In 2007 I created the L'Chaim Gala, an evening of dinner, dancing, and reflection on the previous year. It was an attempt to create a community tradition as a senior send-off as well as an opportunity to recognize student leaders who had contributed their time and hard work. At the end of each class year Hillel conducts a survey to assess student interest in program offerings and measure students' feeling of 'community.' Analysis of the results told us that students demanded fewer programs at higher quality. Assessing further, we determined that the best way to achieve high quality programs was to develop staff run initiatives supplemented by student participation. We devised a two tier method of programming. As a staff, we enabled and empowered students to creatively and actively coordinate their programmatic opportunities for the community while for our bigger publicity events that would specifically develop our Hillel brand would be headed by us.
To create publicity and buzz about the event we took on five modes of advertising: email, Facebook, word of mouth, tabling, and fliers. I established a committee of students to oversee the advertising, taking into account appropriate times and locations. In addition, although there was no cost for the event, we simulated demand by encouraging students to RSVP and reserve a ticket to the event.
This is the most recent flier from the second annual L'Chaim Gala. The intention of the flier was to create a visually appealing advertisement that could compete with other similar events on campus such as fraternity parties, lectures, and movie screenings. Visually, the image and bright colors are attractive and interesting while the dancing silhouettes and instruments draw the eye to the "Featuring TGIFunk," one of the most well-known and well-liked student bands on campus. You can see the consistency of the flier in relation to the previous year's which was intentional to begin to create a brand for the L'Chaim Gala, both in the mind and the eye. Students expressed to me that they noticed that carryover in idea and it helped them to recall their experiences at the event the year before. Below is the flier from the First Annual L'Chaim Gala in 2007. In creating the flier I focused on providing the highlights of evening, positioning those most attractive to students (Dinner, Live Music, and Dancing) in the middle where the lines of the rainbows draw the eye, while keeping those interesting but secondary most in the periphery (Senior and Leadership Recognition Ceremony).
Outcomes: In 2008, attendance at the L'Chaim Gala increased by over 25 attendees from 2007, partially as a result of the creation of the L'Chaim Gala brand. Student excitement for the event began to bubble two months before it began with students initiating conversations with me to develop the planning committee. Additionally, Hillel has committed to the L'Chaim Gala for the foreseeable future by mentioning it as one of three Signature Events that Hillel will provide for the campus community each year. The other two, a student-faculty dinner and Jewish culture week, were also both organized and executed for the first time in 2007-2008 with me as a the leader for both initiatives.
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