Report from the 2011 Ontario College Information Fair -- JP Rains

A guest blog from Laurentian University’s JP Rains (@jplaurentian)

Attendance at the Ontario College Information Fair grew this year with more than 5,000 attendees in the first two hours of the fair, an increase of 2,000 over last year. A well-prepared group of Ontario colleges was ready for the challenge as they amped up their presence with many new booths and increased staff contingents. One of the new trends Ken Steele observed at the Ontario Universities' Fair carried over to the college fair, as I saw a good number of colleges using contests, laptops, and iPads to motivate students to share their information, as well as an abundance of QR codes.

My initial observation of the fair was the long line-up to participate in Humber College’s cash grab game. Students filled out their information, patiently lined up (it was very popular), participated in the cash booth, and were then able to spend their earned cash at a prize counter for branded goods. Humber’s booth was quite busy again this year as their program-based sections were bustling with future students.

One of the fair’s largest changes saw Cambrian College take a more central space with a new booth including couches and multiple TVs. Their touch-activated career funnel was at the centre of the display and was definitely the star of the booth. They had an abundance of eager staff and faculty to tend to the clusters of students that their booth attracted. Their iPads had a dual function in hosting student info cards and showing off their new iPad/iPhone App.

George Brown College put their faculty’s talents on display with a raised stage in the middle of their booth that featured live demonstrations from their professionals. As seen below, Chef Norbert Maushagen demonstrates his sugar pulling techniques. George Brown also had a vertical wind-turbine and other hands-on displays to show off the different aspects of the college. Canadore College took a similar approach in showing off their ice carving from their culinary program (I really didn’t expect to see chainsaws at the fair).

Both Sheridan College and Seneca College had new program-based, open concept booths that were very eye-catching. Sheridan’s booth featured its “Shine Brighter” slogan in a well-lit space and “soapbox Video Booths” where students could record video messages. Seneca differentiated themselves with their VIP lounge inviting future students to interact with current students in a separate room that was laid back and featured music. VIP passes were being given out at the booth (I was “lucky” enough to get one). The VIP lounge was outside of the actual fair floor, which seemed to capture many people’s attention before and after attending the fair.

Centennial College was the only college to host a “text and win” contest and combined it with a very popular photo booth that printed out branded pictures of students for display in their lockers (I thought my Centennial picture might not be received well in my office). Their impressive new booth featured program-based sections with discipline-related equipment, which included a speedy looking Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle (I wonder who got to drive it in...career change?). A centralized laptop-based contest was featured in the heart of the booth, which doubled as a data capture bank. This process seemed to be very effective as I saw nearly 100 entries captured in the first hour of the fair.

Mohawk College’s new booth featured their new branding, with a focus on science and technology, and included a nicely padded carpet (my feet thank you). Their booth also utilized iPads for data capture and a future Mohawk Grad photo op for fair attendees. They also seemed to increase their staff presence as they were very informative.

As a fun experiment, I designed a 30-second test to see how engaging the various booth staffers were. The process was to stand at the booth, pick up a viewbook, and wait 30 seconds to see if staff would approach me. While I went unnoticed at some booths, there were some exceptionally active staffers who approached me immediately. These included staff at Cambrian, Fanshawe, Fleming, Georgian, and Humber.

Just before leaving, I was surprised to see Georgian College had created a Foursquare (a social media app based on location) check in for their booth. I was disappointed that there was no special giveaway for checking into the booth, but overall it was an innovative move for targeting the social media users.

I suspect that in the future, many colleges will opt for the electronic data capture process with the increasing number of fair participants, as it may not be feasible to have the long-form, paper-based cards. As I write this, I still haven’t received any e-mails from all of the forms I filled out with my info. I think this can also be an area where we see a new trend: instant e-mails providing students the information they were looking for is something we experience often in retail and may become part of a proactive tactic in PSE.  

Finally, I was surprised by the high number of giveaways, from Rubix cubes, to chocolate truffles and old-school Yoyos. Students and parents walked away with a pile of freebies. As a recruiter and marketer, I realize the effort that goes into an event like this and the staff at the Ontario Colleges didn’t disappoint. It was an interesting experience to attend the fair and I hope to see it grow and innovate again next year!

-JP