Recap Your Events!
One of the greatest mistakes you can make as a leader is to overlook the documentation of your club’s accomplishments. During the course of the year, a great deal of energy goes into programming events, dealing with logistics, and finding ways to publicize the event. Once an event takes place, people often let out a sigh of relief and move on to the next event. Don’t let this happen to you. Recap every single event you hold, and do it in a stylish and neat manner.
The above are two pages from a packet of event recaps that we made at Columbia in 2004 (click to view in full size). There are a few key elements you should include when recapping an event: name of event, time, date, location, number of people in attendance, and purpose of the event.
(continued after the jump - learn how photos make all the difference!)
With this information, you can write a brief paragraph about the event for your records. What makes the difference are the photos. Be sure to take a good number of photos at every event. We had at least two people assigned to take photos and required a minimum of 50 total photos for each event. You’ll find that even out of hundreds of pictures, only a handful will ever be good enough to use. Select photos that give you a good sense of the event - the props and equipment used, board members in action, the participants having a good time, etc. Don’t just go for posed smiley-face shots - these are predictable and boring. Show the location, the foods, the energy - and don’t be afraid to get up close for your photos.
Once you have selected photos that strongly represent the event, lay them out on a page with the recap text and establish a consistent format. Follow this format for subsequent events. Keep an electronic book or post it on your website. You’ll be surprised by how useful recapping your event will be. Not only will it be evidence of your strong leadership for future board members - it will also be useful tools in promoting the club to incoming freshmen the next year. Also, in case your school hands out awards for student groups, it might be handy to have a book of events on hand to show any judging panel. Keep your recaps clean and simple - but make sure that each recap has the reader wishing he or she had been there or could be there again.
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