As college event planners, we sometimes struggle to figure out what will resonate with and engage students. It can seem as if college students are more distant and unengaged than ever. It can even feel like a challenge to get students socializing with eachother.
For all these reasons and more, students need interactive entertainment on their campus now more than ever.
What is Interactive Entertainment?
Interactive entertainment is entertainment that engages college students outside of the norm. Something that breaks the everyday routine and really helps students out of their comfort zone for a few hours of fun and interactivity. Some examples of interactive entertainment that we’ve found help to accomplish this on campuses around the country include: Game Shows, Laser Tag, & Roller Rinks, but there are plenty of great ways to help students interact and connect.
Why Interactive Entertainment is Essential for a College’s Community
On top of being extremely fun and engaging for students, interactive entertainment can benefit your campus’s community in many different ways. These include:
- Making Students Feel Part of a Community
- Alloing Students to Connect with Eachother
- Improving retention and Student Satisfaction
- Supporting Inclusivity and Accessibility
- Offering Entertainment Alternatives
Interactive Entertainment makes Students Feel part of a Community
Many students go through college and only participate in the bare minimum. They show up to classes, grab a meal, and then they spend the rest of their time unengaged with the campus community as a whole.
As Directors of engagement and activities on campus, it’s our responsibility to engage these students in something of value to them. Providing fun events to engage students outside of class time allows students to become part of the campus community.
Interactive Entertainment has Students Connect in the Real World
Too often are students and people in general are more concerned with what’s happening on social media or on their phones than what is right in front of them. It’s almost as if the digital avatar reality is more important than our physical world nowadays. Interactive entertainment completely shatters that and brings students into the here and now.
At an interactive college event, students will find themselves talking and engaging with people they may never have spoken to before. You’ll find that students have new friendships and bonds with each other after any interactive activity. The type of connection depends on the event; a Portable Escape Room may give students more opportunities to work together and communicate strategically than a more passive DIY program. There are so many different types of interactive events that can work. Even a Rage Room can foster relationships with strangers. Regardless of the activity, the act of doing something fun with someone brings them together in a way that can’t be easily replicated. Neon can help bring this experience to your campus.
Interactive College Events make Students Have a better College Experience
Without interactive entertainment, a student’s college life can feel like it’s missing something. They have their classes, their work, their friends, but nothing that is truly special to the college experience. College events bring that special something to a college experience.
Whether it’s a memorable orientation or a fun spring week, having interactive entertainment at a college makes the effort and money a student is putting into their education worth it. An engaged student is more likely to stay enrolled and feel satisfied with their college experience. A disengaged student can decide to quietly quit college for no other reason than it’s not satisfying to them. This is not to say that having great entertainment will cause all students to stay enrolled in your college, but it does elevate the college experience overall and can convince students who are on the fence to engage and apply themselves.
Interactive Entertainment is Inclusive and Accessible
Well-designed and organized college entertainment can reach those who otherwise don’t have much opportunity to participate in campus events. These may include commuters who only show up for class and then leave, introverts, and students who may be uninterested or can’t participate in traditional clubs or sports. Interactive entertainment gives these students tools they can use to participate in the college community that they might otherwise lack. College events can be enjoyed by all students regardless of their prior participation in the campus community.
College Events are a Safe, Healthy, and Wholesome Form of Entertainment
The unfortunate truth is that the primary sources of entertainment in a college lifestyle are often unsafe or, at the very least, damaging to the academic lifestyle. College events can offer students safe and healthy ways to have fun and let off the stress of the academic year.
Interactive Entertainment is Fun
In addition to every other benefit a campus gets by providing interactive college events to its students, there is, of course, the benefit of just having a fun event at your college! Students will show up to your fun college event just to have fun, and it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.
If you want to bring these types of programs to your college campus, Contact Us. We specialize in bringing high-quality college events, entertainers, and experiences to campuses all over the country, and we would be happy to help you bring interactive entertainment to your college.
