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  #1  
Old 04-08-2010, 11:35 PM
TheLambdaChiGuy TheLambdaChiGuy is offline
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Any good Rush Event ideas?

Hey guys. So I'm an associate of Lambda Chi Alpha, and I just got nominated for our High Delta office, which is our Rush Chair. Normally, Juniors have held this office, and as a Freshman this year, and an associate as well, this is a big honor.

Next week we give our speeches about why we should be elected. Within my speech, I want to list some ideas of Rush Events and ideas to promote recruitment to give the guys a good idea of what they could expect from me.

So, I was wondering if you guys wouldn't mind taking a look at my ideas and telling me what you think, as well as perhaps sharing some ideas that went over really well for you.

First, a little info about my University. We are rather small, and only have a Freshman class of about 800-900 students a year. Break that in half, and you're down to about 450 guys. Now, we are the largest fraternity on campus, with 24 members. Yeah. Small. We are also considered a commuter campus. Also, there are no Greek houses.
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So here's my ideas:

So I need to categorize my week into different events that will cover the basics that will attract guys. Here are the main points that I want to push-

Brotherhood, Tradition, Girls, Fun, Outgoing atmosphere, Maturity, Craziness.

Here's some event ideas:

Meet The Brothers Bag Toss- All brothers and prospects will meet at a common area on campus where we will have food and bag toss games set up. I will make it every brother's job to try their best to talk to every prospect to make them feel welcome. Normally, we hold a meeting and each brother introduces them self, but I think a more casual and fun atmosphere will make people feel more comfortable and want to come back.

Day At The Beach Foam Party- We will rent a foam machine that will fill an unfinished basement with 3 feet of foam/bubbles. We will invite our sister sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma, to attend as well. Bathing suits required. Music, Dancing, and Beach Balls. I feel showing ourselves in a social atmosphere will be enticing for prospects, and who can turn down girls in bikini's?

Party Bus To Buffalo Wild Wings- So we have a Buffalo Wild Wings near us, and for those who dont know, it's like a franchise restaurant that excels at chicken. We will rent a school bus to drive us out there together. Prospect's meals will be free, and Brother's meals will be half-price. Free food would definitely bring people out, and half-price for brothers would ensure a good fraternity turn out.

Car Bash- We will have a junkyard donate a car to us. We will rent out a large grassy area on campus. For $1-$5, you get 1 swing at the car using either a baseball bat, sledge hammer, or axe. Proceeds could go to some charity or something.

Scavenger Hunt- An old tradition. Entire fraternity/prospects split into 2 groups and we go around campus doing a list of stupid things on camera. I cant really go into detail. Point is, it's really fun, and really binds the group together.
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So here's my ideas:
I'll add to the event ideas when I remember them all. Here's some promotion ideas-

I plan on getting some shirts made to pass out to girls.

One might say "If I was a guy, I would rush Lambda Chi."

Another might say "Property of Lambda Chi Alpha" on the front, and on the back it would say "If found, please return to a ΛΧΑ brother."

Then, I am going to require that the brothers wear letters every day during Rush week.
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  #2  
Old 04-08-2010, 11:43 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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I don't think any girl in this day and age wants to wear a shirt that says "property of" - especially if they're just random girls with no connection to the brothers.
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  #3  
Old 04-09-2010, 12:11 AM
ASTalumna06 ASTalumna06 is offline
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Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
I don't think any girl in this day and age wants to wear a shirt that says "property of" - especially if they're just random girls with no connection to the brothers.
Unless, of course, she's THAT GIRL. THAT GIRL never seems to care what she wears... or doesn't wear, in public.

And that's not exactly the best way to get your name "out there"
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  #4  
Old 04-09-2010, 11:52 AM
TheLambdaChiGuy TheLambdaChiGuy is offline
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Originally Posted by ASTalumna06 View Post
Unless, of course, she's THAT GIRL. THAT GIRL never seems to care what she wears... or doesn't wear, in public.

And that's not exactly the best way to get your name "out there"
Well, we actually had some AST's here (not calling them out, just thought it was a funny coincidence) who wore some shirts a couple years ago that said "Want my attention? Then Rush ΛΧΑ." I thought those were pretty funny, and that's what gave me the idea. Sure, not exactly the same context, but that's the kind of idea I'm going for. Just some ideas to get our name out there and around the new students.

So I think our University has had the idea there. As for the Property shirts, I didn't mean to use it to degrade anyone. I just meant for our girlfriends, and some girls from our sister sorority. We've worn their letters to help them promote before. I was just thinking of a more catchy way of doing so.
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Old 04-09-2010, 12:29 PM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Originally Posted by TheLambdaChiGuy View Post
Well, we actually had some AST's here (not calling them out, just thought it was a funny coincidence) who wore some shirts a couple years ago that said "Want my attention? Then Rush ΛΧΑ." I thought those were pretty funny, and that's what gave me the idea. Sure, not exactly the same context, but that's the kind of idea I'm going for. Just some ideas to get our name out there and around the new students.

