FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about institution-wide communications

There are several communication channels to connect with faculty, staff, and students across the institution. Please read through this FAQ and follow the appropriate steps for your communication needs:

All stories and events suggested via LiveWhale to “Inst: Source” by 10 a.m. on Friday will be considered for the weekly promotional email sent every Monday to all faculty and staff.

To request that your story or event is included in an upcoming Source promo email, please write to source@lclark.edu.

If you do not have LiveWhale access and need to send all of the information via email, please submit a written description of the details for your story and/or event to source@lclark.edu. You may also attach images and graphics, but be sure to include a written description for any text that appears there.

Please note: A description of media is required by federal accessibility guidelines. Visually impaired users that use screen reader software cannot read any text on graphics. They can’t read a graphic in the same way they can’t see/read a photo or an image. This is why it is crucial that we add captions to any photos on our website, and that we offer text on the web page that can be read by reader software to explain what is written on the graphic.

Please use our Suggestion Box to send us your achievements.

If you are a staff or faculty member with a LiveWhale account:

  1. Log into LiveWhale.           
  2. Go to Manage Your Content and click on News or Events. You can either “add a new story” or “add a new event,” or open existing news and event items to edit them.
  3. Ensure you’ve included all important details and contact information.
  4. At the bottom of the screen, use the “suggest this item” field. Enter “Inst: Source.”
  5. When you hit “Save this story” at the bottom of the page, The Source editorial desk will be automatically alerted about your submission.
  6. All stories and events suggested to “Inst: Source” by 10 a.m. on Friday will be considered for the weekly promotional email sent every Monday to all faculty and staff.
  7. Please Note: To request that your story or event is included in an upcoming Source promo email, please write to source@lclark.edu
  8. For more information about LiveWhale, visit New Media’s FAQ page.

If you do not have LiveWhale access:

Please send all institution-wide announcements, events, and story ideas to: source@lclark.edu

There are many resources and channels available to help the Lewis & Clark community publicize events. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Lewis & Clark website and external publicity

Post your event to the calendar in LiveWhale, Lewis & Clark’s content management system:

  1. Make sure you’ve included all the important details: date, time, location, place (“pin” your event on the map), title, description (a few sentences to a paragraph of information), cost (please tell us if it’s free), and contact information.
  2. Make sure you include a relevant photo.
  3. Make sure it’s tagged “open to the public.”
  4. Make sure it’s plotted on the map under “Places” to post on the digital signage (Note: If you do not want your event on the screens, tag the item “no-screens” in the Tag section”).

Once posted, it will be considered for:

  • Featured events listing on our homepage (NOTE: Must include photo)
  • Distribution to local media/reporters (NOTE: We send information 4-5 weeks in advance to meet deadlines. They make the selection; we cannot guarantee inclusion.)
  • Paid events ads in the OregonianWillamette Week, and Lake Oswego Review (NOTE: These ads are prepared as much as 5 weeks in advance.)
  • Lewis & Clark featured events email (sign up)
  • Promotion on Facebook and/or Twitter

For more information on the various forms of external publicity and tips on how to write about your event, see Marketing Events: The Basics.

If you do not have LiveWhale access

Follow this Quick Start Guide or contact the New Media team. 

Other resources

Event planners can spread the word about their campus events through the mailings, flyers, posters, collaborations with community groups or nonprofits in the area, and targeted email messages to groups on and off campus.

If you have questions about event promotion, feel free to contact the PR team (public@lclark.edu). Each event is different, so you should plan to set up a meeting or discuss via email what specific steps the PR team can take to support you. Please be aware that the less notice you give the PR staff, the less they can do to help you.

Go to Working With Events for helpful tips on using LiveWhale to promote events.

See your event on campus video screens

If you followed steps one through five (above), you may see a “live” version of what’s showing up on the flatscreen digital TV screens on the undergraduatelaw, and graduate campuses. NOTE: Screens rotate approximately 20 upcoming events. As a result, the number of campus events on the calendar will determine when your event appears on the screen.

