Last updated: 4th October, 2023. We plan to update this page further in the coming months.
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Note: If you are an OSP participant, please refer to your OSP guide, as there you'll find more advice specifically for your group. If you are not an OSP participant but need further material, please reach out to unigroups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org
Most universities have a yearly activities fair or freshers' fair where new students go to learn about what extracurricular activities they can get involved with at their uni. We think these fairs are a particularly important place to promote your EA group.
For these reasons, we think you should focus on making your activities fair go really well.
We think it makes sense to invest a good chunk of your resources in the first semester towards the fair, since it is so important compared to other events & programs.
One big failure mode for the activities fair is not being able to have a stall there! Make sure you find out well in advance (during the summer, the earlier you can find out the better) how spots are secured. Some steps you might want to take: (i) find out who organises the fair and contact them; (ii) find out when signups open; (iii) find out what is required for signups; (iv) on the same day signups open, register your stall (sometimes places run out!). If they do run out/you can’t register, we recommend you go to the club fair and chat to people who may be interested in EA; e.g., those who are running stalls for societies that might be EA-related.
The physical appearance of your stall can make a big impression!
How exactly you want to present your group should be determined a lot by your sense of the norms & culture at your university, but we think it might be good to appear: (i) professional; (ii) well-put-together & tidy; (iii) have a clear brand identity & unity of design; (iv) happy & excited to be there (potentially the most important). This usually means having a stall that is clean & not overly cluttered. Get a nice tablecloth in a matching colour, and high-quality banners and/or posters. You'll need to think of a call to action for people who stop at your stall (see below); we recommend getting people’s emails. Preparing your stall also means making sure you know who will man the stall and when. Make a schedule for your group leaders & communicate clearly with them about where they need to be & when; we think that the fair is extremely important so it’s worth investing your strongest organisers time on this.
You might want to bring the following items. Check the applying for funding for you and your group and books and roll-up banners for information on how to get the items below!