What made you decide to undertake this project?
Every Monday the AAS Senate meets. A lot of students don’t know what we do every Monday and I think would like to. The problem is that this information is frequently hard to access and/or time-consuming to read. I’m thinking of our meeting minutes, specifically, which are sporadically posted online. In order to fix this problem of a lack of transparency and accessibility, I decided to start giving summaries of our meetings online.
Why did you decide to use YouTube and a video format?
I chose YouTube because it’s popular and well known. More generally, I chose a video format because I knew students would only have a few minutes to spend being briefed on the AAS meetings and that a video could accomplish a summary quickly. Additionally, video is new media, newer than pamphlets or emails or other forms of communication. New media is easier to consume and more accessible generally. So I chose YouTube for its accessibility and popularity — it makes getting informed much easier for students.
Who will be in the videos?
Every week on Tuesday or Wednesday I tape a video and edit it. I post it online. For the first two videos it’s just been me. For the next few, I hope to bring in some other senators as guests on the show. I’d like to add that I hope students email me with comments: good, bad, and suggestions and everything in between.
How are you going to spread the word about these videos, so that more students know about them?
Currently I’ve used the AAS all-school emails to promote it. One was sent out today. Additionally, Facebook and table tents. In the future, posters around campus or links through more popular sites like the Jolt and the college webpage.
How can students find them on YouTube?
Visit www.youtube.com/AASamherstcollege.