The Power of Unique Experiences while Booking Entertainment for Your College’s Welcome Week Event
An underrated aspect of booking entertainment for your college welcome week is offering experiences that feel unique and different. Students are surrounded by the expected during welcome week: meet-and-greets, information sessions, campus tours, and traditional activities. The experiences that really stand out are the ones that feel unexpected, creative, and unlike anything else happening on campus.
Unique entertainment can capture students’ attention, spark curiosity, and give them a reason to get involved. More importantly, it can create those memorable moments students talk about long after welcome week is over.
At Neon Entertainment, we have decades of experience creating memorable experiences for orientations, welcome weeks, college events, and more. Today, we’re sharing some of our secrets for building a welcome week filled with unique experiences students will want to be part of and remember for years to come.
Make it Special
When we are talking about unique experiences, we are talking about an event that students can’t easily accomplish on their own. Something that will draw eyeballs and make college students go “oh wow.” The sheer experience of seeing a rare event, such as a Portable Roller Rink or a Mobile Rage Room, will bring forth excitement and get students talking and participating in your campus events.
Now, there is nothing wrong with a down-to-earth, relaxing DIY Art Event; students LOVE those, but you don’t want your campus to be known ONLY for doing small-scale, intimate events. You want people to think of your campus events as big, ambitious, and most of all, fun.
Shatter Expectations
Oftentimes, new students will have no idea what to expect from the college experience. This can be especially true for commuters or students who are working nearly full-time while attending classes. Many of them are expecting papers, books, lectures, and a lack of sleep. Welcome Week is the perfect opportunity to show these new students that college isn’t simply education; it’s community, spirit, and it can be fun too.
Break up the routine
At a certain point during a semester, students can easily fall into a mundane routine: go to class, get schoolwork done, get something to eat, go to bed, and get ready for the same routine tomorrow. A specialty event like a Live Game Show will stop that routine right in its tracks and get eyeballs looking.
You want your event to break this routine before it’s ever in place. Don’t give your students the impression that your campus is boring and that they are only here to learn; they are here to grow. Having events that look special, feel uncommon, and are unique can help stop students from developing these routines or break up the routines that returning students are expecting.
Give your Students Something to Talk About
When your events are special, they give students something to talk about (and look forward to!) During the event, students will be telling eachother about the Mobile Axe-Throwing experience that is going on outside the union. Groups of friends will plan to go to the event together, or students who don’t know eachother will get the opportunity to engage with eachother in unique ways.
A story to share (on social media)
After the event is over, students will chat about how much fun it was and what a unique experience they had on your campus. This will be done in person, as well as on social media. You want your event to reach as many students as possible; even if they don’t participate in a specific experience, you still want them to feel the energy of Welcome Week. Unique experiences give students a story to share with eachother and get students communicating that energy during Welcome Week and beyond.
Shows your new students that you care
Welcome Week is likely the most important event for new students. This is your opportunity to tell students why they should engage with the campus community for the duration of their education and not become a student who shows up only to attend classes. Uniqueness is a great way to do that.
For all the reasons we discussed above, having a special event does show students that you are willing to put the effort into your community, which in turn inspires them to put effort into the community. Having a special and unique event students can participate in makes them feel special and unique.
Unique Event Experiences
The power of uniqueness is great when booking entertainment, but that doesn’t mean that traditional events don’t have their place. DIY Events, Make & Takes, and other forms of entertainment make for great additions to a Welcome Weeks entertainment roster, or their own separate attractions!
Contact us if you are interested in bringing a unique experience such as a Splatter Room, a Blacklight Event, or More to your next event! Alternatively, if you are looking to bring Live Entertainment, Comedians, Magicians, Musicians, or anything else to your event, we can help! At Neon Entertainment, we have an immense amount of experience providing entertainment for college and corporate events, so if you or someone you know wants to book something for their next event, we’d love to have a conversation.
