Welcome week is a time to connect with new students. It’s a chance to show them what you have to offer. The hope is they will become engaged with campus rec from that point on, allowing you to impact their physical, mental and emotional wellness.
As such, take a look at these welcome events held around the country and the top lessons learned from each.
Cleveland State University (CSU)
Matt Schmiedl, Assistant Director of Marketing and Advertising, CENTERS LLC
Welcome Week Events:
- Rock the Rec: During Welcome Week, the rec center is open for students to try activities and programs, play games, win prizes, hang out with friends, and learn about the semester’s schedule.
- Demo Weeks: During the first two weeks of the semester, the premium fitness programs are free for students and rec center members to try. There is no obligation to purchase a pass. Anyone who participates in a demo also receives a discount coupon to use should they decided to join the program. The current premium fitness programs at CSU include F45 Training and Pink Gloves Boxing. In the past, however, CSU has also offered programs like Kettlebell Training, TRX, Acro Yoga and Boxing Bootcamp.
- Membership Promotions: Promotions feature a few different options that bundle various services, programs and membership types together to help the local community, faculty and staff save money.
Top Lessons Learned:
- Think about events as experiences from marketing to follow-up communication like surveys.
- Plan ahead and involve every area of campus recreation.
- Involve students to gain direct insights, elicit word of mouth marketing and offer development opportunities in project management and leadership.
Duke University
Nathan McKinnis, Managing Director of Recreation Programs
Welcome Week Event:
- RecFest: It’s a free carnival-style event outside Duke’s west campus recreation facility. It features food from local restaurants, vendor exhibits, games and music. “The intent of RecFest is to provide students, faculty and staff with a fun way to explore the programs and services our department offers while also connecting with both local and national sponsors they may frequent while in Durham,” said McKinnis.
Top Lessons Learned:
- Understanding the purpose and focus of events. “While our welcome week events have had similar aspects over the years, we have learned the focus of them has changed depending on both the incoming class and what our department has to offer,” said McKinnis. “This has allowed us to build a more balanced event that is welcoming, fun and informative during a week that can be very overwhelming for our students, faculty and staff.”
- Tailor promotional materials to reach a variety of audiences. “Tabling can be overwhelming at times for the participant while at events such as RecFest, so we’ve moved to a simpler program guide that hits the high points of the entire department and directs to apps and websites with deeper information,” said McKinnis. “The program guide was also designed to hold a series of inserts that supplement program areas for those who are seeking further details about our programs and services. This has shown to be more sustainable, digestible and driven more focus to key communicating platforms such as our website, Fusion platform and social media.”
Louisiana State University (LSU)
Laurie Braden, Executive Director of University Recreation
Welcome Week Event:
- UREC All Access: UREC hosts a “dive-in movie” at the pool, a climbing competition, fitness demonstrations and competitions, and a three-on-three basketball event. In addition, students can play Archery Tag and listen to multiple DJs throughout the building. They can win hourly raffles provided by vendors for items like iPads, bikes, tents, AirPods, etc. Plus, food is catered and includes healthy options as well as local Louisiana food like jambalaya. Finally, every attendee gets a T-shirt. “The goal is for students to get a different shirt all four years while at LSU,” said Braden. “We change the colors each year, but the design is the same and it is a real hit. This year we did an equity, diversity and inclusion theme, and used the rainbow flag including the trans flag colors.”
Top Lessons Learned:
- Have good food and lots of it.
- Have multiple DJs.
- Make sure the raffle items are high value.
North Carolina State University (NC State)
Ben Strunk, Assistant Director of Sports Programs
Welcome Week Event:
- RecFest: Taking place at Miller Fields, this event is planned by Wellness and Recreation in partnership with dozens of campus partners and community vendors. It features inflatables, free food vendors, games, giveaways and much more.
- Moonlight Howl and Run: It is a 1.6-mile fun run through campus that starts at midnight at the NC State Belltower. It ends at Staff Commons with food, drinks and a live DJ. Students receive free T-shirts and glowsticks to wear during the run.
Top Lessons Learned:
- Safety is key. “It’s important for us to prioritize safety measures such as designated driving lanes for golf carts and EMS protocols, but once [RecFest] begins, it tends to run itself and it’s very difficult to make significant changes to the traffic flow or logistics mid-chaos,” said Strunk.
- Create a positive experience versus solely focusing on promoting programs and services. The reason for this is students are bombarded with ads and promotions during the first few weeks of classes. “We have moved away from printed materials during RecFest as they inevitably end up crumpled all over the field afterward,” said Strunk.
- When planning a race, coordinate with the university’s transportation, police and fire departments as early as possible to determine a suitable route.
- Students want to build community and have unique experiences. With Moonlight Howl and Run, they keep things informal. “The distance is not uniform, and we don’t use timing chips or race bibs,” explained Strunk.
