As students continue to adapt to online school, clubs and societies this year are navigating virtual events, programming and meetings.
While clubs are making the switch online, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The Carleton University Debate Society (CUDS) said one of their biggest challenges was finding an online platform that works well for all members.
Internet connection issues were a major barrier the club had to consider, according to Charmaine Strong, president of the CUDS.
With no in-person classes this year, Strong said the club also struggled with recruiting members since speaking to students in classes is not a possibility.
“It’s been difficult … getting the word out about CUDS just because everything’s online and we can’t have an on-campus presence,” Strong said.
While recruiting new members is a challenge for some clubs, Carleton’s Glee Club took a different approach by choosing not to recruit any new members for the fall semester.
Instead, the Glee Club is hoping to recruit new members during the winter term and reach out to alumni to be a part of this year’s rehearsals, said Alicia Vos, co-president and vice-president (music) of the Glee Club.
“We’ve had to close off to new members and not allow new members to be a part of the club this year because of the complexity of the way we’re trying to run, so that has already decreased our numbers,” Vos said.
The Glee Club usually holds a performance at the end of each semester, but COVID-19 made those performances impossible. Vos said although the club has too many members to safely do in-person rehearsals, musical arrangements will be sent to the club’s existing members and rehearsals will be held virtually.
Despite the Glee Club currently not accepting any new members, Vos said she believes clubs should be making an effort to still engage with students.
“I do really believe that it is important for clubs to try their best to do what they can to still be operating during these unprecedented times because a lot of students really value their place in the club,” she said.
While performance-based clubs are taking a hit, Carleton’s Photography Club has found ways to engage members online in-lieu of in-person meetings. Through Facebook, Instagram, and a website, they are able to organize collections of members’ photos according to a theme.
“We’re lucky that photography is a very digital thing, to begin with. So it’s something that we can all do a part of, but then share photos with each other, get feedback or still learn on our own,” Courtney Cathcart, vice-president (finance) of the Photography Club said.
“[Photography] is not something that has to be done with people—as much as it is nice to—and I think we’re pretty optimistic that we can keep ourselves going virtually,” she added.
Cathcart said club executives are concerned about keeping and retaining new members through online-only platforms.
“We’re used to getting a lot of first years … com[ing] to our events because they were already on campus,” she said, adding without these events it might be harder for members to stay involved.
While online clubs and events don’t provide the same experience as they would in person, Strong said connecting online is more important now than ever. As students continue to learn from home, many will be looking for in-person connections, which is something a club can provide, she added.
“Debate—and definitely clubs as a whole—give people access to social communities that they can access on the regular and they can have kind of weekly events with,” she said, adding she met many of her closest friends through the Debate Society.
“This is very much a pilot year for seeing what works and what doesn’t, and I think that’s one of the challenges,” Strong added. “There’s no game plan as to how to go about doing things, so you have to figure it out as you go.”
Featured image from file.
