The Winter Activities Fair was held yesterday in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom, but if you didn’t know that, you’re not alone. The event
was sparsely attended, no doubt because of a limited advertising campaign. Attendance at the winter event is always lower than at the Fall Activities Fair because of the large number of first-year students looking to find activities when they first arrive on Grounds. Students, however, are still looking for new activities after they have adjusted to University life. It is a shame so few students were aware of the opportunity to connect with new organizations.
The winter fair already faces some challenges getting noticed. For one, the event is inside, rather than in the Amphitheater. Students might happen across the outdoor event in the fall while exploring Grounds and decide to find out what the commotion is about — the Winter Activities Fair cannot rely on people chancing by. The Fall Activities Fair also can rely on resident advisors in first-year dormitories to let their residents know about the event; many of them likely use the fair to fulfill their “programming” requirement.
In the winter, more deliberate advertising is needed. This semester, the event did not even appear in the Connections@UVa e-mail newsletter, probably the easiest form of advertising available. Only students advertising their own organization at the fair were likely to know about it. An announcement appeared on the University’s Web site, but the description of the event left something to be desired: “This event is for all the CIO’s [sic] to recruit first years in their organization.” More details — including the fact that everyone is invited — would have made the event more welcoming for the few people who bothered to read the description.
If the Fall Activities Fair relies primarily on the curiosity of passersby, it makes sense for the winter fair’s organizers to advertise in a similar manner. Students may not often wander through the third floor of Newcomb Hall, but the second and first floors are always filled with students. Perhaps some signs or students encouraging dining hall patrons to attend the fair would have made the event more successful.
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