So I think our University has had the idea there. As for the Property shirts, I didn't mean to use it to degrade anyone. I just meant for our girlfriends, and some girls from our sister sorority. We've worn their letters to help them promote before. I was just thinking of a more catchy way of doing so.
I hate to break this to you, but you do NOT have a sister sorority. You may be close with another sorority on your campus, but it is not an official brother/sister relationship, and promoting the fiction that it is could have consequences for both of your groups.
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  #6  
Old 04-09-2010, 01:18 PM
TheLambdaChiGuy TheLambdaChiGuy is offline
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Originally Posted by 33girl View Post
I hate to break this to you, but you do NOT have a sister sorority. You may be close with another sorority on your campus, but it is not an official brother/sister relationship, and promoting the fiction that it is could have consequences for both of your groups.
Alright, sorry about that. Despite the legal terms for it, they are the sorority that we always build floats with, host our white rose formal with, etc. I don't know. We both just do most of our functions with them. Point is, we normally work together for our rush events, and when girls ask us guys for a sorority suggestion, we usually tell them to try everyone out, but we do point them in the direction of them first. They do the same for us. So I'm sure they'd be fine with helping us promote ourselves.

But I wanted to hear any ideas for rush events/party themes that went over well with making new members.
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  #7  
Old 04-12-2010, 01:55 AM
ScarletBlueGold ScarletBlueGold is offline
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Here are a few things that some things my chapter has come up with.

1. Hookah Night: my national office and my Greek Life Office really hate the fact that we do this event. I will tell you that it turns off anyone who doesn't smoke, but we usually get a strong showing of people who don't come to any of our other events. We find a smaller place that can let us rent the whole thing for a week-night, and we usually bring some chips/salsa and LOTS OF BOTTLED WATER. People get so thirsty so fast. Make sure you have some.

2. Whirly-Ball: This is a thing that is pretty much local to where I am from. You play lacrosse in bumper-cars, it's a lot of fun. If you don't have it where you guys are at, look for something that is local and fun. A lot of guys who are not from the area are excited to attend something they can tell their friends back home about.

3. Bonfire: It's cheap, it's fun, and it's pretty easy. Get a couple of your guys who play guitar to bring them. This is a great opportunity to do some sort of ice-breaker that will help you get to know your PNMs better.

4. Service Event: I hope you don't mind me "bashing" your philanthropy event idea, but it sounds kind of lame. I would recommend something where people don't have to spend any money, and that is a little more active. We probably get the largest number of excellent potentials from this event than we do any other. Last year we did this service project called "kayak power" where we cleaned up a lake in kayaks. It was a TON of fun. We called the event "Service and Steak", first we did our service project, and then we grilled steaks for lunch. (You can buy steaks wholesale at a meat distributor as long as you pick it up yourself and get some amazing prices. We did this event for $150 total.)

5. Dodgeball: This event was actually so successful that we started doing it regularly every Tuesday. It's really easy to put together, it's cheap, and you get good time on the side-lines to talk to potentials. I would recommend scheduling some kind of informal event afterwards and switching the teams throughout the event so that you get a chance to meet the most people.

Those are usually the best our chapter does as far as events goes, but I do have a few more suggestions.

1. STOP Buffalo Wild Wings Night: First of all, I am sure you guys are dropping a grip on this event. Not only are you renting a bus (national policy?), but you are buying a ton of food for people. Take the money you would have spent for this event and create a small fund for brothers to take PNMs out to lunch/dinner/coffee with. You will be AMAZED at how well this works. Take all of those names/phone numbers/emails you have gathered from tabling and invite those guys out for lunch/dinner/coffee. Take one extra brother with you (remember the +1 rule) and just talk to him about joining. You will have a MUCH higher success rate trust me (I don't know your campus at all, but I can only guess that 80% of the guys who go to your BWW event end up not joining?)

We got the idea because FIJI colonized at our school. At a school with a population right about the same as yours, they managed to get 32 guys in a single semester while only holding ONE event the whole time. They got most of them by offering free food, but instead of having it at a big event, they just invited the people that they got from referrals. If you are thinking, "Isn't it intimidating inviting a guy we don't know very well to have lunch with two guys he might know even less?". Oddly enough, no. Most of the guys are pretty flattered and happy to feel "singled out" by a couple of guys in a Fraternity. To quote one of the guys we recruited this way, "Yeah, it was a little intimidating, but not nearly as intimidating as being invited out to eat with 50 guys I didn't know".

2. Scavenger Hunt?: I have NO idea how you guys are able to do this, but scavenger hunts are, by far, considered to be hallowed ground that no Greek is allowed to walk on. I know of no Fraternity that is allowed to do this by their national office. Secondly, doesn't this limit the number of guys that get to meet the brothers? I would try something where you get to interact as an entire group. We used to do a Capture the Flag night for our recruitment. We nixed it because of risk management issues, and because we knew there were better events that didn't spread our potential member pool out so much.

