Posters 2011
President
Sebastian Fiszman
John Hillman 1
John Hillman 2
Chris Saulnier
VP Academic and External
Sarah Bouchard
Karl Dempsey
Andrew Mecke 1
Andrew Mecke 2
Evan Price
VP Internal
Christopher Connors
Kayla Kurin
Imad Mekhail
VP Student Life
Tom Dobbyne 1
Tom Dobbyne 2
Jamie Arron
Adam Reid
Senate
Jonathan Magill 1
Jonathan Magill 2
Margaret Scrimgeour 1
Margaret Scrimgeour 2
Board of Governors
Dustin J. M. Griffin
Max Ma
Christopher Rector
Referenda
Grad Referendum
Loaded Ladle Referendum - Yes 1
Loaded Ladle Referendum - Yes 2
Loaded Ladle Referendum - No
Some preliminary thoughts:
In Price’s defence, since he’s going for a motif that was played out as of January ’09 he may also be referring to the position name as of that time. I don’t know what Rector’s reasoning is for the similar Obama-esque look.
Does anyone else have the feeling that Reid is going to be meeting them in a parking garage to tell them about Nixon at the Watergate hotel? We want to see your face, man!
I kind of like MaGill’s action shot in Poster #2 and Aaron’s also well done.
Hillman’s have his personality written all over them and Saulnier and Bouchard’s are quite slick looking, which makes the whole spelling issue so much more unfortunate.
Connors looks like he was aiming for serious mystique and hit Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore.
I look at Scrimgeour’s poster #2 and really want a DQ burger.
Mekhail’s poster looks like it was done in rotoscope, which is kind of cool, actually.
I really do want to watch Hohn Jillman try to make his promises happen!
I agree with Bond on most of the posters. The Obama thing is done and I’m less likely to vote for someone who doesn’t know what position he’s running for. Doesn’t Reid’s remind you slightly of a Kris Osmond poster from a few years ago? I also wonder how Dobbyne is going to play the English thing out.
Not since the election of 2007 have I seen posters with the position spelled wrong.
To be fair, at least Sarah spelled President wrong and not Education. Thanks to Yuriy for always making me remember the election when Education was spelled Eductaion
@Jonesy: He’s got an english accent. That’s all it needs.
@Bond: Completely agree about Bouchard/Saulnier, but maybe people won’t notice the.. ermmm.. spelling?
As for the rest:
Fiszman – He’s intriguing me so far with his campaign (Only day one.. zomg), and his poster continues to do that. Also, he spelt his position right. Bonus points.
Hillman – Seriously. Who doesn’t want to watch him try? Maybe the humour will win over voters? Who knows, who cares. It brings life to the campaign trail.
Price – His poster is probably an attempt to get on the level of voters and get engaged with them, too bad as it was said above, its played out before.
Reid – We NEED to see your face.
My Favourite’s are Fiszman and Saulnier, but Fiszman wins out as he has no spelling mistakes.
Game on.
Wasn’t the position (VPAE/VPED) incorrect on the nomination forms? The DSU Exec didn’t do much to publicize the change last year imo.
My two cents…
1st Prize: Sebastian Fiszman
I am a fan of silly puns, and this is a great one – well played. It’s got vital information in a readable format AND the essential Henry Hicks shot.
2nd Prize: Jamie Arron
Black and gold colour scheme – very “Dalhousian”. Nice photo, and I like the effect where the background is in B&W and he is in colour, wearing that familiar black and gold. Also, his slogan at the top makes me think of Discovery Channel commercials, which fills me with joy.
3rd Prize: Dustin Griffin
This poster exudes class. I feel like I should be eating caviar and smoking cigars and saying things like “Indeed, guv-nah!”
Honourable mentions: Loaded Ladle (very modern and simple), Sarah Bouchard (if there wasn’t a typo it would have been in my top three), John Hillman (the first one – for hilarity), Max Ma (really like the style, but there is so much empty space on the left and the font is tiny – I think you could increase the font size for readability)
I think it’s pretty obvious that the misspelled “president” was done on purpose. I think what’s more telling is that two candidates did it and used the same spelling…coincidence? Doubtful
I’m disappointed with the lack of websites on almost half of the posters. “Vote for ME! If you don’t know who I am or what I plan to do for you … well, too bad!”
I feel like I’m on a dance floor at some reunion or wedding and Fiszman is trying to reel me in while winking and shaking his hips.
John Hillman’s posters make me so happy. I think it’s just the right amount of humour. Someone told me one year they voted based on which candidate’s videos were the funniest. Maybe it will work for posters.
Chris had a nice save by saying “There is no “i” in Presedent” or something like that. Just like him to take something that could be humiliating and turn it around. Too bad the line won’t work for Sarah, but lucky for her, her poster makes her look as cute as a button as usual.
I don’t like the eye doctor so Karl Dempsey’s gives me a headache.
