Raising your Profile- Postering
Raising the Issues Profile- Postering
Young Communist League of Canda http://www.ycl-ljc.ca
One great way to raise the profile of your club and promote
your events is postering. There are two main steps to carrying
this task out.
1. Preparing the poster
A) Creating: Make sure the poster is not too small for people to
easily see and read the basic info as they pass by. 8.5 x 11"
(normal printer paper size) is a good smallest size as a
guideline. If you are just photocopying the poster at any copy
store you will just want to make it on plain white paper since
that is what it will be copied on anyhow.
These days, posters are usually made electronically on computers
using pre-made graphics, images and fonts or one's created by
the maker of the poster using a computer. This doesn't
necessarily mean you must abandon old school techniques like
drawing your poster by hand if you have someone particularly
artistic in your club. Just make sure it is dark enough to
photocopy properly.
Make sure that the poster is not too cluttered and that the
basic info about what, when, where and why is easy to find and
clear. You will want a title or slogan of the event in large
print to catch people's attention as well as an image or images
related to the topic. Don't forget to include contact info for
the club and the YCL website address.
If your poster is general YCL agit-prop to attract attention and
possible members rather than to announce an event, make sure
that your poster gives reasons why someone should join the YCL
rather than just stating that it is a good idea. Target issues
that people in your area are concerned about and be sure to
accurately reflect the position of the YCL on that issue as
decided by the membership as a whole. Never attach the YCL's
name or logo to anything that has not been approved first by the
proper body of the YCL. When using images make sure that they
are not attached to another organization in order to avoid
confusion and mis-representation.
B) Copying: For small print runs it may be easiest simply to go
run off a number of copies at any print shop in the area. Try to
use unionized print shops where possible. Alternatively you can
be sneaky and try to use printing facilities at workplaces or
campuses. How you or whoever is assigned the task, gets it done
is your business so long as it doesn't contravene any of the
rules or policies of the league. If you are doing a huge print
run it may be worth while to see if you can get the printing
sponsored by a union or other organization which has access to
printing facilities.
If you can get the posters copied for free that is obviously
best. If not your club can spend some of the money it fundraises
if it chooses, or better yet, club members can contribute to
help pay for the costs and in doing so they are fulfilling their
duty to help support the league financially. Every dollar raised
for the league is a revolutionary act.
2. Using the poster
A) Volunteers: You can't use a poster if nobody is there to put
them up. You have to mobilize volunteers to help you complete
this task. There are many ways you can do this. One way is to
have copies ready prior to a club meeting and send everyone home
with some posters and an assignment to put them up. Another way
is to plan a postering day where the members pair up and are
assigned to different areas where they can go in their teams and
put up their posters. It is best if people work in pairs for
many reasons; it makes postering easier in general as you will
read further on in this chapter, it gives the posterers some
company which makes it a less boring task, and it means there is
a witness incase there is any run in with authorities or any
other trouble making reactionaries. The main point though is
that you must mobilize volunteers, you can't do it all yourself
because you won't be able to cover everything and everyone else
just won't be doing anything in the meantime.
B) Affixing the posters- How?: There are many ways to put up
posters and the various ways work more or less depending on the
conditions you are working in.
The best way stick up posters is using home made postering glue.
To make this you will need a can of condensed milk for every
fifty posters or so, water, a spray bottle and a squeegee. The
bottle can be any normal spray bottle which can be purchased at
many dollar stores, grocery stores, garden centers and hardware
stores. It could also be an empty, rinsed out spray bottle from
a household cleaning product. The water can be any clean water
such as tap water the only specification is it can't have dirt,
sand or anything else that could plug the spray bottle in it.
The squeegee can be purchased at most of the same kinds of
stores you can purchase the spray bottle at, or nicked from a
service station (at your own risk). Pour the milk into your
spray bottle and ad some water to increase volume. You won't
want to put too much water in or it won't work. The mixture
should be about 10-1. If the surfaces you will be applying to
are damp or it is cold outside you will want to ad very little
or no water. Give it a shake to mix it together and you are
ready to go. Spray the milk-water on any surface that is
relatively clean and flat then apply the poster, spray again on
top of the poster and use the squeegee to flatten the poster on
securely. When the milk dries the poster will be stuck. It
should be noted that this method does not work particularly well
in extreme cold or heavy rain. In normal conditions though it
works excellently as a cheap, effective and environmentally
friendly method of affixing posters.
Other methods of affixing posters include using tape, wheat
paste or staples.
Tape is effective but more expensive. It is also easier for
people to remove your posters if they are affixed with tape.
Tape does not work in extreme cold and can be tricky in heavy
rain and wind.
Wheat paste works just about any place any time and any where.
For wheat paste you will need wheat flour, water, paint brushes
and a bucket. To make the paste, fill the bucket about 1/3 of
the way full with wheat flour. Add water while stirring until
the paste is thin enough to paint onto a surface but thick
enough to stick. You have to use your discretion in this part.
Then you simply paint the paste onto the surface, apply the
poster, paint over it again and when it dries it is stuck. This
method works excellently but it much more work as you must make
the paste and then carry the bucket around as you put the
posters up.
Staples work well for sticking posters to wooden poles. You will
need a staple gun for this; one can be purchased at any hardware
store. This method is rarely needed.
C) Affixing the posters- Where?: When you are putting up your
posters around your community try to keep in mind who you are
targeting and make sure that is who will see the posters most
where you are putting them. Be sure to poster around any places
where lots of youth and/or progressive people hang out and
around union halls. Target busy areas where lots of people will
be sure to walk by the poster. Lamp posts are generally the most
common place to stick up posters along a street although bus
stops, newspaper boxes and so forth work too. Put the posters
wherever you think they will be effective but keep in mind it is
not legal to put them pretty much anywhere but lamp posts so
proceed with caution. Avoid anything that could be construed as
vandalism to public property such as schools etc. or to the
private homes of our fellow workers and class allies. In
general, use your common sense, judgment and caution.
You can also sometimes poster inside of buildings. For example,
you can find out if various organizations and unions will let
you pin your poster up on their bulletin board. You can also
seek permission from your student council or student union to
put posters up on boards in your school or campus.