Rudi Chamria

Marketing and Audience Engagement

Our school entirely funds the Standard. However, I still make an effort to advertise the work we do whenever possible. Whether on social media or during school events, I like to set our best foot forward when presenting ourselves to future readers and – if truly inspired – reporters, too.

Analytics

I'm perpetually on the back end of The Standard's website monitoring our site usage. Our number of page views is up by over 30,000 views this year, and our average session time has increased by over a minute. I would attribute our improved data to our enhanced marketing and stronger visuals on our site which draw readers in. 

Facebook and X

Part of my responsibility as Online Editor-in-Chief includes posting on Facebook and X every day we post to highlight the work we publish on the site. All of our staff members are required to provide a social media blurb along with their draft, so I can post their content to these platforms along with a hyperlink to the webpage on our site.

Seamless integration

Clunky media integration on any site really gets my goat. That's why I've worked hard to make sure all of our media is embedded seamlessly into our site. 

Instagram

Below are a few Instagram posts I've created during my time on The Standard. Instagram posting is the primary way our publication engages with the student body outside of our website due to its convenience on mobile devices. Click on each one for a better look at the photo and the reporting. 

Instagram •

Global Festival committee hosts author panel

Parent and faculty authors sat on a panel to speak about their books hosted by the PCA Global Festival committee in the Mellon Library Feb. 1. The panel was moderated by Sage Saunders (‘24) and Librarian Venisha Bahr.

Courtenay Morris (P ‘27 ‘30) is responsible for planning events in preparation for the Global Festival being held in March. She said the purpose of the festival is to “celebrate the diversity of the school.”

Morris said she was inspired to put together the panel after attending a similar event at her children’s previous school, The American Embassy School in Delhi. She said her favorite component was the range of topics community authors covered from different parts of the world.

“The diversity of the books is parallel to the diversity of the parent body,” Morris said. “That’s what’s really nice to see.” Photo and reporting by Rudi Chamria
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Livestreaming

A few weeks ago, a few reporters created our first live broadcast of a basketball game. I helped them set-up and kept in contact with them during technical falters. I streamed it from my laptop during our staff's layout night, and I promoted it on The Standard Instagram, Twitter and X, to amass a larger audience

Surveys

Sending out surveys is one way we can engage with our audience. While our stories average around three to four interviews, using survey data is a way to incorporate more of our community's voice when writing our stories. Here are examples of two surveys I've sent for articles I wrote.

Advertising within our school

This year, the managing team was invited to meet our school's Board of Trustees and answer their questions about the publication. After the meeting, I sent them more information about how to connect and read our work daily to increase our engagement within the parent community.

In addition to meeting the Board, the High School principal requested that I come to a few open houses for prospective students and parents. Within those panels, I spoke about the impact of our journalism program and encourage prospective students to enroll in the class. After the panel, many of those students asked me follow-up questions about the publication. 

Cohesion with print

In addition to advertising on social media, I advertise our online content in one of our print pages. I highlight one story from each section and also have the QR code to our website for readers to scan.