Relevant Spokespeople and Content ideas –
Key spokespeople who could be featured in these blog posts would be the president and vice-president of the Citizens Committee (Mrs. Jeanne Leblanc and Mrs. Lucilla Pion, respectively), as well as the City spokesman from the film, Mr. Lucien Saulnier, who was shown at rallies supporting the committee near the end of the film. Other possible spokespeople could be public housing community members who have interacted with the committee or who have shared opinions/needs with the committee as something to argue for.
To promote the new campaign to push for more reliable low-income housing, a prominent issues in lot of Canada right now, the proposed new website launch would come with 5 blog posts discussing a variety of topics regarded the state of the current public housing and common themes/trends of what the Committee sees as needing to be done (each of the spokespeoples visions).
Blog Post 1: The first blog post, being the launching point of this campaign to get the community more involved in ideas and brainstorming, would focus on the current state of the public housing system in Little Burgundy, including its evolution and current challenges. The blog post would conclude with a call to action, summoning the community to voice their opinions on social media or in the comments of the post on the state of the system, and what they think could improve it.
Blog Post 2: The second post would be a message from the President of the Citizens Committee. People want to hear from leaders of organizations, especially when, in this case, that leader is one of them leading a group of community members to advocate for that community. This post would focus on her vision for the project/initiative, an individual and more personal call to action, and the unique perspective she can take as a community member/committee president on the positive impact of continued community involvement.
Blog Post 3: This post could focus on the impacts the committee has had on the development of the public housing sector of Little Burgundy. It could detail, more than the first, how the committee works, how it advocates for the citizens. This adds up to a harmless vulnerability shown to people/citizens who put their trust in this committee, literally trusting them with their housing. A bit of behind the scenes.
Blog Post 4: Further into the campaign to get more community input on what is needed out of public housing, the spokesperson would be Mr. Lucien Saulnier. As the city rep within the committee, he has a unique position of seeing just how much community involvement is pitchable and doable for the city housing management committee. His blog post would focus on the positive impact the Citizens Committee has had on the state of Montreal public housing, even if it was small at first. He could also speak to the importance and impact of having a team advocating for you as a community.
Blog Post 5: The final blog post I think should be a mix of the two community members, John and Jane Doe who have maybe seen the committee’s advocacy efforts pay off. Community member testimonials, especially if earned are high value and high reward. These two, as known members of the community, with good standing, build trust with the rest of the community, earning extra support needed to push for the needed additional public housing, while maintaining standards around living situations and lease agreements.
Content Calendar:
These blog posts will be live on the website every week, Monday at 8am. Not too early, but easy to be seen as people start their days.
Post 1 – April 7
Post 2 – April 14
Post 3 – April 21
Post 4 – April 28
Post 5 – May 5
Weekly posting creates a sense of consistency that people will develop a habit towards, and post will begin as soon as the website launches on April 7th. Details of each post, in the order they would appear, are listed in the previous section of the communication plan.
Audience Engagement and Feedback:
As a Citizens Committee made up of citizens for citizens, feedback and engagement need to be top priority. Without community involvement, there is no way for this advocacy committee to advocate for what the community needs. I would propose encouraging interactions within comments and questionnaires at the end of each of the blog posts, encouraging people to share ideas, thoughts, suggestions, opinions and criticism. We can further facilitate this by actively reaching out to those with an issue to work with them to resolve it if we can. I would also propose having a feedback page on the website itself, linked through email as they often are. This would give audiences an opportunity to give feedback and comments in a less public way than blog post comments, but also allows for critiques about the website itself, in case something isn’t working as it should.
Justification:
As mentioned a few times, a Citizens Committee cannot serve its function without its citizens’ support and trust. The blog posts are designed to be transparent, respectful, remaining true to the founding mission depicted in the film, and to prove trustworthiness in that the committee will advocate for the community appropriately.