Share your announcement with students 

You may request that your information be included in the daily or weekly emails that are distributed to students by emailing your announcement to the appropriate contact at each school:

(Please note that these emails cannot include business solicitation.)

Share your announcement with Faculty and Staff

All stories and events suggested via LiveWhale to “Inst: Source” by 10 a.m. on Friday will be considered for the weekly promotional email sent every Monday to all faculty and staff. To request that your story or event is included in an upcoming Source promo email, please write to source@lclark.edu

Although The Source does not post press releases or advertisements from off-campus businesses or nonprofits, there are a couple of ways to advertise on campus.

Promotional Posters

Begin by submitting a poster/ad to our office for approval (mail to public@lclark.edu). Once your promotion materials are approved, you can come to campus and post them on approved general announcement boards around campus.

Pioneer Log

You may also consider purchasing ad space in the Pioneer Log student newspaper. For more information, contact piolog@lclark.edu.

Sponsorship

Lewis & Clark’s Winterim is an opportunity for students to explore entrepreneurship from the ground up during a week-long session over winter break. Working in small teams, students identify a problem, research and develop a solution, and take part in a pitch competition on the final day. Along the way, they are assisted by off-campus leaders and professionals—many of them alumni—who serve as speakers, mentors, and judges.

Past Winterim sponsors include: AdidasPeople Power, Premier, and Vacasa

For more information, contact entrepreneurship@lclark.edu.

Please follow these instructions to request that your event or announcement* be included in communications to students:

College of Arts and Sciences

For the college’s news and information site “The Bark” for students, follow the appropriate steps on the contribution page

Graduate School of Education and Counseling

For the graduate school’s webpage for current students, follow the appropriate steps on the contribute event/announcement page.

Law School

For the law school’s weekly and daily announcement emails, send your announcement/event to announce@lclark.edu. Submissions must include:

Title
Date, Time, Location
Description: no more than 50 words – and you can include a link to an outside page. (Announcements not adhering to the 50 word limit will not be posted until revisions are received.)

*Please note that these requests cannot include off-campus business solicitation.

You can target your announcement to the faculty of each school by contacting the dean’s office at each school:

  • College of Arts & Sciences: Debra Richman, executive assistant to the dean of the College, drichman@lclark.edu 
  • Graduate School of Education and Counseling: Murray Cizon, executive assistant to the dean of the graduate school, cizon@lclark.edu
  • Law School: Rita Martinez, director of faculty services, ritamartinez@lclark.edu

See a “live” version of what’s showing up on the flatscreen digital TV screens on the undergraduate and graduate campuses. (There are currently no TV screens featuring events on the law school campus).  

PLEASE NOTE: Screens rotate approximately 20 upcoming events. As a result, the number of campus events on the calendar will determine when your event appears on the screens.

How to add your event on the Digital Screen

Log in to LiveWhale through http://www.lclark.edu/livewhale and click on the “Events” tab. Click on the blue button next to the “Manage Events” title. It reads: “Add a new event.”

A popup dialog box appears. If you don’t need a reservation or your space is confirmed, click on the appropriate button.

You should now be in the “Add a new event” form page. The required fields to fill are:

  • Title
  • Start Date & Time (Please do not recycle/reuse past events by using old content and just updating the calendar and time – your event will not update or function properly site-wide.)
  • Location
  • Summary
  • Event Description
  • Groups: Fill in the appropriate campus locations in the grey box titled “Suggest this event to the following group(s)”:
      • “College: Student Life” (sends your event to undergraduate campus screens)
      • “Grad: Student Life” (sends your event to graduate campus screens)

To make your event live, choose “Live” in the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner (default is “Hidden”) and click on the “Save this event” button at the bottom of the page.

For more information about LiveWhale, visit New Media’s FAQ page.