:help: What can we do to advertise the Fayre any better?

Sheffield's biggest free event, run by a committee including members of the community, charities and community groups as well as the Council, needs your help!

We had great feedback this year, but one complaint that comes up every year, over and over again, is that no-one knew about it, we hadn't advertised enough, it wasn't promoted enough.

We can't fix this problem without some idea from you about where you think that YOU would see and take notice of the Fayre promotion. The sooner we know, the sooner we can start work on next year's event.

A clue to our usual promotion:
Articles in the Star - every day in the week before
Articles in the Sheffield Telegraph
Articles in some local newsletters - should we do them all?
Articles in the Yorkshire Post
Posters on every tram and tram stop
Leaflets and posters to all major venues in Sheffield that will take them
Leaflets and posters to all libraries
Education pack to every school (history bit)
Radio spots on both Hallam and Radio Sheffield
Television spots - Calendar, look North
50 or so of the big JC Decaux posters (hard to get)
Roundabout signs
Leaflets and posters to all parks
Leaflets and posters handed out at other events in Sheffield and surrounding towns
Each committee member advertising in their local shops and windows (we cover a fair amount of Sheffield, lol)

Can't think of much more, but perhaps you get an idea as to why we're now a little stuck for ideas?

IMPORTANT: Remember, this is a free event, and the committee and the Fayre doesn't make money - we rely on grants , funding, and income from trade to keep this thing running, so ideas like sky-writing may be a little out of our league!

Many thanks for your suggestions - and remember, really think about it...What would YOU notice? (I give it 2 hours before someone mentions naked advertising as something they'd notice, lol. Noted.)

Cosy

Cosy:help:

well in Hillsborough we recularly get folk come round with posters for shop owners to put up...what about that.

I guess it would be expensive to provide these for every high street or shopping area in Sheffield but it is worth a thought.

Moon

Thanks, Moon.
Yeah, we're aware of the people who distribute the posters for things like the circus, etc, and we think it's a good idea to use them...we just didn't order enough posters for that this year as we usually have a surplus. Will most likely do it next year, tho.
Great idea.

PS Missed you at the Fayre, Moon

Fayre ? What Fayre?

What about sending a poster/some flyers to larger companies in the area and ask them to put them up in their staff dining areas?

I'd notice that.

If I were distributing - I'd hit the doctors surgeries(waiting rooms), dentists etc - schools - college notice boards - all the local free press newspapers - radio Sheffield are normally good for getting the message across - Sheffield Forum message banners etc etc

Try compiling an email list of everybody you know, individuals, companies and other organisations. Then start spamming, I mean notifying, them with details at regular intervals.

Max - it's illegal to do that unless you have theire permission to hold their details.

Thanks Tas1 and Internetowl.
I'll suggest the staff room approach. Wider distribution to surgeries, etc is worth a try...although we are getting into spiralling printing costs here...
We did Radio Sheffield and the free newspapers as well as the other papers...I think quite a lot of their content just washes over people and doesn't stick...if you say you read the Star, for instance, but reckon it wasn't mentioned in there (as quite a few people have) I'd have to question your eyesight, as we pretty much bombarded it with direct and supporting articles as well as adverts. Yet people still missed it!? (Although I often wondered to myself, if you didn't know about it, how do you come to be there to complain about not knowing about it, lol.

Cosy:confused:

Originally posted by tas1
Max - it's illegal to do that unless you have theire permission to hold their details.

What, just their email addresses?

talk to the uni and get student services to email everyone a notice, they do that for other events to, so i don't see why not this one!

Originally posted by cosywolf
is that no-one knew about it, we hadn't advertised enough, it wasn't promoted enough.
There is close to 7,000 people here that weren't really informed about it. You could have contacted me for a free banner ad and perhaps a co-branded leaflet... but then again, everyone else ignores the forum (*thinks about the forthcoming Sheffield fireworks event*).

Get the forum to help more... but give us some notice!

LOL, Geoff!
I have always relied on the Forum for letting people know about the Fayre - I did several posts, but did not have time to do more (remember I get in trouble for being on here with my work, Fayre or not!). Also, a couple of us got our wires crossed about who was supposed to ask for a banner...so, oops. One of these years we will manage to co-ordinate Sheffield Forum presence at the Fayre, lol. Volunteers needed, as Geoff and I are drowning in other commitments.

