Compared to the success of University Programs Council's "CRAWL at Newcomb Hall," the Activities Fair revealed a few changes that would make Council's most important event even more user-friendly. UPC's masterfully planned event coordinated simultaneous events with refreshments and fun activities -- even an obstacle course. The Activities Fair, on the other hand, offered a much less exciting obstacle course.
Concerns with the organization of the fair begin almost as soon as groups arrive to set up. Rather than assigning groups their tables ahead of time, groups had to stand in line and wait to be registered on site. Only then did they receive their table assignments. To solve this problem, Student Council Vice President for Organizations Catherine Tobin suggests that a simple spreadsheet and an e-mail prepared before the event would have made the process simpler for everyone involved. Tobin added, "There are definitely things that we can improve. This is one of them."
For students the scene was also slightly confusing. Finding one organization amidst the sea of extracurricular activities wasn't as easy as it could have been. Attendees realized immediately that the tables were grouped by category -- all the political groups in one corner, the literary publications in the other, etc.Pushing your way through thousands of first-year students is menacing enough. Having to do so with little idea how to find specific organizations only makes it worse.
Having all the same type of groups in one area also can create an uncomfortable atmosphere of competition. With all the literary magazines in one area, for example, students interested in writing might feel pressured to choose between the magazines, rather than being able to explore each individually at his or her own pace. Spacing organizations out might allow students to peruse different tables without feeling compelled to pick one group over another.
Tobin makes the reasonable point that grouping organizations by category allows students to check out various types of activities. One easy way to alleviate confusion would be the alphabetize the table assignments. If organizations still want to be grouped categorically, Council could group them that way on the map. That way, students can decide which groups they want to learn more about, find them quickly and avoid huge crowds.
These issues should be -- and easily can be -- fixed when Council meets to plan next year's fair. Tobin has made this process even smoother by providing next year's VPO with a comprehensive transition memo identifying problems in the past and, most importantly, providing viable solutions.
The Activities Fair is an example of something Student Council can continue to adjust as it discovers new ways to improve and refine the process of exposing new students to the University's vast selection of extracurricular activities. Without question, this year's Activities Fair was a success, but ideas to make something good even better are always worth trying.
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