Event Promotion

Hosting an event for the Colby and/or Waterville community? Get the word out to the largest audience possible by leveraging these tactics.

Submit your event to the public-facing Colby Events Calendar. Your event will be tagged appropriately to reach the right audiences. Questions about the Colby Events calendar should be directed to the Office of Campus Events.

Submit Your Event

 Submit your event to be included in ColbyNow, the College’s tool for messaging announcements and events to the Colby community. ColbyNow is a website and daily email digest that goes out automatically to all students, faculty, and staff. ColbyNow is a self-service system and all Colby community members can log in and create their own posts.

A few tips:

• Your subject line becomes the clickable link that everyone sees. We recommend limiting it to 70-100 characters to keep it as clear and concise as possible.
• Include all pertinent information in the event description: who, what, when, where, why.
• The first 300 characters of your event description will appear in the feed snippet, so lead with the most important details.
• When you create an event or announcement, you will be prompted to add up to 3 dates for inclusion within the daily recap email, which is sent to the entire Colby community. To add more than 3 email dates, you will need to go into your post and delete the previous inclusions once they’ve passed.
• Learn more about how to post to ColbyNow here.

Submit Your Event

The Communications Office does not send campus-wide emails. Please use Colby Now and the Events calendar for this purpose.

In addition to digital promotion, posters can help generate buzz about your event and provide visual context.

Designers can use Adobe products (like Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign), or alternatively, Adobe Express is a great option for those who aren’t as familiar with design programs. Adobe Express is a free, web-based graphic design tool used to create social media posts, posters, and other designs for print or digital use.

Visit the Print page for additional resources, and download pre-designed templates on the Templates page to get you started.

The student handbook’s posting policy explains restrictions (e.g., no posters on glass surfaces, no duct tape, tacks only on bulletin boards).

Most academic buildings have large TV monitors in common areas and entryways. Create a digital version of your poster and submit it to Academic ITS to be included in the rotation! Contact Ellen Freeman at [email protected].

Find dimensions and specifications for digital posters in Lesson 10 of this Workday Learning Screencloud course.

Pitch your event to the editors of Colby’s student newspaper at [email protected].

Contact Colby’s radio station at [email protected] to request that your event be included in an on-air reading of campus events.

Are you hoping to attract community members beyond campus to attend your event? Consider contacting some of the local newspapers. Most have sections in their digital editions that allow individuals to post specifics about upcoming events. Just go to their website, look for the “Event” section, and follow the instructions provided. Use this document as a resource.

Here are some popular publications you might want to consider: 

• Morning Sentinel, Waterville 
• Sun Journal, Lewiston
• Kennebec Journal, Augusta/Central Maine
• Bangor Daily News, Bangor

Event sponsors interested in additional external publicity may wish to contact local media outlets. To consult with the Office of Communications about publicity options, contact us at extension 4346 or [email protected].

The Office of Communications can help elevate and promote certain events based on their size and impact.

Promoted events must have specific significance: elevating and providing recognition for the College in some way while also presenting a positive promotional opportunity for the College. 

An event must have the following requirements in order to be considered.

1. The event must be open to the public and expected to draw at least 50 people in attendance.

2. The event must be sponsored by/organized by Colby.
   An official Colby College group/department must be involved in or a sponsor of the event. Exception: Events President Greene is taking part in at other events/institutions.

3. The event must appeal to a larger audience—national or regional, not just local.
   Example events include a high-profile speaker, high-profile conference, monumental milestone or announcement for the College, etc.

4. You must notify the Office of Communications at least one month in advance of the event in order to be considered.

To contact the Office of Communications to cover an event that meets this criteria, submit a request below.

Submit an Event Promotion Request

The Office of Communications will collaborate with campus constituents to help strategically promote impactful events that meet the above criteria and enhance the identity, culture, mission, and vision of Colby College. 

This support can include any of the following:

• Organic social promotion (generally Instagram or Facebook stories, Twitter, etc.) on @colbycollege handles 
• Paid social promotion (will be charged back to the requesting department)
• Design of printed materials
• Printing of materials (will be charged to the requesting department)
• Editorial coverage (if it rises to level of Colby News coverage)
• Video/photo coverage (if not covered by Communications, we will direct you to a recommended and reliable vendor)
• Local, regional, and national press outreach as appropriate/newsworthy 
• Advertising (will be charged back to the requesting department)