The student e-mail thingy is a great idea, Harrietstar. Thank you. Got any idea how to contact the right person?

Thanks all,
Cosy

Originally posted by Geoff
There is close to 7,000 people here that weren't really informed about it. You could have contacted me for a free banner ad and perhaps a co-branded leaflet... but then again, everyone else ignores the forum (*thinks about the forthcoming Sheffield fireworks event*).

Get the forum to help more... but give us some notice!

my complaint which was posted on the map was not enough sign posts for parking and security gave us duff directions.

We went to park on the normal car park, as that is where signposts for Norfolk Heritage Park tells us to go. But we have to drive out turn left carry on to City road then down that bit to the entrance near the college. The only sign posts I saw were right next to the entrance. Anyone coming down City Road wouldn't have a clue.

Jubby

Originally posted by tas1
Max - it's illegal to do that unless you have theire permission to hold their details.

If they are your friends and family they have usally told you their email, so therefor would normally have permission to hold it, as they wouldn't have given it you to just not use...

As internetowl said, getting them distributed in a free local newspaper is a very good way of getting it out to lots of people with minimum effort.

try contacting student services information desk:

Union of Student Building, Western Bank Sheffield S10 2TG
Tel (0114) 222 1299
Fax (0114) 222 1297
Email:ssid@sheffield.ac.uk

and asking them :)

how about the bill boards stuck up all over the city, mostly advertising cars and virgin active at the moment.

Might be a bit costly though.

Good idea, Cyclone.
I've always thought the billboard people should give up some of that space for local charities, etc to advertise free. It could be a certain set, all around Sheffield, for a month at a time. It's the least they owe the city for bombarding us with all their cr8p. I reckon. lol.
Cosy

Max - yep even keeping their email addy's without they're consent is illegal! Contravenese the Data Protection Act!

Originally posted by tas1
Max - yep even keeping their email addy's without they're consent is illegal! Contravenese the Data Protection Act!

So the 298 email addresses I have on my PC are all being held illegally even though those people sent me the addresses of their own free will. viz. they have sent me emails in the past.

Originally posted by cosywolf
Good idea, Cyclone.
I've always thought the billboard people should give up some of that space for local charities, etc to advertise free. It could be a certain set, all around Sheffield, for a month at a time. It's the least they owe the city for bombarding us with all their cr8p. I reckon. lol.
Cosy
The street level advertising boards carry council/charity based ads on one side - I believe it was a requirement by the council when the advertising agency applied to erect them. I would contact the council and ask them about it.

True, Geoff, it's worth people knowing, although the queue is already bad enough, lol. The Council has access to one side of the JC Decaux signs which are at eye-level on the street. We book them every year, but you have to be well in advance, as most of them are booked up years in advance. Seems the best ones are rarely available. Usually we get around 50, and at least some of those are in the centre of town...but people still don't see them, lol.

It's worth local groups and charities enquiring about them, though I get the feeling the Council prefers to use them for details of their own events and events they support (which includes the Fayre).

What I want for local charities, free events, etc is the HUGE billboards - at least some of them should be set aside for good causes. Maybe I'll start a campaign.:P

Csoy

Originally posted by tas1
Max - yep even keeping their email addy's without they're consent is illegal! Contravenese the Data Protection Act!

this is wrong on several points.
Firstly the data protection act applies to commercial and government bodies and to a more limited extent to charitable organisations and to formal clubs and societies, it does not apply to individuals.

The main protection is applied to personal information, i'm not sure whether your email address would come under this heading. My vague recollection seems to indicate that it would not though.

And as long as the data is held securely (password protect your pc, etc... take reasonable precautions) and is held for no longer than required for the original purpose that it was given then you are not in breach anyway.

So, imagining that you represent some society rather than just being a person, having peoples email addresses for the purposes of communicating society events is within the act, even holding personal data such as race, religion, sex etc... is within the act if it wasn't collected under false pretences.

Space advertising have the contract with the council to put up posters on their hordings and they are pretty much city wide now I think. The last time i got a quote from them it was about £700 cash.