Recruiting at a fair
From AFSWiki
Having an AFS booth or table at a fair can be a great way to find host families, to remind the community of the exciting opportunities provided by AFS, and plant the seeds of interest in younger children.
Tips for success
- Your Regional Service Center may be able to provide a display, or you can make your own. Fair organizers often provide a table for every organization that's present, but you'll get more attention if your table stands out a bit. Almost anything is more attractive than a bare-naked table; even a colorful tablecloth goes a long way to making your display more inviting. Ideally, you'd also have something at the table that will make people stop and think about it for a while. Examples:
- Photos of AFS events
- Trivia questions with answers available nearby
- Objects from foreign cultures with questions about what they're used for
- Food or candy, especially if it's international or interesting
- A globe
- Handouts of AFS marketing literature
- If you have any say about where the booth is located, find a location nearest to where people will be milling about, for example to get food. Avoid areas where no one will go, or where people will be traveling quickly and not interested in slowing down (e.g., next to the toilets :-)
- Staffing the booth This is a great opportunity for new volunteers who have recently returned from an AFS experience or recently hosted an AFS student. Having two people around makes the job more fun, too.
- Have all interested students or host families write their contact information down on a lead sheet. These are the “leads” that you will follow up with later.
- Step out from behind the table and strike up a conversation with anyone who even slows down.
- A nice touch is to wear an AFS t-shirt or an AFS pin.
- The San Diego team, had a booth at the Fallbrook Avocado Festival in 2004 and 2005.
If it seems like a waste of time and your booth has not resulted in anyone signing up to host or go abroad with AFS, consider that it takes time for people to decide on something as important as an AFS experience, so one exposure is unlikely to result in a decision. However, every time people get reminded of AFS, it helps our programs stay at the top of their mind. It's also possible, of course, that it is a waste of time -- don't hesitate to be strategic about how we spend valuable volunteer hours!
