OUR VIEW: Communication breakdown
Utah State head football coach Gary Andersen’s mass-media plea for Aggie fans to wear white to the homecoming game was extremely successful, but not everyone on campus has access to a seemingly unlimited supply of sports reporters willing to kiss his or her shoes on command.
Unfortunately, no one at the Statesman office – and we’re going out on a limb to say no Utah State student – has the kind of pull Andersen does.
Mass media make conversation easier than it ever has before. Despite this, we see a huge breakdown in communication of certain groups.
Example number one: the mountain biking fundraiser. Wait, we have a mountain biking team? Apparently so and apparently we have at least two riders who are expected to compete in the national cycling competition later this month.
Last weekend, the team organized a race in which anyone could jump on a bike and have a go at eating the dust of the best collegiate cyclists in the state. Unfortunately, whether due to bad marketing or illiterate newcomers, fewer than 10 came with cash to ride in the Wellsville mountains Saturday. Of those few, four had been informed of the proper licensing procedures to actually carry on and compete.
Example two: the rodeo. Our club rodeo team also hosted their only home event and fundraiser last weekend. Whether the conflict with high school and university Homecoming football games helped or hindered attendance at the rodeo is nearly impossible to tell, but it shows how officials at the heads of different organizations, whether athletic directors or event planners, failed to communicate well with each other.
Putting group pages on Facebook, creating viral YouTube videos and inviting followers on Twitter just aren’t the out-of-the-box methods of raising awareness they used to be.
It seems going old school with chalk messages and stapling posters to power line poles are the creative ways to let people know about university events.
In a world of virtual likes and digital friendships, the worth of a handwritten, card stock invitation has gained bucket loads of value and meaning to the receiver.