The Commerce Times

Representing themselves

There is only one website with information about the Ryerson Commerce Society (RCS) elections before they happen. Here’s a hint: It doesn’t begin with the word “Face.”

Surprised? In annual elections, the Ryerson Commerce Society has been bucking the social media trend and disallowing students from campaigning via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets.

“We wanted students to connect with the students,” Muzzamil Ahmed, chief returning officer, said.

Those campaigning for RCS executive and director positions also had to work with small budgets (under $25) and a ban on student group endorsement.

“They should do classroom talks; they should go and talk to students. We wanted more of the personal touch, people connecting face-to-face, to bring that genuine sincerity back into the election process,” Ahmed said.

This is striking when compared to the large-budget, high-publicity affair that is the RSU election.
“The RSU, they have a broader spectrum to cover,” Ahmed said. “Whereas the RCS is just in the Ted Rogers School of Management building.”

“The people who are going to be voting for [the candidates] all reside in one building, so it’s really easy to connect,” he said.

In addition to encouraging students to talk face-to-face, the bans on web media and endorsements level the playing field.

“We want every student to have an equal opportunity to campaign, to promote, and have the same level of resources or leverage that the other student would,” Ahmed said. If some students do not have easy internet access or Facebook, that shouldn’t put them at a disadvantage, he said.

The same thing applies for candidates with close ties to other student groups, who are more likely to be endorsed by those organizations. If a member of the Ryerson Finance Society decides to run for RCS, he has access to an emailing list of 700 students. Those running for RCS a second time would have access to 7, 000 students’ emails. To avoid such discrepancies students must run independently.

According to Ahmed, when students are faced with restrictions like these, it forces them to innovate and work together to reach their audience.

“You could pair with students who you think you would be willing to work with, and you could combine your budget,” he said. “So collectively, let’s say, you could have a $200 or $250 budget, which gives you a lot more flexibility in doing a lot more things.”

Also, this year’s election saw an increase in new students to the TRSM and RCS bringing new and inventive campaigns.

“They brought another level of creativity and ingenuity to this election. There were definitely things that made me ponder and made me think. It was actually refreshing to see a lot of students with these kinds of ideas, because it just shows you the future generation of students aren’t just using the conventional methods,” Ahmed said. “They’re thinking outside the box, which is exactly what our school promotes.”
Looking ahead, Ahmed says that there may be changes. But right now, the system is working as it is, and the 2010 election was a success.

“We also take into consideration the new digital media age, and what students are using, and what other activities they could also use to promote themselves,” he said.

“It’s definitely not written in stone, but in the future, you might see some changes in the ways that the elections are being held.”