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Hi all,

The StackExchange team is starting in on ideas for getting math.SE some publicity. Beyond "what websites to advertise on," which was the focus of the previous publicity meta discussion, I'd like to hear any ideas you have on types of events, conferences, etc., to promote the site at (including what communities -- math, math education, general education, etc. -- we want to target and good people to get in touch with in those communities). Logo thoughts, face-to-face events we could organize, etc.--it's all game here.

The slightly-overblown-but-relevant section from the generic SE 2.0 site FAQ:

This is rapidly becoming a hot issue across the entire network: how to promote your site and how to reach out to the experts and pundits in your industry. We can come up with budgets and promotions but — more than any other issue raised here — the means and ideas about how to reach your target audience HAS TO come from you and your community. Has to. Has to, has to, has to! We simply are not experts in your field. We don’t have the the connections nor the experience you bring to the table. You are both our evangelist and our ambassador

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  • $\begingroup$ The previous meta discussion Katie refers to. $\endgroup$ – Larry Wang Aug 18 '10 at 4:24
  • $\begingroup$ A mentioned in a recent blog post, the 'link' buttons for each question have been modified to capture referrer information, and badges have been created to encourage sharing questions. $\endgroup$ – Larry Wang Sep 10 '10 at 23:59
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I would love to reach out to teachers. My vision of the ideal math.SE user is a bright high school student who is trying to do some math outside of school but running into difficulties due to lack of resources (for example, they want to understand something in a Wikipedia article but don't have access to any of the references). Teachers who know such students should be encouraged to redirect them here. But I don't have any particularly bright ideas for doing this. (Katie, maybe we should ask Louis about this.)

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  • $\begingroup$ very much agreed. As a first pass, we were asked what conferences we might want math.SE promoted at (eg by SO helping to sponsor, or someone speaking about the site), and my first thought was a NCTM gig and the NCSSSMST (specalized math/sci schools). But yep, gonna ask Louis too. $\endgroup$ – Jamie Banks Aug 18 '10 at 17:51
  • $\begingroup$ NCSSSMST is a good idea in theory, but my experience was that it was much more likely to be attended by administrators than teachers. A booth at the exhibits at NCTM might be a good way to go, but that's not until April or so (Indianapolis). Trying for something in the NCTM Bulletin would be good, especially if they're still running their "Web Bytes" column of useful/interesting web sites (and also potentially extra-helpful since NCTM affiliates can use material from the Bulletin in their own newsletters). Trying to get a link on the ARML website would be another good bet. $\endgroup$ – Isaac Aug 18 '10 at 20:01
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I've told several friends (mostly undergraduate math majors) about math.SE, but I would imagine word-of-mouth is rather inefficient. It might be possible to write an article on the MAA website, kind of like how a few people wrote an article about MO for the AMS. (I don't know if the article actually got published though.) At least if math.SE grows significantly, then the MAA is probably the appropriate venue, since this website is intended to be at an undergraduate level. Also, I think someone posted a link on Aops, which is (or was) the usual gathering place for bright high-schoolers.

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  • $\begingroup$ Somewhat related, MO was mentioned on thr AMS graduate student blog, but so was math.se. We were mentioned in passing with a link, but mentioned none-the-less. $\endgroup$ – BBischof Aug 18 '10 at 14:19
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, the article on MO appeared in the Notices a month or so ago. $\endgroup$ – Matt E Aug 18 '10 at 16:02
  • $\begingroup$ I managed to promote one of my favorite Area51 proposals (area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/11942/…) by getting in touch with the main stand-in for the European Go Federation on the island I was currently living on. He put the word through in a weekly newsletter, and about 20 people came. $\endgroup$ – ixtmixilix Sep 27 '10 at 11:50

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