Preston and Brad, here is a page that will develop for our use if you want to reference it for any of the matters that I can support
Maggie will attend the Thurs 7pm "Annual Planning" workshop on Zoom from Arienne and squad in Ithaca. Registered. Supplied these qeuestions: Are folks org'ing this workshop employees of Cornell or just volunteers like me? Confused & curious about authority to coordinate & have any expectations on clubs like ours? Explain I-modules? What support & guidelines are offered for using email lists?
Aug 2, Sunday, determine time of day: 4 pm or after dinner at 7 pm for "cooler temps" and dessert?
PR checklist:
We have that link listed on our COMMITTEES page. with Brad's contact information at CCW web pages (aka Wild Apricot).
I have not posted the link at our web pages, but will mention that we are planning the event.
Can we get a Name/College listing of the students from Brad's Alumni Affairs contact? Can help set up nametags. Brad can you ask them to send it to me at LibrarianMS@gmail.com ASAP?
Can Arienne supply Photos from last year's send off to Emma for the count-down? It might help in a social media shout out we could ask of Emma.
Save the date sent to social media calling for a committee meeting to welcome the Freshmen?
Does Membership (Morgann) have any level of "affiliation" for us to use at our event that would enable CCW to begin to gather Freshmen contact info for direct emailing?
Committee Members:
(Brad, one way to recruit people to your planning committee is to set up a Zoom and ask Steve to post that meeting as an event. It is amazing how many people you never met will see it and come and give the set up and clean up committees the manpower they will need.) See CCW calendar
Who's already in our committee? Mark, Ayotunde, Brad, Maggie-- recommend contacting Corey Tillman and who else? Esra Abir? Present Board Members like Jeff Goldstein and Alex Vorwald? (sp) Board Members whose terms don't expire till 2027? Possible addition of Kassandra Jordan and Sneha Baliga, class of 2025 or newly appointed Board members? I am not sure how to place Miriam Solomon into our context.
Add Liz Mueller, VP CAAAN, to provide additional support of such an event? Seems like a logical support!
Add a Cornell soph ? Cornell junior (Ayotunde), Cornell senior: Cornell in Washington students? Maggie knows that Michaela (Class of 27) was on Arienne's student panel last year. She is a sorority sister of mine if you want me to try to reach out.
Set up committee and start time? Who directs?
Clean up committee? Who directs them?
Venue:
See regisration link.
General:
Menu: pot luck-ish, dividing up according to alphabet? Or else, who will buy and deliver and manage receipts and compensation?
ice with coolers?
CCW buys and brings: beverages (what?) napkins, bowls, plates, more coolers. (who?)
Skip: cups, alcohol.
Transportation to Event: Do we organize car pools for students far away and match kids up with drivers? It's a bonder. It's inclusive.
Easy and good social lubricant: Can we set up a wall where we have the Cornell Flag as a backdrop to take photos for their scrapbooks and social media? Do we establish a photo-taker for the event? HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS to set a trend. Delegate this task to a Board Member?
What are the transportation descriptions? Supply ASAP: Metro: Parking: Bus:
CCW brings: Cornell Flags, pre-made nametags (maybe printed by Ithaca offices?) for welcoming table, Maggie has 1 flag to loan, purchased from Cornell Store. Olanders might get another? Maggie also has: TAR hats, TAR biz cards, pom poms, Cornell lettering to hold up for photo ops
Let's assign the job of event photographer to 3 people and get them to curate best images to send BY EMAIL to Emma, (Arienne???, Wendy for newsletter) copying Maggie within 2 days... after event is over. Gather all of those addresses and list them here:
Do we want to set up a WhatsApp thread for organizers for the day? Maggie can explain. (Brad, Maggie, Arienne, Preston only for now?)
Cornell campus sends to us this month: Cornell Flag (lets try to source one from them for free, nametags)
(Can develop a fun theme and logo. Maybe even adapt The Amazing Race theme? Just an idea, but I have free hats and TAR business cards.
I doubt we'll go with this idea because it's too "constructed." But Could set up a fun activity for students like a race to take down contact info of 5 classmates... something Big Reddy. Some Trivia from the Hill. Put kids in teams as an ice breaker for 20 minutes if we put numbers on their nametags ahead of time. Nothing too high stakes or complicated, but to address the nerves in small groups as people arrive. We could do "pass the potato"-- it's funny.
Brad has 3 docs that assisted with planning steps last year. They are very good considerations! (Emailed to Maggie on 5/129/2026)?
Questions:
Did we limit it all to freshman plus 2?
Will our ice breaker help kids who are introverted feel comfortable and connected by the end? Can "observant non joiners" opt out? Many Cornellians are introverted and social anxiety is a THING. Let's build our program with sensitivity. Some kids don't exchange PIN for Whatsapp readily. Do we encourage kids to bring their contact details on paper? Meh... I'm over complicating things, maybe, as I doooooooo. But we want the invitation to be rock solid and
Parents- bring your business card to make networking easy for you. "Does your child need a business card?" Do we build a parent contact list that we say we'll make available electronically in a follow up email or Google doc URL ahead of time?
Do we build any google forms ahead of time for people who want to have a class of '30 network for parents? What info would people want to gather?
What is the event budget from Alumni Affairs?
What is the event budget from CCW?
Can this event leverage what CCW might benefit from in future? As soon as kids sign up for one of our activities, they enter Steve's database. That's why I have Ayotunde's info even though he is still an undergrad.
Can CCW provide our QR Code on a gift bag as a welcome? What valuable gifty could CCW provide to put CCW into their thinking? Mike Flanagan had an idea once, that we give a coupon for the Cornell Store. We could give a coupon off of first registration with CCW.
Do we have door prizes for fun? Something really great like a Cornell Flag What Swag does Steve P or Arienne have for us to pass out for fun?
What might we do to facilitate conversation? Here are my ideas: A) At enry, give the kids a GOAL of meeting and exchanging details of some sort with at least 4 others? For example, we could put table tents around that ask the same thing: be ready to introduce around a couple people according to their Cornell college, high school name, and 4-5 interests. That might facilitate conversation-making for people who are shy, or at least two-way conversation with people who monologue. At some point, we could merely ask from the emcee that 3 people be introduced to the whole gang. B) There is another ice-breaker that is helpful: Take out your phone. Find one photo. Tell folks why that photo is important to you. Very open-ended. Convo TAKES OFF! This is a good thing that could be promoted on any "long line" whether for nametags or ice cream. Think about it.
Maggie gets back to DC from Maine Istarting July 11 when I'm running a Cornell running morning as the CCW calendar displays.