Events in the community are often advertised by being added to newspapers, online or in paper, but unfortunately, not everyone reads these newspapers, and the word is not spread as much as it was desired. Posts are made on the doors in the community center, or in the school or the library, but even these are often overlooked.

Personally, I have been a part of the Waterford Community band for the past two and a half years, and since I joined I have tried to promote the band, either to convince people to come listen to our music or to join the band. All of my efforts, however, only brought one person to join near the end of his senior year, and before his freshman year in college was over, he had to quit due to being unable to travel to the community center every Monday.

Other community events occur every week, and they are posted on Waterford Patch or in the community center, but these posts disappear quickly and are viewed by few people.

There are several suggestions to spread the word of an event even further than these two places. Talking to friends about events can help, for even if the event does not pertain to what they are interested in, they might tell their parents, relatives or their other friends, and those people might be interested in going to or helping at the event.

Another way is to add posters to classrooms in the school that could apply to the event. For example, an event for Safe Futures, formerly the Women’s Center of Southeast Connecticut, could be posted in the health room, so students who come to the health room will see this event and could possibly go to it. A Poetry Out Loud event could be posted in an English room, and a world language meeting, like the French Conversation that takes place in the New London Library on the last Thursday every month, could be posted in a World Language room.

Posting an event on Facebook or Twitter is another possibility, along with adding several friends to that event. Since Facebook and Twitter are used by almost everyone nowadays, they will most likely see this event the day they are invited, and the word can spread quickly.

Other strategies to promote an event are always possible, as long as other people see these promotions and get convinced to take part in the event.