Chapter Spotlight – Delta Alpha (East Carolina)

This week’s chapter spotlight is Delta Alpha (East Carolina) who hosted their first Grilled Cheese with Alpha Phis event this spring. Vice President of Marketing Frankie Majors explains how she was able to make this event successful in the first year, and how she plans to continue that for years to come.

Event Name: Grilled Cheese with the Alpha Phis
Location: Alpha Phi House

How many times have you held this event?
First time!

Tell us a bit about the event:
In the past we hosted a pancake phi’st, but this year we held a grilled cheese dinner at our house. Attendees could order grilled cheese made-to-order with 3 cheese options, bacon, tomatoes and jalapenos. Drinks and dessert were also served. Sisters were required to sell at least 5 tickets, and if they were unable to do so, were charged through their BillHighway account. Most members just sell them instead of taking the deduction from their account.

How did you publicize your event?
To help promote, we held a tabling event on where we had a photo booth and handed out coffee and trial mix with heart health facts. It not only helped promote the events, but also helped our campus image. Social media was our most important tool in marketing the event however. We did a count down on all forms of our social media and encouraged sisters to post a special graphic on their personal accounts to promote the event. Additionally, an email was sent out through our campus Greek server which was incredibly helpful. Food events work really well on our campus and the key is just promoting it on campus and social media as much as possible!

How do you envision improving this event in the future?
I would like the event to have more attendance and be able to raise more money. I would also like for this event to have more interactive opportunities other than just eating such as raffles, possibly games, etc. This year we had a photo booth back drop with props and again would like to have more opportunities like this! In years to come I hope that this event becomes a staple for our chapter and is highly recognizable on our campus.

What tips would you offer other chapters looking to host an event like this?
Grilled Cheese is definitely an event that I would encourage other chapters to do. It is easy to organize and shopping at bulk stores like SAMs or Costco make it very cost effective. I would recommend offering a variety of toppings and cheese. Some people were originally turned off at the idea of paying $5 for a grilled cheese, but having a lot of options was more appealing.

Prior to our event, we went to the store just to estimate how much supplies we would need per sandwich (two slices of bread, two slices of cheese, x amount of tomato etc.). Being able to see it in person and map it out beforehand helped us get the right amount of food when we actually went to buy. Additionally, sisters signed up for a specific position during the event (making the grilled cheese in front of the guests, bagging grilled cheese, preparing the toppings, ticket collection and greeters). I’m sure a lot of chapters already do this, but it was a huge help for us! Figuring out (about) how much food needed per guest, planning duties, and promoting was what helped the most!