So most of our posts so far have talked about specific ways to build our names list. We talked about Summer recruitment and the ways we can gather names through scholarships, high school visits, etc. We also talked about how we can use Triangle’s partnership with FIRST Robotics to help us in recruitment. This week we are going to talk about how we can spice up a simple thing such as tabling.
Tabling
Probably the most common way that organizations promote themselves during the school year is tabling. Every campus I go to there is almost always organizations out in the quad, main walkway, etc. that are tabling. Sometimes I wonder why do we table? Do we actually get results from it? Think about the last time your organization tabled. I am willing to bet a coffee that all of your members just stood behind the table and hoped somebody would come up and talk to you. Is that pretty accurate? Don’t answer because yes it is. So let’s talk about some ways that we can be more unique in how we table.
1. Rock Paper Scissors
This is probably my favorite tabling activity. It’s very simple and fun for everyone. Get some type of white board and write a simple, “play me in Rock, Paper Scissors” on it. Then be IN FRONT OF THE TABLE, and play random people in rock, paper, scissors. It will start slow, but I can guarantee when people start to catch wind that you can win a prize for winning you will start to gain a crowd. While you’re doing this, have the other brothers at your table hyping the crowd up, and talking to people around the table.
2. Trivia
This is another personal favorite. Once again it’s very simple. Get a white board and write random trivia on it. Think of some type of theme and go with it. If the contestant get’s the answer right, give them a prize. After they do the activity try to initiate some type of conversation with them. Once again, this is the whole goal of doing these activities. We want to initiate conversation with these people but need to draw them in first.
3. “Joe Eats Pizza”
You all can thank the Oklahoma chapter for this idea. When I was there a couple semesters ago, they held a tabling event called, “Joe Eats Pizza”. And it’s exactly what it sounds like. They bought a large amount of pizza and Joe sat at the table and ate pizza. The best part is people could come up to the table and for $1 buy a sticker that said, “I watched Joe Eat Pizza”. So simple it’s genius.
These are just a few ideas to take and start playing with the next time your chapter tables. I would love to hear some other ideas you might have. Please go ahead and send me an email with your ideas for tabling and I will drop some of my favorites in the next blog post, and give you an extra slip in the end of summer raffle.
I hope to see you all at convention next week! This is why this week’s post is a day late and shorter. We are in full prep mode for all of you to join us in Indianapolis next week! Drop me a message if you will be attending and let’s meet up!