Groups Take Initiative to Advertise

No matter what you're into, chances are there's an organization for you. But with over 400 campus groups to choose from, many students don't know what's available, and end up feeling overwhelmed before they ever start searching for the perfect out-of-class activity.

Marcellus Parker, corporate chairman of Dance Marathon, a fund-raiser that benefits the N.C. Children's Hospital, says having a presence on campus is key to sparking interest in an organization. Dance Marathon organized a booth during C-TOPS for the first time this year.

"We don't really expect (students) or allow them even to sign up now, but it's pretty much an informal way to tell them about Dance Marathon and to tell them that in the fall more chances or opportunities will come for them to get involved and find out more about it," Parker said.

Charity organizations like Dance Marathon are restricted to the Pit, but other campus groups can get permission from Facilities Services to promote themselves elsewhere.

Organizations submit a written request, which includes information about the date, time and nature of the activity, at least five days in advance. However, during early fall and spring, when most activities occur, organizations are encouraged to submit their requests sooner.

"I think the problem is that we have so many clubs, and the Pit used to accommodate that, but now it's almost like they're overflowing from the Pit out into Polk Place," said Debra Galvin, administrative assistant to the associate vice chancellor of facilities services.

"You can actually gather in Polk Place as an assembly without permission, but if someone has priority by request, then officially (other groups) can't assemble there," Galvin said.

With so many organizations competing for student membership, groups like the Campus Y are challenged to carve a unique niche into the campus community.

"Just by the name, Campus Y, people that are not familiar think it's a pool or a gym, so we always have to overcome that," said Chimi Boyd, assistant director of the Campus Y.

The Campus Y actually sponsors 19 student-led committees that address social issues. Big Buddy, their most popular committee, pairs UNC-CH students with elementary- or middle-school pupils for two hours each week.

"I would say that probably our biggest obstacle is also figuring out the most efficient way (to recruit students)," Boyd said. "We don't have a lot of money, so we can't do a huge cookout in the quad and everyone eat."

And if organizations don't already have a difficult time recruiting students, new campus policies currently under revision prohibit the most common advertising practices -- placing fliers all across the University.

"Basically, you can't just run around campus putting flyers up on fence posts or on buildings because grounds services' direction is to keep the campus litter free," Galvin said. "They will remove these because they are considered litter, especially when they fall on the ground."

Although chalking is discouraged, it's still allowed. "If it's within good taste and good reason, they'll allow that because the logic is that the rain will wash it away," Galvin said.

But most organizations say the regulations haven't hurt them. "I think even before the rules were different, we noticed that fliering was not that effective because there's so many fliers," Boyd said. "I definitely think that cube-painting is a good way to go if you can get a cube."

The cubes, sponsored by the Student Union, are for officially recognized student organizations to publicize on-campus events open to the University community. Cubes cannot be reserved, and events cannot be advertised for more than ten days.

"Sometimes we do have a problem with people coming over and painting over someone else's," said Tammy Lambert, administrative secretary for the Student Union. "You need to follow the rules if you want to use it."

Parker doesn't think that one marketing tactic works better than another.

"I think it sort of goes along with the idea that if people are interested, they're interested, and if they're not, they're not," Parker said. "I think they look at what you have to offer and they try and find exactly what it is they'll be doing and if they want to do it, they'll do it."

Jeffrey Fuchs, director of athletic bands and coordinator of band activities, agrees. In fact, he intentionally makes finding out about the band difficult enough that students have to seek it out.

"The kids who come to our program have committed a great deal of time -- usually they come to us with at least seven years of experience doing this thing, making music," Fuchs said. "They come find us."

But several marketing tactics have proven to be successful, and while Pit-sitting is not as effective as it used to be, due to the quantity of organizations, groups are focusing more on word of mouth and one-on-one contact to recruit members.

"The intangibles are all of our students who go back to their high schools wearing their Marching Tar Heels apparel -- their jackets, their hats, their shirts --