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Staples organizations plaster social media with publicity

Staples organizations plaster social media with publicity
Rachel Morrison

On any given weeknight, students open tabs to Twitter and Facebook between homework assignments. Members of Players have changed their profile picture to an onstage photo of their upcoming show. Superfans encourage peers to come to the volleyball game this Monday night. The soccer team Twitter begins to fill up feeds with a play-by-play of the  game. “Pravder just scored  maybe the best goal I’ve ever seen. It was incredible. Left footed half volley into the top corner,” reports live-tweeter Ben Cion ’14.

Staples organizations of all kinds are using social media to keep their fellow students in the loop and publicize their upcoming events.

“We’re encouraged to promote our productions to all of our Facebook friends by changing our profile pictures to the Players show,” Staples Player Kelly Gore ’14 said.  “It’s supposed to advertise the show and get people to mark their calendars.”

Players are known for changing their profile pictures to promotional posters and pictures from rehearsals to get students hyped up for their upcoming shows.

“We use [profile pictures] to promote the show and really blast people with information, and the players promotional tactic is mainly to overwhelm and excite at the same time, which really works in getting tickets sold quickly,” Staples Player Nathan Francis ’14 added. “Everything helps when it comes to getting a house sold out.”

According to Katelyn Farnen ’14, this tactic is proven to work. “The more people that post pictures from the show and change their profile pictures in a given day, the more ticket sales will happen in that day,” she adds.

And Players aren’t the only ones filling up the newsfeeds of Staples students.

Staples sports teams are also participating in the trend of using social media to promote their games and to rally fans.

“The [soccer] team used [the Twitter account] to make the Staples soccer brand more accessible to alumni and parents who didn’t have as much of an opportunity to watch the games,” said Ben Cion ’14 who live-tweeted all of the games while giving his own personal insight.

Nick Vega, president of Wreckers in Tune, finds that utilizing social media, which teens use so frequently, is a good way to make sure that both club members and followers are informed.

“It is already hard enough to get a group of high schoolers to be at one place, after school hours, and on time, so having this source of media is huge for us,” he said.

Certain teachers are getting in on the Twitter game as well, using it as an extra tool for learning. A.P. U.S. Government teacher Suzanne Kammerman supplements her class by sending relevant articles and links via Twitter.

“The more aware they are of current events, the more the course starts to make sense to them. It is not a required component of the class; however, my experience has been that students who do read the articles tend to develop a greater understanding of the material we are covering in class,” Kammerman said. “I hope that it keeps the students interested; that is my intention!”

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About the Contributors
Ellie Gavin, Staff Writer
Most people would not compare journalism to sailing. At first glance, the two activities could not be less similar: one involves being in a boat, while the other involves thinking of creative headlines. For Ellie Gavin ’14, however, it’s a different story. Gavin has been sailing for as long as she can remember, she tells me one sunny afternoon in August. When Gavin speaks, her hands mirror the bright tone of her voice, with animated gesticulations aplenty. Gavin explains that she loves the decision-making aspect of sailing, and anticipates bringing some of these skills to Inklings. Like any good journalist, Gavin has an angle – she hopes to expose the truth and make people think, and she’s not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. When I ask her if she’s nervous about being a brand-new member of Inklings, she pauses for the first time in our conversation. “A few years ago, I was sailing, nowhere near land, and there was a big storm,” Gavin said. “To get through something scary, the worst thing you can do is back down. Keep doing what you’d be doing if you were in a more comfortable situation.” Be it a storm or a tough interview, Gavin’s going to keep on sailing.
Caroline Cohen, Managing Editor
Caroline Cohen ’15 is a team player. And in true MVP fashion, she has made a name for herself on Inklings with her pep and strong work ethic. Since taking Intro to Journalism freshman year, she has put in countless hours of hard work and, this year, even snatched up the coveted position of Blue Staff managing editor. Cohen’s dedication stems from her passion. She loves writing, especially thoughtful opinion pieces and interesting feature stories. And the more daunting the challenge, the more willing she is to tackle it. The story she is most proud of is an investigative piece about snow day policies, for which she interviewed Superintendent Elliott Landon. Cohen’s favorite part of Inklings is, naturally, the team spirit. “I never really played sports, so Inklings is my team,” said Cohen. “It’s a way to be more involved in our school and form close bonds with lots of people.” Cohen’s love of teamwork is especially evident when she talks about her goals for her final year of Inklings. Number one on the list is writing a “twofer,” or working with another writer on a story with a challenging topic. And like any other great sportswoman, Cohen is always looking out for the other members of her team. Her “claim to fame,” as she puts it, was coming up with the idea to have editors chip in for a refrigerator for the Inklings room to store snacks in after school. Cohen especially loves the support and positive feedback from her Inklings-reading fans. “I had a copy of the graduation issue at my house, and my friends saw it and were amazed,” she said. It’s sure to be another great season for Caroline Cohen.

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