The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

Officer positions a prize for both club and students

Officer positions a prize for both club and students
Up until the Nov. 25 deadline, La Pluma offered officer positions: no experience required.

If this sounds a little strange at first, there are good reasons why. Officer positions imply that a person has to have had years of experience in that club or organization in order to have the skills to be an officer. They need to have knowledge of the club’s inner workings, so that the club doesn’t have to waste time re-teaching to beginners. It is just not fair to everyone that has been with the club since their freshman year.

However, that belies the nature of the organization.

The first issue of La Pluma came out in March 2009, with 10 submissions gathered from 8 student writers and artists. Its many contributors’ works will be better highlighted with the increase in readership that will result from its new “promotional position” strategy. Cover by La Pluma.

Since La Pluma is a literary magazine that publishes content it receives from student writers, all of its officers are editors. And while literary experience is required, it’s not necessary that officers be in La Pluma, or have written for La Pluma at any point. That would narrow the pool to some thirty to fifty people out of a school of 2,523 people.

Rather, they are expanding the field of candidates. And not only does that make sense, but it is also a brilliant strategy. While it is logical for larger organizations to select officers on a past-commitment basis, smaller clubs, especially clubs that are established but haven’t received much attention, will benefit from this plan.

This plan promotes La Pluma to those that have either not heard of it or who have ignored it as just another club on campus. This move takes advantage of students’ hunger for officer positions in a positive way. This type of a promotional event that will increase interest in any club as a whole, and not only certain activities.

Moreover, offering up officer positions in this way is not only a brilliant political maneuver in itself, but it causes those who become a new part of the organization to promote the magazine to their own friends and extend readership. Also, by advertising the prize of becoming an officer, it ensures that those students interested will do more for the magazine. Many clubs could learn from this by extending officership to dedicated students that have not necessarily  been involved in the past. By doing this, the club will be promoted to them and to their circle of friends and will reach new people.

These new people will bring in new ideas and perspectives that would otherwise not be accounted for. By pulling in an officer from the pool outside its members, it would be able to understand the reasons that some students did not join the club. This feedback will be valuable for future activities.

This three-pronged strategy is a valuable way for smaller clubs to flourish by generating interest and learning from their new members and officers. By employing this, La Pluma has set a positive example for all other clubs on campus seeking to achieve excellence.

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