File: TTInterview02122015 --- Q: How did you get started with this initiative? A: RU Street style started out as a School project where we had to create a social media campaignt that would be relevant to all Ryerson Students and last a week. During the week, we would have events that would happen. We decided to focus on fashion and Ryerson students becaues thought that would be a great way of getting them involved. Q: Amazing, so what drew you to aspect of fashion? A: I think Ryerson's a fashionable school and fashion is a way for students to express themselves and I think being able to showcase that is a great way to create community which is something we all wanted to do in this project because Ryerson is such a commuter school, having a sense of community I think it's critical. , campus sell the fact that by now showcasing a style but also featuring the stories of the great way to insert building a sense of community Q: And through the stories, I know you guys are huge on social media. So what has been some of the reaction so far towards the launch of RU Style? A: It's been very positive. Students love it. I will be in class and I hear students talking about it and how much they enjoy it. And that has been really rewarding aspect of this whole project. There has been no negative feedback. It's been very positive. You learn more about the students you see on campus that you don't talk to and at the same time you get inspired. Q: That's great. What is the process of how it goes down when you go out there, can you give us a play by play? A: Yes, so Currently there are 3 members, in RU Street style. When we started as a group project there were 6 but only 3 decided to continue on with it. Myself I'm a photographer, and Lauren Hilderban, whose another member of the group, she is also a photographer. And then we had Jennifer Spredy, she is the interviewer. So on campus we'll be together and if someone catches our eye, one of us will run after the person and ask if we can take a photo of your outft for RU Streetstyle, and sometimes they will say yes, or what is this for again? And then myself or another member will explain more about RU Streetstyle and then we set to take shots. I generally like to take15 to 20. I do some closeups and shots that show whole outfit. And then at that point I will pass on the students to Jennifer, who will then interview them. We have a set list of questions that we want to ask them. To find a person there is no formula or way of going about it. They catch our eye, we will approach them. For example, someone's lipstick colour caught my eye a few weeks ago. I approached her and took some shots and then I interviewed her. Sometimes me and Lorna we will be photographing students. Jennifer might be with another student interviewing them. So we step in as well and we started having a conversation and it was great. You learn so much about the student doing RU Streetstyle. In the end you might have a 5 minute conversation and that is great. Q: For sure. And for you in your person life, how do you balance running the site as well as your own studies? A: It's all the being very organized and scheduling things ahead of time. We generally photograph in the beginning of the week and then we schedule our posts. As a group we decide who to feature on what day. So I think it is important to be as organized as possible. We commmunicate regularly between the numbers. I know that Lauren is pretty busy - she is on the skating team and so I know, she's very busy and I think it's a matter of being organize and always coordinating. Q: And along with the team, you have reached out to other companies for a collaboration as well. Can you tell us more about that? A: Six side clothing from Toronto approached us on Instagram and we decided to collaborate with them for a contest. We had a contest on our first week in our launch and essentially we encouraged students to send us their outfit of the day photos using #RUStylish on Twitter and Instagram and then uploaded to a Facebook album and then we announced out winners at the end of the week. 6 side clothing wanted to get their name out to Ryerson students. So they gave us the prizes for this contest and the contest ended last week. So it's a great way to get students involved in the campaign and also to get Toronto companies Involved. That's amazing. Well thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure speaking to you.