Lake County, IL send off

It might be too late to plan this year's send-off, but here's a recap of the Lake County, IL send-off for future ideas and planning. This example really illustrates the important of contact--constant contact--with the students and their families. Thanks to everyone involved who made the event a success!

I just wanted to let you know how our Send-Off went on Sunday. I think it was a really good event, considering that it started POURING rain 10 minutes before the party (and everything was set up to be an outdoor party!) So the first few people who came were gracious enough to grab what they could and bring it inside.

We had 21 incoming freshmen, about 35 parents, 5 current students, a few current-student parents, and about 7 alums. So about 75 in total. (Now you know why I wanted this to be outside.)

We have had a good turn-out for the past 2 or 3 years, which I attribute to contacting the kids multiple times throughout the summer. In June we mailed out a "save-the-date" notice to all of the incoming freshmen, with a short letter explaining what the Freshman Send-Off is all about. We also mention that there is a drawing for 2 football tickets for every student present, and we tell them that every student at the Send-Off will get "The Shirt." Then we mail out invitations in July, about 3 weeks before the event. Then I e-mail every student who I haven't heard from the week before the event, just to find out if they can come or not, and to remind them that their parents are also welcome to attend. I think that receiving two hard-copy notices in the mail really helps to remind the students, and then a follow-up e-mail is good just in case there are some kids who might have forgotten about it or lost the invitation. I know that contacting the kids several times like this is probably not feasible for larger Clubs like the Chicago Club, but for Clubs with 25 or fewer incoming freshmen, I think it really helps to increase the turn-out.