College Events Students Will Attend and Love
Hosting a college event isn't just about throwing parties and having fun. There are many ways you can use student body participation to make the event memorable.
Hosting events for college students can be difficult, for not only staff but student leaders of clubs or other current students as well.
Thankfully millennials are increasingly interested in attending events, and event organizers must take advantage of this trend while they can still get students out of their dorm rooms.
To attract millennial attendees, event organizers should incorporate meaning and purpose into events. For example, consider providing educational sessions or classes focused on topics such as climate change, diversity, and inclusion. Events can also encourage participation by promoting activities like volunteering, donating money, and joining groups. Finally, event planners should provide students with mobile-friendly materials and promote events on social networks.
Incorporate Meaning and Purpose Into Events To Appeal To Modern Students
When planning events, you must understand what motivates millennials. You can do this by incorporating meaning and purpose into your events. For example, you could invite speakers who talk about topics like climate change, diversity, gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights, and immigration. Or you could host workshops where attendees learn skills related to careers in STEM fields.
Provide Mobile-Friendly Content And Promote On Social Media
You can use digital platforms to reach millennials. By posting relevant information on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Reddit, you can increase event attendance.
Create a hashtag that includes keywords related to your event theme. Post videos and photos to highlight your event. Use online forms to collect contact information. Include a link to your website. Encourage people to follow you on social media so they know about upcoming events.
Events that benefit professional life:
Headshots for LinkedIn
Partner with a local photographer to offer free professional headshots on campus for students. Headshot photography is one of those things you never really think about until it’s too late. This is why you are here to help and make your students look their absolute best to prepare for not only jobs but internships as well, benefiting both the upperclassmen and lowerclassmen.
Job Fairs
A lot of students are worried that they won't find work once they graduate from school. You can help students prepare for the future by having them attend local fairs where companies can recruit employees. This is a great way to get students involved in their dream career or started on their career path as early as their freshman year.
Employers can do this either onsite at the fair or online via video chat. Make sure all employers include information like salary ranges, benefits packages, and how long people typically remain employed at each position. Making sure that this is beneficial for the students is the top priority so pick employers that will benefit your students.
Speed Interviews
In the digital age, where everyone is always connected, it seems like there’s never enough time to meet people face to face. Speed interviews are a way to find out about potential opportunities without having to spend hours networking at events or a full-length interview.
These events usually consist of multiple employers setting up interview stations around a central area, around campus.
Invite students that are looking for their first job or a summer internship. Students will bring their resumes and do a series of short interviews with different companies. This allows them to quickly assess what kinds of jobs might interest them and teach students what interviewing is like without feeling the full pressure of a typical 30-minute to an-hour interview.
Alumni Speakers
Alumni speakers are great because they have been exactly where the students have been and can offer words of encouragement and share their success stories.
The best part about alumni speakers is that you can hire them for free. All you have to do is ask. If you don't know where to start looking, here are some tips to help you find the perfect speaker for your next event.
1. Ask around.
Start by asking your peers what they think. You might even consider sending out emails to your classmates and professors asking for recommendations.
2. Look online.
You could also check out sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and CareerBliss. These platforms allow you to search for people based on keywords related to a certain industry.
3. Reach out to former employers and peers.
If you used to work for a certain company or a fellow peer of yours you think would be a good speaker, reach out to someone there to see if they know anyone who might be interested in speaking.
TEDx Speakers
The TEDx program gives university students across the globe the opportunity to host local events called "TEDx Talks," where they present their research and ideas to an audience of peers and experts. These talks are recorded and uploaded online, allowing anyone around the world to view them free of charge. Students often use the platform to educate others about topics ranging from science to politics to social justice.
This is a great opportunity for students to show employees their knowledge and skills. Other than job opportunities it allows students to practice and make them more comfortable with speaking in front of people and will break them out of their shells, even just a little bit.
After Graduation Prep
Students are stressed about what their future holds. They want to know how to live independently, find a job, properly pay bills, etc. However, most colleges don't offer classes on those topics.
Students often don't know how to prepare themselves for life after graduation. They're worried about finding a job, getting into grad school, and figuring out where they want to live. But there's one thing they probably haven't thought about: what they'll do once they graduate.
Some people feel lost when they enter adulthood, unsure of what to do next. Others find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. And some just aren't sure what they really want.
Hosting sessions where you can point students in the right direction for help or create classes to help them to learn valuable life skills will be very popular with students as well as beneficial for helping them navigate life.
1. "The Career Development Course": This course helps students develop career goals and plan for the future.
