The Marketing Subcommittee met on Wednesday May 12^th, 2011 at the Douglass Branch Library Meeting Room. The discussion surrounded the “UC2B Marketing and Outreach Update” document sent out by John Kersh. You will find this document attached at the bottom of this post, along with the other materials that were provided at the meeting.

The update was produced for the Policy Committee to bring them up to speed with the activities of the Marketing Subcommittee. It includes a list of five recommendations to the Policy Committee. The goal of this meeting was to discuss each of the five recommendations, but there was not enough time to discuss the fifth. Below, you will find the title of each recommendation with details of the discussion surrounding it.

#1: Initiate door-to-door canvassing to obtain easements and subscribers

This recommendation involves hiring and overseeing a team of canvassers and a coordinator as well as preparing materials for the canvass effort. It is unclear which member of the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) will be responsible for this effort, so Brandon Bowersox and John Kersh are working to add an analysis of possibilities to the document. This will include the University, Champaign, each member individually, and UC2B’s future operational entity, with pros and cons and a timeline.

Some aspects of the canvassing effort were questioned. Specifically, why is it stipulated that canvassing will only take place in the summer months? Why is canvassing the only type of marketing being employed?

It was suggested that the value of a more traditional marketing campaign should be evaluated. The canvassers themselves might be asked to complete more diverse tasks such as placing follow-up phone calls, sending e-mails, and attending community events. The canvassing and marketing efforts could be compared to political campaigns with yard signs.

#2: Review and approve the proposed UC2B Service Offerings

This recommendation is to review the table of speeds and prices for UC2B services that was included in the grant proposal. There may have been some changes to the electronics that will affect the available choices in a positive way, so this must be addressed in order for the Marketing Subcommittee to create a marketing message to the community.

The Open Access and Offered Services Subcommittee’s mission was to address this very question. There are some who think that this subcommittee was rolled into the Marketing Subcommittee, therefore transferring the responsibility to the Marketing Subcommittee, but this needs to be officially established. Peter Folk is getting the Open Access and Offered Services Subcommittee’s charter for reference and the two subcommittees will schedule a joint meeting to transfer the responsibility to the Marketing Subcommittee.

#3: Seek professional graphic design and marketing services

This recommendation states that UC2B should hire professionals to guide their marketing efforts and create their marketing materials.

The subcommittee generally agreed with this recommendation except the marketing services consultant aspect, which some saw to be included in the Canvassing Coordinator position from recommendation #1. The marketing services consultant piece to this recommendation was deleted.

#4: Review the roles of the Marketing and Outreach Subcommittee and the Open Access and Offered Services Subcommittee

This recommendation was rolled into #2 because of the role of the Open Access and Offered Services Subcommittee in that issue. The relationship between the two subcommittees will be decided in the process of resolving recommendation #2.

#5: Continue to conduct general community awareness until the specific costs, speeds, and timing/availability of UC2B services are known

This recommendation was not addressed due to a lack of time.