Aalto University Student Union
Espoo, Finland
Communications Officer
02/2017 – 12/2017
Aalto University Student Union (AYY) is a service organisation and interest group serving 14 000 Aalto University students of arts, design, economy and technology.
In 2017 I served as AYY’s Communications Officer, ensuring that the output of the student union was fair, impartial, and on-brand.
Responsibilities
I had main responsibility for all public communications of AYY, creating half myself, and coordinating the other half together with 40 employees, 100 volunteers, and 200 associations operating under the student union.
- Creating multi-channel content for social media.
- Managing static content and latest news on the website.
- Compiling the weekly news bulletin.
- Disseminating information to media and handling press contacts.
- Assisting student advocacy and housing specialists in creating communications aimed at policymakers.
- Providing support for local and international students.
- Managing the art director and the project workers.
- Handling the communication department’s budget.
- Providing social media training for employees
- Photo and video production at events.
- Planning and ordering print materials.
Notable projects
General Council Elections
The elections are held every two years to determine student representatives. I coordinated the elections together with the administrative manager, and a project employee.
- Planned a campaign to increase voter turnout. (Voting raised from 30,1% to 34,7%!)
- Coordinated impartial visibility for electoral alliances.
- Edited informational and promotional videos.
- Organised and streamed a panel for alliance spokepersons.
- Organised the electoral watch for the alliances, including space setup and catering.
Rebranding Project
The board of 2017 handled the long-needed visual overhaul of the AYY brand, including the website, print materials, and physical spaces such as the office, the student apartments, and meeting facilities.
I acted as a part of the task force as an employee representative, giving input on the communications and the visuals from a corporate perspective.
School Year Planner
Every year the 14 000 students of Aalto University get a planner that includes important dates and information about the university, the union, the associations, students’ rights and such. I coordinated the 2017-2018 calendar with the help of our Art Director.
Social Media Calendar
AYY provides visibility for both official communications, and as different associations. I created a tool to organise the influx of social media posts from different sources. The calendar both eliminated overlap and increased the overall amount of posts.
SYL Representative Campaign
Each year, the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) chooses new members for its board. I coordinated the campaign efforts to get AYY’s representative chosen as the chair of board, most notably creating content and taking photos for a printed brochure.