Andrew Mecke’s reminds me of Eric Snow’s campaign posters…
I liked VP”I”Mad. It’s creative.
Is Jamie Arron’s picture from the dal homepage? I swear I saw him in exactly the same position on the Dal homepage when he was doing brains for change.
Thought I should post a link to the “No Loaded Levy” campaign poster. Expect to see it around Dal campus throughout the week!
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/130293/levyposter.png
http://www.noloadedfees.ca
More comments later, but really? No one has made this comparison to Hillman yet? http://punditry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bailey.jpg
How short your memories are.
Is it me? or does Reid not look happy to be posing for his own poster
@Eric…
I find that humorous… good catch. My respect for Hillman just went up a significant percentage based on those posters. And the video.
Seriously, perhaps you should’ve considered a theatre major Mr. Snow
Is anyone taking bets on how many videos Eric Snow will appear in this elections season? I want in on that. For instance, I’d give it a 1 in 5 chance there will be a spin-off series called “Putting the Grrrrr in Tiger”.
@Gordo
Agreed, and it also looks like a rip-off of Hannah Dahn’s from last year with the little checklist…
Sebastien Fiszman for Dalhousie…. Wait! Is that Bob Izumi? Great poster on the whole.
John Hillman – I’d also like to see him try some of these things, especially in getting council or the board of ops to go along with any of it. I, as a human, resent his stance on my ideals. I love the layout, just as Neil Bailey’s was brilliant las year.
Chris Saulnier – Great poster, apart from the obvious. I think the spelling errors may be an effort to show he’s still in touch with his roots in engineering (yes, I’m an arts student, we can poke fun too). I was distraught to see that he reinvigorated, for lack of a less confrontational word, my campaign slogan from last year. We spent a lot of time together the last 11 months so I’ll chalk it up to reverence and respect.
Poster win goes to Fiszman, but if Chris had spelled the words correctly I’d give this one to him because Sebastien’s slogan and pic are fun but cheesy.
Vpae
Bouchard – as I believe Jen said earlier, I can forgive her spelling becuse the poster is so slick! It’s the name on the poster that matters in my opinion (but only slightly more). If she had misspelled that I’d be… Distraught.
Karl Dempsey – I’m pretty sure after this year there will be an inquiry into subliminal messaging in campaigns.
Andrew Mecke – *WARNING* ERIC SNOW’S SON IS RUNNING FOR VPAE. He also has the advantage of wearing spectacles which means… At least he can read the messages and slogan on his poster which are in minuscule font.
Evan Price – EDUCATION. I could point out the obvious but instead I will share that I overheard someone say he looked like George H. W. Bush (Sr., obvs) which makes me want to Photoshop some glasses on (I will appreciate assistance, or anyone willing to just do it so I can see if it holds)
Poster win – Bouchard, despite spelling errors on the 11×17 posters
VPI
Chris Connors – Can I borrow your sweater? Love the colour. Inalso love his Twitter handle! I think this poster really gets the job done for directing people to his campaign. I do wish he would make a sentence with that three word slogan, though.
Kayla Kurin – gives a nice warm, welcoming impression. She spelled experience correctly…. +10 pts.
Imad Mekhail – I really wish this poster directed me to a website. Otherwise I think the argyle is brilliant if he’s going to be wearing that sweater (you know the one I’m talking about if you go to Dal) all week. Does anyone else feel like if that talking strand of DNA from Jurassic Park was embodied in human form Imad would bear a strong resemblance. Maybe I’m on drugs…
(I’m not, Mom.)
VPSL
Tom Dobbyne – Black and Gold poster is better than Bricks and Union Jack. 2 posters 1 photo. I think the slogan will carry him at least a little at the polls.
Jamie Arron – Good poster. Font could be bolder, but this does the trick too. I think the poster was an afterthought and that his campaign will be mostly based around making “genuine connections” (That sounds brains-for-changey, right?)
Adam Reid – He has a nice silhouette. Thankfully his handbills have a much brighter picture. Nice simple layout, 3 words and check marks a la Larkin, Zimmerman, Osmond… It worked for them…
Senate
Jon MaGill – Most of my PowerPoints have that fade in the background. Yes, I do most of them at 3am. He looks like a motivational speaker in the second poster.
Margaret Scrimgeour – I’m glad she’s not a write in candidate because I’m looking at the poster and I still think I spelled the name incorrectly, wouldn’t be the first time. I should add that when people want to actually vote for lower tuition, it will be 2013, and it will only be if a provincial party commits to lowering tuition. Still the likelihood is not high, so we’ll see what else can be done in the meantime I imagine.
BoG
Dustin Griffin – The Young and The Restless are suing for infringement on their logo. I really hope he planted this just to see who would catch on, but I’m doubtful. I like that I can go to his website if I want to… But that I don’t have to because I know what he’s all about from the succinct captions.