The single most valuable piece of advice I can give you would be this: Never forget that these events do very little to "recruit" people. Maybe you could get one or two randoms from having a fun event you try to get as many strangers out to as possible. Dorm-storming, funny t-shirts, and BIG events are fun and all, but they really don't get you as many people as a single brother going out and meeting a guy, making him his friend, introducing him to his friends, talking to him about joining the Fraternity, and then asking him to join.
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Last edited by ScarletBlueGold; 04-12-2010 at 01:58 AM.
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  #8  
Old 04-12-2010, 09:42 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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Originally Posted by ScarletBlueGold View Post
1. STOP Buffalo Wild Wings Night: First of all, I am sure you guys are dropping a grip on this event. Not only are you renting a bus (national policy?), but you are buying a ton of food for people. Take the money you would have spent for this event and create a small fund for brothers to take PNMs out to lunch/dinner/coffee with. You will be AMAZED at how well this works. Take all of those names/phone numbers/emails you have gathered from tabling and invite those guys out for lunch/dinner/coffee. Take one extra brother with you (remember the +1 rule) and just talk to him about joining. You will have a MUCH higher success rate trust me (I don't know your campus at all, but I can only guess that 80% of the guys who go to your BWW event end up not joining?)
Agreed, and not only that...chains are lame. I mean it might be different there, but BWW around here is where 40 yr old dudes who are completely p-whipped go to feel like they're "letting loose." If you must have a restaurant event, make it with someplace local. (This gets you on the good side of the locals too, and that's never a bad thing.)

SBG - I don't think they've actually held this event yet, those are just his ideas.
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Old 04-12-2010, 10:33 AM
ree-Xi ree-Xi is offline
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The single most valuable piece of advice I can give you would be this: Never forget that these events do very little to "recruit" people. Maybe you could get one or two randoms from having a fun event you try to get as many strangers out to as possible. Dorm-storming, funny t-shirts, and BIG events are fun and all, but they really don't get you as many people as a single brother going out and meeting a guy, making him his friend, introducing him to his friends, talking to him about joining the Fraternity, and then asking him to join.
I'm not a guy, but I think that this advice applies to groups of both genders. The process is about making connections.

SBG - one question about Hookah Bars - what about the people who don't smoke or can't be around it? What would you tell a PNM who maybe had asthma or was an athlete who couldn't attend, and was afraid of missing a chance to meet brothers?
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Old 04-22-2010, 12:52 AM
Midwest Midwest is offline
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Anyone have more ideas?
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  #11  
Old 04-22-2010, 01:15 AM
33girl 33girl is offline
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SBG - one question about Hookah Bars - what about the people who don't smoke or can't be around it? What would you tell a PNM who maybe had asthma or was an athlete who couldn't attend, and was afraid of missing a chance to meet brothers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScarletBlueGold View Post
1. Hookah Night: my national office and my Greek Life Office really hate the fact that we do this event. I will tell you that it turns off anyone who doesn't smoke, but we usually get a strong showing of people who don't come to any of our other events.
I'm guessing it pulls in a lot of the "I would never join a fraternity, that's so cheesy" type dudes, and then once they see they're wrong, they're more likely to come to other events. Extremely good marketing strategy. The rest of the rushees (who are comfy with their cheesy side, LOL) are already coming to the dodgeball etc. They have multiple events so it's not a question of one and done.
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Old 04-27-2010, 03:42 AM
ScarletBlueGold ScarletBlueGold is offline
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Originally Posted by ree-Xi View Post
I'm not a guy, but I think that this advice applies to groups of both genders. The process is about making connections.

SBG - one question about Hookah Bars - what about the people who don't smoke or can't be around it? What would you tell a PNM who maybe had asthma or was an athlete who couldn't attend, and was afraid of missing a chance to meet brothers?
We try not to sweat too much about it. I think that the important thing to realize is that EVERY potential doesn't need to attend EVERY event. It bothers me so much whenever struggling fraternities make ridiculous rules under the guise of being "selective" that just inhibits their own recruitment.

If a PNM absolutely wanted to spend some time with you, encourage them to have a small lunch or something. Trust me, the special attention will be well worth the time lost at the event.
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Old 04-28-2010, 09:11 PM
JohnnyCash JohnnyCash is offline
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Why do chapters try to reinvent the wheel? If you have an event that's successful and works, why would you try to come up with something new?

I feel like a lot of times chapters (that are usually small or trying to rebuild) try to come up with something new and innovative just for the sake of being different.

Just do what has worked in the past and improve upon it. Nowadays nothing is "original" or new. So keep doing what works for your chapter, just do it better.
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Old 07-30-2010, 05:36 PM
excelblue excelblue is offline
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Remember that events, by themselves, do not get people to join. They only create opportunities for you to meet those who come to the event. Of those who do come to a particular event, they are interested in some aspect of that event.

Think about who you want to attract and how you plan to meet them. Your events should be focused on that. Eg. Buffalo Wild Wings night attracts people who like free food, which is almost everybody, but especially the ones that like to take advantage of others. Foam Party attracts mostly the immature and irresponsible crowd; otherwise, why go to such a crazy party with people you don't know? Bag games are a good idea though.

And, if your real goal is to recruit some people who are down to have a few beers with you, hang out, and enjoy strippers, that's what your events have to incorporate.
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