2. "Finding Your Dream Job": Learn how to identify your dream job and make it happen.
3. "Cooking 101": Get tips on preparing healthy meals on your own.
4. "How To Live With Mom & Dad...Again": Find out how to survive with roommates, who aren't your friends but your family.
5. "Life After Graduation": Discover ways to navigate post-graduation life.
Events that do not focus on professional life:
Although we talked about millennials being attracted to a purpose and to help make a change they also do like to cool down and relax too with some fun activities. These next events are a mix of still providing purpose but also allowing students to relax and enjoy themselves. You will notice these events are going to be less formal and more closely related to a pop-up store where students can join if they are walking past.
Pet Therapy
The benefits of pet therapy are numerous. Pets provide unconditional love, companionship, and comfort. They also offer a sense of calmness and relaxation, especially during stressful times. Set up a spot at the entrance of a library or dorm to have furry friends greet students.
You could partner with a local animal welfare organization to bring pet therapy into schools. These organizations often work closely with school counselors and teachers, offering free programs that benefit both kids and animals.
Blood Donation
College students are often busy with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and social lives. But there’s one group of people who don’t have much free time: patients waiting for organ transplants. In fact, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), about 18,000 Americans are currently awaiting organs. And while most of us know how important organ donation is, many aren’t aware that donating blood is just as helpful.
According to UNOS, nearly 60 percent of waitlist deaths occur because donors did not donate enough blood during their lifetime. This makes donating blood even more vital to saving lives.
Having a blood drive is appealing to students because it allows them to easily help and make a change, without having to commit a lot of time.
Food Trucks
Hosting food trucks on campus for special events, once a month, or even during a new season to offer new choices to students on campus is a great idea to mix things up. Sometimes dining halls and local restaurants can get repetitive, this gives students a choice of something new!
To make it more beneficial for students, allow for their meal cards to be able to be swiped to purchase food at the food truck. Many students do not have disposable income to eat outside of dining halls or weekly groceries.
Volunteer Week
Volunteering has become a common practice across the globe. In fact, over 2 million volunteers contribute their time every day. The benefits of volunteering include personal growth, social interaction, career development, and even financial rewards.
Asking around local businesses and community centers around your college campus is an easy way to find places to volunteer at.
Put together a list of places students can sign up to go that week along with time and dates. Allow them to sign up when and where they would like to go and volunteer. This allows students to be able to work around their school schedule.
Ideas for student organizations running an event
As a student, you know what is popular around campus and what your peers like so creating ideas for events is fairly simple. What is hard is creating one that will be able to compete with everything else that is going on around campus. You need to make it appealing and on-trend as well as simple enough that students do not steer away because of too much commitment and time
Intramural Sporting Events
College sporting events are always popular. Many love to come to watch and others would like to even participate. Create an intramural game or flag football or kickball for sports lovers to get more involved and others to come to watch.
Create it as a more relaxed version of a college sporting event where school groups, fraternities/sororities, or friend groups can sign up and participate. This gives opportunities for students to stay moving and get a workout in as well as mingle with fellow students.
Campus Tour
Thinking back to when you first arrived on campus as a freshman there was a lot of uncertainty when figuring out your surroundings. Creating a week where you do walking tours around different areas on campus as well as the best routes to take to class, the dining halls, the library, the student center, or dorms.
Although it seems very small to you it can give incoming students on campus the confidence they need on the first day of classes. This is also a great opportunity to meet new students and promote your club or group you are a part of on campus.
Cookouts
Cookouts are a great event because they are easy to host and plan, and they are also easy for guests to attend. They do not have to do any prior planning before attending, it is less of a commitment for students.
There are many cookouts during tailgates or sporting events, to set yourself apart do a morning cookout with breakfast food for students to stop by on their way to class and fuel up for the day. To really get student engagement, create coffee stations for students to make their morning coffee!
Festival
This requires more planning but is worth it in the end. Create a festival based on the current season, for example, a winter or fall festival. Have your activities your offer at the festival related to the season. The ideas are endless and you can really customize your festival to include any activities you would like.
From activities like trivia night to karaoke night and providing delicious food! Make your fully customizable festival experience for students one they will not forget!
Book Swap
The purpose of a book swap is to help students find a sense of community. This can be hosted at the campus bookstore, campus coffee shop, or any building around campus.
Set up a time and place, and notify students to bring as many books as they would like to swap with other students. This is a great way for students to meet others with the same interests and create new friends! Another plus is being able to share books without purchasing any new ones, college students are on a budget and typically do not have much disposable income.
Who knows this book swap can even lead to a book club started by the students who attended!
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