The Campaign Trail

[down-in-flames]

NOTICE TO INTERESTED PARTIES: As I’m sure many of you already know, the sitting Minister for Magic announced today that she will be stepping down from her position in the aftermath of a elaborate scandal involving bribery, embezzlement, and an attempted murder. The pending vacancy of the Minister seat means that, in accordance with the Constitution of 1234*, the Wizengamot has called for a snap election to take place in August.
 

“So how does that affect me?” Well, word on the street is that each of your Houses have been busy back-channeling for candidates up to the task of running for Minister for Magic. And the staff here at House Cup Campaigns has provided previous Minister candidates with a foolproof recipe for successfully earning a spot on the ballot - so just follow our program, and you’ll be on your way to winning an election!
 

“But campaigns are complex work, aren’t they?” Well, yes, but we’ll break it down for you step-by-step into 6 weeks of tasks that you and your Housemates will need to accomplish to get your candidate up for election in August. We’ll also ensure that you run a clean campaign - no nasty character attacks on your opponents are necessary to win the Minister seat, just some hard work (and hopefully some fun too)!
 

Now, since our perfect formula for a successful campaign is a bit of an industry secret, we can’t tell you everything that you’ll need to accomplish right away. We’ll reveal the exact nature of these tasks at the start of each week, but for now, here’s a rough outline of what to expect:

• Week 1 (14 to 20 June): Campaign launch
• Week 2 (21 to 27 June): Advertise!
• Week 3 (28 June to 4 July): Define your policies
• Week 4 (5 to 11 July): Debates
• Week 5 (12 to 18 July): Connect with your constituents
• Week 6 (19 to 25 July): Earn endorsements

And of course, because this is politics, there’s some crises that come up that you just can’t quite predict. Now, you might be able to run a perfectly smooth campaign that hits none of these bumps, but we’ll be honest with you: that’s never once happened in all of the years we’ve been working in this industry. All you can do in those situations is react quickly when crisis strikes to minimise the damage.
 

Are you ready to work with us and lead your candidate (and House) to victory? More information about tasks and rules can be found in individual week posts. If, after reading the rules, you have any additional questions, please tag the following campaign specialists - @down-in-flames, @grumpy cat, and @something wicked - in your post to ensure prompt response. All questions, unless they contain sensitive House-specific information, should be posted in this House Cup sub-forum.
 

May the best candidate win!

 

* The Wizarding Constitution, clause ccxxxviii:

all graphics by @grumpy cat

[CheekyTorah-Lex]

Oh wow this is so exciting!!!!

[down-in-flames]

a few points of clarification from various house discussions:

- the biography of your candidate can include whatever information you’d like it to. there will be tasks going forward that are themed around the wizarding world, but the bios themselves are entirely up to each house’s discretion.

-candidates do not necessarily have to be 100% human.

 

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

@down-in-flames @grumpy cat @something wicked

I'm here with perhaps an obvious question (insert Gryffindor joke here):

Is it 2019 in Wizarding World during this Campaign?

 

[grumpy cat]

yes, it's 2019. it's also up to the houses to define how the wizarding world looks like in 2019.

[just.a.willow.tree]

Just out of curiosity, will we get to see the other Houses’ weekly accomplishments as each week ends throughout the finale? (I’m just curious about the campaign introductions so I’m asking )

[down-in-flames]

1 hour ago, just.a.willow.tree said:

Just out of curiosity, will we get to see the other Houses’ weekly accomplishments as each week ends throughout the finale? (I’m just curious about the campaign introductions so I’m asking )

you'll see some pieces each week, but some will stay within each house until the end of the finale (at which point they'll be shared with everyone!). for this week in particular, you can see each house's campaign poster here: +meet the candidates.

[just.a.willow.tree]

Hi I have another question

Are there any other requirements for the signature set besides size? For example, do we need to put the slogan on the signature set, like the poster?

Thank you! 

[grumpy cat]

5 minutes ago, just.a.willow.tree said:

Hi I have another question

Are there any other requirements for the signature set besides size? For example, do we need to put the slogan on the signature set, like the poster?

Thank you! 

nope, you can put whatever you'd like on the signature, but keep in mind that its purpose is to advertise your candidate

[just.a.willow.tree]

Third question in a row oops I'm so sorry

@down-in-flames @grumpy cat @something wicked Could we potentially buy two one-minute ads together to form a two-minute ad? For example, making a two-minute audio ad that costs 14 Galleons?

Edited June 24, 2019 by just.a.willow.tree

[something wicked]

5 hours ago, just.a.willow.tree said:

Could we potentially buy two one-minute ads together to form a two-minute ad? For example, making a two-minute audio ad that costs 14 Galleons?

In order to keep things fair when it comes to judging the round we would like the ads to be no longer than one minute long. You are, of course, allowed to make multiple however each must work as a standalone advert

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

@something wicked @down-in-flames @grumpy cat

For the ads: are we supposed to make actual audio and/or video recordings, or is a script sufficient? Or are we just supposed to say how we want to spend our budget and not literally make ads?

[grumpy cat]

3 minutes ago, Noelle Zingarella said:

@something wicked @down-in-flames @grumpy cat

For the ads: are we supposed to make actual audio and/or video recordings, or is a script sufficient? Or are we just supposed to say how we want to spend our budget and not literally make ads?

yes, you're supposed to make actual audio and/or video ads.

[down-in-flames]

5 minutes ago, Noelle Zingarella said:

@something wicked @down-in-flames @grumpy cat

For the ads: are we supposed to make actual audio and/or video recordings, or is a script sufficient? Or are we just supposed to say how we want to spend our budget and not literally make ads?

you're supposed to make actual audio/video recordings. there's a number of free internet and software programs you can use to make them - audacity and openshot are free audio and video editing programs, respectively. (but also, once again, not all four mediums are required - if your house would rather just do picspams and tweets, that's an option too.)

Edited June 24, 2019 by down-in-flames
kris beat me :P

[something wicked]

 As we've had a few questions about different methods of advertising we'd quickly like to make sure everyone is on the same page. 

While it is encouraged to make a range of advertisements there is no requirement to do so. So long as each house spends the fifty Galleons it can be done in whichever way that specific house would prefer. This could be reached by making a mix of all four, a mix of two or by going all out and writing fifty tweets (though… as one of the people who’ll be posting them on twitter I would maybe suggest not doing this ). 

If there are any questions please remember to tag myself, @down-in-flames and @grumpy cat in the post and we’ll be sure to answer as soon as possible.

[just.a.willow.tree]

I have another question oops...

just out of curiosity, will the weeks’ results be released at the end, or whenever the staff voting is finalized? are we allowed to know?

[down-in-flames]

34 minutes ago, just.a.willow.tree said:

I have another question oops...

just out of curiosity, will the weeks’ results be released at the end, or whenever the staff voting is finalized? are we allowed to know?

we'll release results for the entire finale at the end 

[juls]

Hey, got a question/oops for ya - for week four, the debate post was up when I went to work. Then we had that horrific downtime (because it made my lunch boring ) and now the thread for week 4 for the debates is missing. (At least in the Slytherin Common Room.)

Tag! You're Its: @something wicked, @down-in-flames and @grumpy cat

 

Thanks in advance!!

Never mind, false alarm! It's there (or I'm just blind!)

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by juls