CAN seeks media and marketing volunteer

CAN is seeking a Media & Marketing Co-ordinator.
Please contact CAN Chair Bevan Woodward or Project Manager Patrick Morgan.

The Media & Marketing Co-ordinator plays a key role in helping to communicate CAN's key messages to outside audiences such as the general public, the wider cycling community and decision makers. The role is also important in shaping and projecting CAN's image.

The Media & Marketing Co-ordinator is appointed by the Committee. It is helpful, but not essential, for the postholder to also be on the Committee, though knowledge of CAN's aims and activities is important.

The media@can.org.nz email address has been set up.

Role:

  • to co-ordinate marketing and media activities for CAN
  • help CAN develop strategy appropriate to its marketing & media needs
  • help CAN plan and manage its marketing and media activity overall and through specific campaigns
  • to help implement the above, including providing assistance to regional/local groups


Duties:

  • media planning and releases
  • marketing planning and management of key elements, such as the logo, branding
  • merchandising where this helps market CAN
  • development and maintenance of contact databases to support these activities
  • development of relationships with suppliers to Support/working relationships the above
  • taking a leading role in media and marketing campaign design, development and conduct


Desired qualities/experience:

  • capable of working independently, but also as part of a team
  • knowledge and ability to provide guidance and advice to others on media and marketing matters
  • good written and oral language skills
  • CAN member, with some knowledge of CAN's aims and activities
  • ability to work within the media and marketing budget


Accountabilities:

  • CAN Committee (note: specific targets can be agreed with the Committee)


Support/working relationships:

  • Chairperson
  • CAN Staff
  • local group chairs
  • Treasurer
  • Webmaster
  • Merchandise Co-ordinator
  • CAN project/portfolio leaders
  • Chainlinks Editor and Contributions Manager
  • media reporters
  • CAN's design, merchandising and other suppliers
  • representatives of other aligned pro-cycling advocacy groups


Time commitment:

  • varies, but averages 3 hours/week


Rewards:

  • appropriate expenses paid (e.g. toll calls, paper, travel)
  • modest honorarium ($50 gift voucher from a range of retailers, including CAN)
  • some training (e.g. media presentation) will be made available as appropriate
  • furthering a good cause and working with great people


[updated December 2009]

Comments

OK,it's interesting to hear the way committee is thinking about this.

i've been contacted by Anne to be on an IT portfolio, and bevn to be on a media portfolio, and I'm involved with Chainlinks, which is presumably another portfolio. I was wondering how the new board was planning to coordinate things between them.

It's been my view for a while that there's not enough coordination and communication between the people in CAN responsible for our various communication methods/tools - media releases, website, Chainlinks, eCAN,and we could be more effective if there was more. some of this would be in using similar material in more than one communication tool. We already make press releases available n the website, and the same for full pdf versions of Chainlinks, but sometimes the website could be used for more, like a more detailed supplement to a media release or Chainlinks article. or we avoid the difficulty of putting time-sensitive stuff like notices of upcoming events in Chainlinks (because this is inevitable tricky because of the time involved in proofreading & printing) by making sure such items are well handled by the website.

I had suggested that a "communication" portfolio could be an umbrella or top-level portfolio for the more specialised portfolios or sub-portfolios like "IT/website" "Chainlinks", "eCAn" and "media/marketing".

perhaps if this media/marketing coordinator has the job of co-ordinating communications by all these group then that's effectively the same thing.

Stephen Wood , based in Central Otago, stephenw@can.org.nz

Stephen, I am puzzled because the original restructuring document (please have a look) had a Portfolio Group for "Communications" with bullet points for: Website, chainLinks/e.can and Media Releases. As far as I am concerned this is all one group not three.

Marketing (as for merchandise) should be done in the Merchandising group.

and Marketing as in membership increases should come under "Member Support" again this group seems to be splitting up. See Glen's "Focus area report"

I would like to see us stick with the restructuring document and get on with getting those groups sorted.

That's interesting Liz, I think there does need to be coordination over our communications and have been concerned that three separate groups on the website have been set up, each with a distinct role in "communication". I've commented on this many times. I'm actually in all three and would like to assist in coordinating them, perhaps taking on a new role as communication coordinator or group leader. However I'm not interested in this media and marketing role as advertised, or either half of it if it is split. I think there needs to be a media person that will lead writing media releases like Stephen M did, but would like to see a team helping them. the current "media" group (me, Bevan, Patrick, Glen...) could be that team

Stephen Wood , based in Central Otago

Good points Stephen.
What's driving this is not the new structure. It's my recent discovery that Stephen M is stepping down from his Media and Marketing portfolio. Who's going to write our John Key award news release? Who will send it out, maintain media lists, monitor the news? Who will front to media?

After talking with Bevan, we decided to seek a replacement.
My starting point was the existing role description.
We didn't consider exactly how the role could be amended to better fit the new structure.

Shall we see what interest we generate?
I'd welcome your help in reviewing this role to better fit CAN's needs.

Stephen W

Remember we as still running the old structure but in transion to the new structure. We are not a Board, we are a Committee. We still need people whether within the committee or outside to fulfill certain roles.

You're currently been involved in the IT group including been given permissions on the website... I assumed you're still involved, if you not wanting to continue let us know.

Bevan & Patrick

At the AGM last year it was put that the media and marketing role could be separated.

Patrick
Why post this here at Core? Most people in Core already have roles or are off-loading them?

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to post this to CAN Forum group and also is there still time to put an ad together for the Chainlinks?

Anne

Yes, very much want to be involved in CAN, and open to changing my role or roles, subject to not overloading myself. I still don't know exactly what Miriam wants to do about the CL editor role.

the coordination between various communication forms was something I've been keen on for several months. I first raised it when I met with some of the Aucland CANers back in July and we had me for Chainlinks, Adrin for eCAN and Stephen for media. its one of my motivations for wanting getting involved in the IT/website group and retain a role in Chainlinks.

I don't thik I have the time to take on the media/marketing role, and it may complicate things in the short term if we tack a extra responsibility on to it. So Patricks's suggestion of waiting to see what we get is a good one.

in the meantime I can and am happy to help with suggestions on press releases and I have a little media experince and trainng.

Stephen Wood , based in Central Otago, stephenw@can.org.nz

Support Anne in her request that this must be sent to the Forum and/or group representatives.

This should be deleted, as Stephen McKernon never helped local groups and the job is large enough without adding this. I also think that the merchandising group should do their own marketing, so this can also be deleted making the "job" a bit more manageable.

"to help implement the above, including providing assistance to regional/local groups"

It seems to me too that this job should be based within the communications group and this group should have main input into the position.

Liz

I think there is already provision of media coordinator and marketing coordinator to be separated. you're right in the the previous coordinator Stephen M didn't have direct contact with local groups.

I haven't yet seen any evidence of a "communication" group being set up. there is

a "media" group presumably looking after media releases (and maybe marketing, i don't know),

an IT group which might cover IT maintenance (the website and email),but possibly also helping users get started, and managing what the website contains

and a Chainlinks +eCAN group to cover our two regular "publications"

I've suggested a number of times that there should be some way of coordinating the effort of these 3 groups. perhaps it would be this media coordinator, perhaps there should be another communications coordinator whose job is to keep the three groups mutually informed, perhaps the SHOULD be a communications
group and the three groups above would be considered sub-groups of that.

Stephen Wood , based in Central Otago, stephenw@can.org.nz