Council candidate runs paperless campaign

SAINT JOHN - Craig Allen figures he'll hand out some 4,000 apples before the May 12 municipal election - an apple a day keeps the garbage away.

Allen is running a paperless campaign with no flyers or campaign signs. He's placing stickers on apples that direct people to his web page and his platform. For Allen, it's a matter of leading by example.

"It's not only an environmental message, but it's a message of less waste," said Allen.

"It's sort of a new approach to looking at things in the city."

Breathing life into the uptown and making sure that all residents benefit and aren't left behind is also an important issue for Allen.

"We have a lot of the shopping and a lot of the business, but we also have some of the poorer neighbourhoods as well. We also have the valuable heritage properties and the waterfront so you've really got all aspects of the spectrum."

Allen is running in Ward 3.

"I'd like to see an increased access to recreational facilities and parks," Allen said. "And also encourage festivals and cultural events."

Among his issues are attracting new residents, encouraging small business growth, poverty reduction, finding balance between heritage and development, keeping drinking water in public hands and affordable housing.

Allen says the fire department needs the resources restored that have fallen victim to years of budget cuts. He said he has met with firefighters and they are concerned they've been spread too thin.

A graduate of UNB and New Brunswick Community College, Allen is currently the director of marketing at Evolving Solutions, a local web development firm. A music lover, he also enjoys fly fishing, cooking and downhill skiing.

"Actions speak a lot louder than words," he said of his paperless campaign. "By showing people that there is a different way to do things, hopefully they'll realize that will reflect on my time on council."

Story by Jeff Ducharme. As published in the Telegraph Journal.

Culture Hub

I came across this site the other day as part of my daily visit to the Saint John Music News over at http://www.giraffecycle.com/. Culture Hub is a very innovative approach to showing local news, art & culture within the City of Saint John and in particular here in Ward 3. The clips from the BackStreet Records sidewalk show on Saturday are great! Very cool to see the great stuff that happens in our Ward being documented.

Sunny Monday

Just got back into town yesterday from Moncton after a tough loss in the finals of the annual Geeks On Ice hockey tournament (I am the head coach of the YourTeam Online Chiefs). It is our third time in the tournament and everytime I go I am so impressed with the Tim Horton's 4 Ice Centre that they have in Moncton. I can't help but think what a great addition a facility like that would be to the City of Saint John.

More Geeks on Ice coverage here.

Press Release: April 18th

Saint John City Council Candidate Launches Sustainable "Sign-less" Campaign

Saint John, NB - Ward 3 City Council Candidate Craig Allen was excited to unveil his sustainable campaign here in the city today as part of his pledge to bring new thinking & less waste to the race leading up to the May 12th election. In a different direction from his opponents, Allen will feature no printed signs posted along the city streets, but instead will be passing out apples to drive attention to his campaign.

"I wanted to differentiate myself from the clutter of printed signs & brochures," said Mr. Allen. "We are going to sticker over 4000 apples with our web address to drive traffic to the website & my message. In the least, people will get a healthy bite to eat." Allen strategized the idea to prove a point in several areas; "Voters seem to want change in the city, but the campagin seemed to be unfolding with the same old promises & tactics. I couldn't imagine how adding more signs into the mix was going to benefit anyone. I've got a solid background in online marketing so I knew my web site would be the focus of my messaging anyways, passing out the apples seemed like a higher impact, less wasteful approach to catching voter interest."

Originally, the Germain Street resident planned to have a totally paperless campaign but ended up printing the stickers that will adore the apples with his name and website. "We looked at food paint and even laser labelling, but that technology seems to be a few years away. We wanted to be completely paperless, but at least we will only be putting a few stickers and some apple cores in the land fill. Sustainablity is going to be a major issue in the city over the next few years so I wanted to connect my campaign to that message. Everyone, especially me, is excited to see the city grow, but we are going to need make sure that the growth benefits everyone in the city. Cutting back on waste all of types is going to help us reach that goal."

Mr. Allen is also looking at some other "sign-less" ideas to get his message out in the coming weeks. "We've got a few more concepts we are working on. If people want some new blood & new ideas on council, I hope they'll look to me on May 12th."

Check out his website at: http://www.craigallen.ca for more information.

Welcome to my Campaign Blog!

It's very exciting to kick off my campaign for Saint John Ward 3 City Councilor this week. I've been anxious to get more involved in the community and I've been very overwhelmed with all of the support I've received so far.

We are taking a bit of a different approach to our campaigning and are going to run a "sustainable campaign", without any printed signs. Instead, we've chosen a higher impact (& certainly more nutritious) way to get our message out: Apples!

We are going to sticker thousands of free apples with our web address and drive potential voters to craigallen.ca where they can follow the campaign online. All of my campaign information will be available in electronic format only on the site.

So keep an eye on this blog as I'll be making frequent updates and we hope to see you on the campaign trail!

And make sure to get out and vote on May 12th!