We want lots of people to know about Engage. That includes public health and policy makers, community organizations and health advocates and most importantly, our gbMSM communities. Since we are using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), it means these tools cannot be used for recruitment, rather they are to increase community awareness and engagement with the project. Regardless of whether you are part of the study, we want the entire community to feel involved. Here’s how we plan to do that:
Website
In the Summer we did a soft launch of the Engage website: www.engage-men.ca orwww.engage-hommes.ca. This will be the primary communications portal for Engage. Here you can find out about the study, our team and local information about each site.
Promotional Strategy
In addition to traditional launch activities like press releases and office openings, we’re also planning an elaborate promotional strategy that includes Facebook, Grindr, Squirt and Daily Xtra. We will monitor the success of these ads, creating a report of best practices for future studies. Look out for Engage ads in the New Year.
Promotional Video
The Engage team was so inspired by the Trans PULSE and Mobilise videos, that we are working with a producer and a team of volunteers to develop our own! The script has been completed and voice over and filming wrapped up, we’re just waiting to see what the editing magic will create. The promo video will be included in the promotional strategy and used to drive more traffic to our website through social media and apps. We’ll be sure to send the video out once it’s complete – please share it widely – you will almost certainly recognize some familiar faces!
Press Coverage
In Montreal, word of Engage has already spread, in part due to the two articles published in the popular gay magazine, Fugues. You can read the September edition:http://www.fugues.com/246684-
Jody Jollimore
January 03rd, 2017