailey S.  The posters will be accompanied with a slogan, something like “What will you do before the silence.” Next meeting we will finalize plans for the poster.

With the first stage of Occupy Woodson nearly in place, the step is sandwich boards! Yes, that’s right; next meeting we will all be challenging our inner-protestors by arriving at the meeting armed with our completed sandwich boards. Sometime between now and next Wednesday, December 14 please pop over to A.C. Moore to purchase a foam board. *  If you need a bit of inspiration, look no further than the lady below. This lady knows how she feels, and she’s not afraid to show it:
On a side note, thank you to Carolyn for drawing up a snack list. If anyone has said list, please email it to me and I’ll email/post the schedule. Everyone please feel free to bring snacks at anytime. No more starving artists at the meetings!

Hope to see everyone at the next meeting, next Wednesday, December 14, and remember: The End is Nigh.

-Hayley

*Correction: We will make the sandwich board signs AT the meeting. Please just bring the materials to the meeting. Sorry for the confusion!

Woman, Make Me a Sanwhich (Board)!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Get Ready for "Occupy Woodson (Signs)!"

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone! Hopefully everyone enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving meal, and emerged from the Black Friday sales in one piece. As we prepare for our meeting this Wednesday, November 30th, it’s time to turn our attentions to the first stage of publicity: the posters.





Using the Occupy Wall Street sign shown above as a template, featuring the words, “The End is Nigh” at the top, and “Submit Before the Silence” at the bottom. These posters will begin cropping up in hallways two weeks before the start of winter break.

            When we return from break the real fun begins. Beginning January 6, we will be staging our “End is Nigh” Fridays in the mornings. Adorned in sandwich-board signs bearing our “End is Nigh” slogan, and armed with half-sheets bearing information regarding submissions and Page, we will confront students as they enter the building. The goal is to shock, amuse, and amaze, all in an effort to generate attention for the magazine. Mr. Marvin has also volunteered to mix some background music for us, using “The Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers as the main song. All of these features, from our sandwich boards and sweats to the half-sheets and music, should allow us to embrace the “Occupy Woodson for Page” movement with unabashed enthusiasm. We will hold these demonstrations on January 6, January 13, and January 20.

            Two days after the first demonstration, we will begin hanging posters asking for submissions. These posters, featuring crop circles and constellations, will be accompanied by brief explanatory notes at the bottom that will “fade out” the further down the page one reads. For this campaign, our slogan, featured prominently at the top, will be something along the lines of “Have Your Voice Heard Before the Silence.” These signs showcase the new Page emblem, a symbol Hailey Slayton will devise. This is the third and final step in our publicity campaign.

            In short, the next few weeks will be filled with lots of planning to get ready for our “demonstrations” in January. The next few meetings are crucial to ensuring a successful publicity run, so please come to the one this Wednesday, December 1. Come to the meeting, and “have your voice heard before the silence,” or at least, before we finalize plans for posters.

            

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Time to Bunker Down...


This week we took important steps in establishing a plan for our publicity campaign. Our approach works something like this:
1.     Intrigue: To begin, we plan on posting flyers across the school with a symbol. Just a symbol. Something that shall pique the interests of the student body, something iconic and clever that represents our theme while also adding to the aura of mystique essential to our theme. This is a job perfect for all artists on the staff. For next meeting, it would be lovely to have some ideas of various symbols, or better yet, actual design drafts.
2.     Occupy Woodson/ Picketing: This stage involves some acting. Channeling our inner picketers, we shall stand outside Woodson with large signs declaring “The End is Nigh,” outfitted in black sweatpants and Nike sneakers, distributing Page submission flyers to students as they enter the school. To maximize the effect of this demonstration, we plan on holding it over a series of days.
3.     Posters: This is our final chance to captivate the student body. These flyers shall adorn the hallway, bearing upon them various signs, such as constellation arrangements, messages cut in cornfields, or Maya Glyphs that warn of the end of the world. To make these images more believable, we need to develop back-stories for them. This is where we need the participation of all Page staffers: please, please, please, if you are a talented artist or writer, bring a concept for the flyer images as well as the story behind these images to the next meeting. Please email me if you are interested in creating one of these flyers. The more volunteers, the more authentic we can make the posters!

We also discussed the culminating activity in greater detail. Remaining true to our original idea of providing a venue for students to display their “last thoughts” before the end of the world, we arrived at a suitable means of housing said thoughts: a bunker. What better place to house those things worthy of preserving than a shelter from destruction? Though we still have a great deal to discuss regarding the logistics of this scheme, please keep this in mind as we proceed.

As we trek even further down the path to destruction, we need to solidify our publicity plans. Again, please email me if you are interested in working on a flyer. The next meeting is Wednesday, November 16. The End is Nigh. Time to spread the word.

-Hayley

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Meeting Recap: carpe diem, Post Secret, etc.


Welcome to the Page Blog! As a nice complement to the Page Blackboard site, the blog shall serve as a place to summarize meetings as well as to (hopefully!) encourage the blossoming of ideas.

On that note, today we focused on refining our publicity campaign as well as the layout of the magazine. We’ve borrowed some Latin phrases from our dear friends the Romans, novissimo verba * (last words), and carpe diem (seize the day), which we plan on opening and closing the magazine with. We’ve discussed using Post Secret as a way to drum up interest for the paper, and continue to hash out ideas regarding the publicity campaign. We’ve gravitated towards the idea of progressing from light to dark in the magazine, a move we hope to reflect in the layout of the pieces as well as the color quality of the magazine background. This meeting our plans grew more specific. Still, we need to continue refining our ideas.

Next meeting, we hope to talk more about the development of the ad campaign. We talked about possible poster designs. For the next meeting (next Wednesday!), everyone should come prepared with an idea for posters, or better yet, an actual draft of a potential poster to garner the interest of the student body population. In addition, last year’s Department of the Protection of Art and Graphic Elements (P.A.G.E.) logo looked rather spiffy and lent our campaign authenticity. If anyone has an idea concerning a possible icon for this year’s campaign, next meeting would be a great time to bring it up. In addition, we shall go into greater detail regarding the layout of the magazine. What specifics sections will it contain? How will these sections affect the pace of the progression from light to dark? Do we want this progression to be subtle or dramatic?

The next meeting is next Wednesday, November 7th. Adopt the mantra of carpe diem and seize the day by joining the members of Page in a major brainstorm session that promises to be entertaining and enlightening.