Claire's Organizational Rhetoric

1. Identity strategies of organizational rhetoric identified
   1. The organization employs association when use their slogan “The Music of Longwood University & Farmville, VA.,” to connect themselves to the community. This allows the station to appear professional and family-friendly. In addition, the slideshow of pictures from different events shows the viewer different ways WMLU makes themselves part of the Longwood and Farmville community. They associate themselves with community involvement and asserts that their business is a professional and friendly organization.
   2. WMLU 91.3 also uses differentiation on their homepage in their unofficial mission statement, which notes that they have been “Keeping the beat since 1981”.  By hinting at their organizational age is significant because it suggests that they have been around longer than other clubs and are thus better qualified to provide positive experiences for members and consumers alike.
   3. Several elements of branding are visible on the WMLU homepage. The multiple tabs at the top of the page suggest that the organization has put in a lot of time and effort into the website, giving the viewers plenty of content to go through. Additionally, they have very important information, such as contact information and meeting dates, on the home page which is good for recruiting new members or new customers.
   4. These strategies help audiences focus on the critical aspects of WMLU’s identity because they note what is important enough for the organization to put on their website’s homepage. Since the homepage is generally the first thing visitors to the website see, conveying a sense of community and professionalism reveals that these are central to experiences if you were to book/join WMLU.
   5. Social media is the most prominent channel of delivery for WMLU. Being a small-college radio station, it is up to the members of the organization to promote on their own social media networks. By exposing the rhetoric created by members for audiences, WMLU creates an atmosphere of professionalism and by the members boosting each other’s content, they create a sense of community.
   6. WMLU is already regarded as an inclusive organization for existing on a college campus. They are seen at certain events such as Longwood’s annual involvement fair (a day dedicated for students to get involved in organizations on campus) and special events in the Communication Studies department. To maintain this identity across time and advance their own goals, the organization might consider reaching out to other academic fields to encourage them to get involved. While WMLU mainly targets students in Communication Studies, there are many members in other majors as well.

2. Key elements of the rhetorical situation
   1. This is a situation that calls for identity maintenance rhetoric. WMLU is already known as a professional organization. They are involved with other organizations in the Farmville community which helps maintain their identity. For an example, every other Thursday, the station gets set up at Third Street Brewery for trivia night. It’s open to all students and all Farmville residents. At first, it was strictly volunteering to expand their brand. However, due to the organization’s professional nature, the brewery agreed to pay the station since trivia night was bringing them so much business. In the near future, WMLU will be holding a conference where stations from other schools will come to Longwood and the board will share tactics they use to keep the station up and running.
   2. College students are always the primary audience for WMLU. While they also looking for businesses to collaborate with, it is a student-run station and the main goal is to give Longwood students a great college experience. The committees within WMLU are always looking for ways to get students involved in the station and even come together for one of WMLU’s event.
   3. Constraints common to this identity situation presented in this case is the lack of voices. WMLU has grown a lot over the years, yet most of the support it gets is from its members. There are not enough people promoting the station to people outside of the station nor do a lot of people care. It is difficult for the station to try to get involved on campus when there is a lack of promotion to the Longwood community as a whole.

http://www.wmlu.org/