Your ideas: getting more current cadets and officers on board!

[CharlieDelta]

Hi all,

I think we've gone quite some way to establishing ourselves as a great place for aspiring cadets. But we need to try and expand beyond that and get more current cadets and officers visiting and using the site.

We've made a few changes already which you might hae noticed. The logo now makes a distinction in colours between the two words, so that we have "officer" and "cadet" arther than "officer cadet". We've also made the subject specific forums a bit more "open", e.g. it's not the "deck cadet" forum any more.

This is a perennial question so sorry for those who I've asked before, but if any of our new members have any ideas for reaching out to these groups and getting them interested, please let us know!

Chris

[Ganner]

I think there will be a natural progression, I am an aspiring cadet and in may I will become a cadet and in time I will hopefully become an officer, I will still visit this site as it is not only incredibly helpful but it’s fun and a nice community so soon enough you will have a big block of certified officers as well as the constant influx of aspiring cadets. The only reason I can see that current officers do not use the site is because it wasn’t here when they started so they are unaware of it. Maybe some sort of direct marketing to organisations and companies that currently employ a large number of officers to let them know it is here and what it has to offer? Maybe offer some free advertising space for companies or organisation in exchange for a mailshot for their members with an advert of this site. The forums are great and not cadet specific and we all love a chat about things we love with like-minded people so once they see the site I am sure they will want to join up and join in. I also think having a forum thread for merchant navy spouses to chat about their issues and keep a nice sense of community amongst them would help to broaden the websites audience while promoting and explaining what it is the merchant navy does.

[EFC92]

To attract current cadets try and establish links and promotion with the colleges write to lecturers asking them to join, maybe even colleges abroad Ireland, Australia etc. this could be a place for college collaboration / organising events . A tie-in with a maritime education website providing tutorials, resources etc. might be useful to attract cadets.

To attract officers and other seafaring folk perhaps develop an independent maritime news delivery system on the website instead of just a news feed. A link with recruitment websites would increase traffic from officers and perhaps ask MCA, nautical institute, IMarEST if they would like to direct surveys this way.

[CharlieDelta]

I think there will be a natural progression, I am an aspiring cadet and in may I will become a cadet and in time I will hopefully become an officer, I will still visit this site as it is not only incredibly helpful but it’s fun and a nice community so soon enough you will have a big block of certified officers as well as the constant influx of aspiring cadets. The only reason I can see that current officers do not use the site is because it wasn’t here when they started so they are unaware of it.

Thanks Ganner, we find that we get very busy during interview/pre college periods, then traffic drops off in September and to a lesser extent in January. Once people start at college, they tend to use Facebook for most things.

To attract officers and other seafaring folk perhaps develop an independent maritime news delivery system on the website instead of just a news feed. A link with recruitment websites would increase traffic from officers and perhaps ask MCA, nautical institute, IMarEST if they would like to direct surveys this way.

We try to cover news of interest but it's difficult when we're all volunteers and have time constraints. I'll certainly be looking for ways to expand upon this.

I think this website is great! With informative articles for aspiring cadets and an active community sharing their own experiences it has helped me recognise a career at sea is what I want. You have created a likeable brand and maintain a level of professionalism throughout the website with a real sense of community.

Hi Justin and welcome, thanks! We appreciate it!

Good promotional material advertising the benefits of OfficerCadet.com may help you achieve your objective. It costs money but even one A2 size poster in each college could help raise the profile.

Working on it, will ready to go once we've secured some form of funding.

If you wish to attract current cadets and officers perhaps consider articles about more advanced topics which may help them in their studies or simply inspire them. You could also post information about current research projects for those studying towards honours degrees.

We've thought about this. Problem is, most of us are cadets, so we're not really in a position to provide study aids. If we did, we'd need to work out some form of quality control and getting suitably knowledgeable and experienced people on board would be difficult. I am, however, looking at the possibility of interactive content to help with revising signal flags, lights and shapes, morse code etc...

I've also thought about an orals reports section. Most colleges collect orals reports from their cadets and maintain a file. If we could get enough people to submit their reports to us (we can't just go and nick them from the library, copyright) then we'd have a formidable online resource. This is a longer-term project.

Write lifestyle articles with marine themes, for example some people may undergo extra curricular powerboat training or try sailing for the first time. I would like to learn how to sail when I get the chance and it may inspire others to try the same.

Good idea, on the list!

Interviews with employees within the industry, offshore and ashore could provide an insight for Officers into various job opportunities and the skills required to achieve success. If you really wanted to impress they could be in video format too.

Another good idea. Careers at Sea already have case studies and I don't like to step on their (very supportive toes), however I can see the scope for "what do VTS do?", "what's life like as a harbour pilot?" etc etc... Video's a great idea apart from lack of equipment, so that might be some way in the future.

And finally, as an aspiring cadet I have wondered about the social opportunities that exist at college. Are there clubs to join? Is there a platform for Colleges to interact with each other and organise events, as 'EFC92' already mentioned? If not, an OfficerCadet.com 'Street team' or contributor in each college may be a starting point and the incentive would be something extra to put on their CV.

Again, Facebook wins here. And until the "stigma" of the site being "geeky" is gone, not many people are keen to be associated.

Thanks to all for the ideas so far, keep them coming!

[dawg]

breadth and depth

[GuinnessMan]

breadth and depth

Your avatar is deeply disturbing....

[Clanky]

Free beer

[GuinnessMan]

Free beer

Seconded!

[Steve]

Your avatar is deeply disturbing....

I think I recognise him. An RFA steward...

[GuinnessMan]

Are we able to have gifs as a signature?

[Ducki52]

Are we able to have gifs as a signature?

In your case, probably not...

[GuinnessMan]

In your case, probably not...

Actually, best not....

[Steve]

Raise awareness in colleges. Get the attention of qualified officers returning to college for advanced tickets. Encourage members at college to leave leaflets somewhere appropriate, or on noticeboards, or whatever. Get some free publicity from Nautilus - Bulletin or Telegraph article/advert.

[jc173]

Some nice flashy posters in colleges, i know warsash wouldn't say no.....

viral is the best advertising, but then again speak to [email protected] I'm sure they can help...

[jc173]

Seconded!

Motion Carried!