It's Carnival Time!

[Ryan Lintker]

Greetings CAOS forum readers.

Some of you may be aware that SIUE is having it's first annual Carnival on campus sponsored by the Greek Council (read sorority girls).  CAOS has been invited to have a booth at this event.  It would be a good opportunity for a little fund raising and getting word out about CAOS and our activities.  Fundraising means that CAOS could do more things for its members.  We could have a CAOS funded LAN party night, get better speakers, have more functions with food, drinks, and fabulous prizes.  Having more money makes all of this much more easier.

The kicker, CAOS can't do much fundraising without the help and support of it's membership.  The more helping hands for fundraising events lessons the workload for all involved and maximizes the benefits for the club.

We are not obligated to have a booth at the carnival, but we need to make the decision very soon.  The event should be a good time for those working and attending.

Please post your thoughts on the carnival.  Should CAOS be represented?
What kind of booth should we have?
Should we sell something for a fundraiser at the carnival?
Will anyone be willing to work a couple of hours?
What should CAOS do with the money we would make?

Thanks in advance for posting.

[Victor Cardona]

When is this carnival taking place? I might be able to work a couple of hours, but that depends on when it is.

Victor

[Ryan Lintker]

Thanks Victor,

I signed you up for the 7-11 shift on Friday night and from 11-9 on Saturday!

Well maybe I didn't, but I sure did forget to tell everyone when the event is taking place.  Here's a quote from an email I received concerning the event.  Don't be afraid to be brutally honest in your posts.

Thanks,
Ryan

Here's the informational email snippet:

The SIUE Greek Council will be sponsoring  Carnival on the SIUE Campus
on Friday, September 20th and Saturday, September 21st.  Greek Council
is inviting student organizations to participate in this first carnival
ever held at SIUE by entering food or game booths.  Booths are available
at no cost to student organizations.  Booths will be available on a
first come, first served basis.  The deadline for registration is
5:00pm, September 12, 2002.    Registration forms should be turned in to
the Intramural/Club Sports Office in the Student Fitness Center, or
faxed to 650-5718, attention Keith.

Greek Council has contracted with Central Illinois Amusements to supply
the carnival.  They will be bringing rides, and some games and
concessions trailers.  As a result of their contract.  They will be
supplying the following food items and student organizations will not be
able to sell the following items:

cotton candy
corn dogs
nachos
Italian Sausage
funnel cake
snow cones
lemon shake-ups
hamburgers

Only Pepsi products may be sold on the SIUE campus.

Some suggestions for types of food to sell:

Pizza
Barbecue
Smoothies
Popcorn
ice cream
Ethnic foods (Chinese, Italian, Mexican, etc.)
Hot Wings
Chili
Bratwurst
Shish Kabob
Roasted Corn
Turkey legs
Peanuts
Candy

Be creative!

This event is being heavily promoted in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon
community as well as the SIUE campus, so it should be a good fundraising
opportunity for student organizations.

[Ryan Lintker]

Does anybody have any opinions on this?  Any better ideas?  Concerns over use of funds?  This is your club and we want it to reflect your wants and desires.  Let it be known what you think!

[Ryan Lintker]

When we had a booth at SpringFest last year, we grossed close to $600 and netted about $300.  That was during school days with only SIUE students there.  We should be able to do as well at this event.  Is there anybody interested at all?  We need to make a decision very soon.

[Stiffler]

How about Krispy Creme Doughnuts??? Or some of that weird candy in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"? How about a help desk. People bring their computers to us, and we fix them for a fee. Naaaw. Hmm this is hard to come up with ideas sitting here in computer class listening to a dull lecture ;-)

Jon

[Ryan Lintker]

Krispy Kreme doughnuts could be a good fundraising tool.  The closest Krispy Kreme is in Fairview (I think), but it is one of those products where you can make one big trip for supplies.  If we did pizza again, we would need frequent delivery to keep a supply of fresh, hot pizza.

Any other ideas?

[Victor Cardona]

I have to admit that I am not very interested in peddling stuff at a carnival. I understand the need for fundraising activities, but this just seems like a nonstarter to me. Springfest was different because it was a lot smaller, and there was less competition. If we sold food at this carnival we would be competing against the vendors and suppliers that have already contracted to put on the event. Sure the items would be different, but ours would possibly be more expensive too.

Victor

[Ryan Lintker]

Price wise, I think that we can definitely compete with carnival vendors.  This is a brand new event so there is no way to guage what competition we will receive from other student organizations.  It was an open invitation for us to have a booth, we just have to decide if we will or not.

[Elizabeth Weber]

We need to get some of the faculty to offer bonus points for volunteers ...

[Stiffler]

If the carnival is not during class hours, I help out. And I really don't think there will be bonus points. If there is, they will probally be given by Dr. Weinberg since he like a major faculty member of CAOS. That might not sound coherent. You're right! I didn't get much sleep. I've been practicing my presentation that's today. The people that have that class with me are probally going, "Great! What does he have in store for us?" They should be asking that question if they aren't.  :-)

Jon