Scanning In: How New Students Navigated Club Fair

By Sathvika Chadalawada ’29

On September 23, last Wednesday, Milton Academy held its annual club fair. The event, intended to help new students—specifically the class of 2030—become familiar with the school’s clubs, took place in a fast-paced atmosphere in the ACC rink, with student clubs using Club Hub and QR codes to enroll new or interested members.

To gauge how the event landed on the ground, a group of Class IV freshmen, including but not limited to Amara Auguste’30, Francesca Zarletti ’30, Jalila Mukhtar ’30, Caroline Burgess ’30, Emily He’30, and Kavya Patel ’30, shared their feedback on the overall event. For many new students, the highlight of the fair was the variety of clubs on offer, a significant change when compared with the student organizations they had known in middle school. At their previous schools, student groups were mostly restricted to general subjects or simple affinity-based groups.

Thanks to ClubHub’s comprehensive directory, new students easily explored the variety of communities the school offers, including the Caribbean Student Association, the South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African Society (SAMENA), the Investment Club, the Future Health Professionals group, and Yoga. Attendance at the discovery fair clearly led to greater engagement: although many freshmen initially intended to join one or two clubs, many left having signed up for four to eight.

Even though the students were very enthusiastic about attending, it was hard to get to the ACC Rink due to the large number of people, particularly in the main aisles. Some of the freshman students said that they had accidentally knocked into other people when trying to get to the most popular club tables. The way the tables were arranged made it unclear where the club displays ended. This absence of clearly defined boundaries also made it difficult to spot the correct QR codes and food prizes. A number of students offered suggestions as to how the fair next year could run more smoothly. These included spreading the tables over the entire rink, making use of the empty tables close to the edges, or dividing the fair into two time slots in order to deal with the crowd.

Apart from the physical arrangements, the technical execution of digital sign-ups with Club Hub and QR codes produced mixed results due to dependence on internet stability and individual table setups. High demand on cellular and Wi-Fi networks during the event triggered considerable delays. After the registration page loaded, most students completed the process within 10 to 25 seconds. However, small QR codes laid flat on tabletops made it difficult for some students to scan the codes over standing crowds. Although the migration to a digital platform like Club Hub was largely effective overall, students still noted that paper sign-up sheets remained the backup for students with device battery issues or unreliable Wi-Fi. Based on feedback, a few adjustments that would improve the sign-up efficiency include ensuring all students have downloaded and familiarized themselves with Club Hub; having club leaders elevate and enlarge their QR codes; and keeping a backup paper sign-up sheet at each table.

Despite chaos due to the crowded physical arrangement and digital sign-ups, Club Hub proved effective in its functionality after the physical fair wrapped up. Utilizing the search bar feature, students leaving the crowded venue could use Club Hub to look up and join organizations they missed in person. Moreover, a single dashboard concentrating meeting schedules, club announcements, and club contact details into one place rid students of having to track down separate email lists and get flooded by separate email communications.

Overall, new students embraced the convenience of managing clubs through Club Hub. With certain changes to venue layout and internet reliability, future club fairs could make the community-finding process at Milton even easier.