Max Ma – Props on the huge name and position. Problem is we went with an all-white background which is not forgiving to bad cropping… Which this is an exquisite example of. Also, I can’t read any of the platform points.
Chris Rector – More channeling Barack Obama. I think it worked really well for ole Barack because people had seen his face a lot before and on television and in papers simultaneously, but the poster is a representation of a candidate not many are familiar with so it ought to be intensely personal while at the same time communicating sufficient information.
John Hillman’s poster makes me want to throw up. What a waste of my time even looking at it.
I’m still rather confused about this whole spelling error thing. Maybe I am dumber than my relatively competent spelling might imply. It is my impression that Chris misspelled “President” purposefully, because the error is not a typo (such as hitting a consonant in place of “I” or omitting a letter completely) and it actually involves choosing the wrong letter and I don’t think that someone as smart as Chris would not know how to spell his current job title. True, the “I” is also missing from experience, but is that not part of the “No I in President” joke as well? Also, Sarah misspelled the same word, the same way. I also doubt her inability to spell her potential job title, and I think that being good friends with Chris makes it less likely that this was accidental and not part of a joke. Even if these were real mistakes, I don’t think a one-time spelling slip makes any difference to any voter, especially not on a poster a dazzling as Sarah’s.
If these errors were purposeful, I’m a fan of really cheesy jokes. Can anyone enlighten me? I can’t handle the not knowing.
@Rob LeForte
isn’t reid’s poster a little overused like by everyone who ran for that position…………. whereas Hillman and Bouchard are unique
@Sandy
I believe the best explanation is the same graphic designer, with a hands-off approach from both Chris and Sarah, produced those results. That level of terrible spelling is not at all outside the bounds of reality from what I see every day.
Of course Chris knows how to spell his own job title, that’s not in doubt; he just exercised his delegation skills and got bit.
@Rob LeForte I’ve never had check marks on my campaign poster. I had a train once. There should be more trains.
Are these posters actually posted around campus? Where can I find them?
You had a three word slogan from what I recall dearest zim-zim
The short answer is yes, in very select locations on campus. SUB lobby is a safe bet.
The snarky answer is with all the posters right here and available, the only reason to need a printed poster is to deface it; if you do something good, send me a picture.
The longer answer is back in the recesses of time (up until Elections 2005 inclusive), candidates created and printed their own posters. These posters were taken to the Elections Committee for approval, were stamped and individually numbered, and were placed around campus by the candidates more or less at their discretion. The total number of posters allowed was limited. Each candidate was also entitled to 1 banner. This system, though “free-er”, caused no end of grief. There was constant bickering about posters removed, added, too big, illegally posted – you name it, they fought about it. There were fines and even disqualifications, all centered on the fricking posters. The advantage was this put the onus of getting permission (or begging forgiveness) on the candidate.
The elections regulations were rewritten to require candidates to submit a poster design to the CRO who is responsible for printing and posting. The EC identifies locations on campus for poster displays, where all candidate posters are neatly bunched together and displayed. This extra effort is more than offset by not having to deal with regulating posters. It reduced costs – campaign budgets were reduced as printing costs were centralized – and saved paper (rather than plaster the campus with paper, there were prominent tasteful-ish displays). It also allowed posters to remain up during the voting period – when we relied on candidates to take down posters, the only viable threat was disqualification, and that only worked before the results were in. But it put the onus of getting permission (or begging forgiveness) on the Elections Committee.
Around the same time, Dalhousie launched a Jihad over signs on campus. They hired people to take down posters regularly. They started banning posters from buildings outright. There were fines and lots and lots of anger. Ever since, the Elections Committee has fought a (losing) battle to get poster space in buildings. Despite the best efforts of them and the DSU presidents past, most buildings will not allow them poster space. While the DSU doesn’t necessarily need to kowtow to the demands of the university and could put posters up wherever it wants (REVOLUTION!), a) poster space isn’t a hill anyone is willing to die on, and b) they’d be torn down almost immediately. A few well-connected students over the year have made inroads, but these have been temporary at best.
So are the posters posted? Yes; fewer places than they would be ideally. More importantly, they AREN’T getting in the way of a smooth election.
This problem should probably be solved by someone at some point – perhaps asking societies, who often have a better connection with people in individual buildings, would work. Generally, however, efforts have focused on more technology-driven ways to engage and inform students, with some notable success.
@leforte
@Zimmerman
Luckily, an archive exists: http://punditry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/zimmerman.jpg
Sadly it only goes back to 2009.
@Mike Smit
You’d be surprized what hills I’m willing to die on.
@Mike Smit False: If you check mikesmit.com you can search way back to the beginnings of punditry. Sadly, my BOG candidacy did not warrant my poster being included. That being said, I misunderstood Rob’s point (first time for everything
) so although I still didn’t have check marks I did have abnormally skinny looking legs and 3 words. It all makes sense once again.