Reported by:
Michael Ng Sr3A
Schooling life had been forced to move completely online due to the pandemic, a change which has proven to be droning for students. Club and society presidents nationwide have been tasked with one big challenge: how do I keep activities fun, engaging, and most importantly, not part of the stressful school work heap?
Let’s head over to our one and only Newsletter Club, which has been facing a few key problems: a poor grasp on each member’s current conditions due to a lack of physical meetings, misinterpretations of text messages leading to communication errors, as well as inattentive and inert members.
Seeing the current state of the club, 2021 President Khoo Qi from Sr2ComA quickly got to work. She spends extra time making sure notices for members are as detailed as possible to get the exact point across, and never neglects to publicly release weekly meeting recordings and minutes so that no member is left out of club updates. A scoring system was established as well so that the presidents could keep track of members’ activeness and vet those who had poor participation.
Now that the members’ base attention has been captured, Khoo Qi draws them further in by invoking “club spirit”. This involved holding a bunch of activities for members to partake in, like the club logo designing competition and a public comments wall. Members are also often encouraged to join organising committees for events like talks, workshops, and orientation parties, which helps with the mingling of presidents and members.
Khoo Qi felt that there was no need for a strict top-down relationship with members. Empathy is a prime value in her presidency, with her asking herself: “What kind of president would I want if I were a club member?” She makes sure to not enforce standards she could not meet, gives great praise to members for their achievements, and makes sure to listen to their opinions and accept differing thoughts.
Moreover, Khoo Qi made sure to capitalise on the “unofficial” status of the Newsletter Club. Its current state meant that participation was voluntary and would not account for marks in school results, unlike official clubs. The Club benefited from this however as it could afford more freedom for creativity, innovation, and taking risks.
Hence, Khoo Qi aimed to maintain a low-stress yet fresh environment so that members can feel “joys of an unofficial club” in learning new things. Her strategy also helps curb possible resentments of “I worked so hard to get so little back” in members since they’ve been greatly involved in many activities but receive little substantial returns.
This was most apparent in the club’s orientation this year, which was completely planned by an organising committee of regular members. That has been one of Khoo Qi’s most memorable online activities; for one, it had been the club’s first “real” orientation that didn’t end with jumping straight into assignments; and two, it showcased some real talents within members which were waiting to be nurtured. A talk organised by the club, which featured a famous Taiwan graduate graphic designer, also showcased members’ talents in various forms, with emcees and field servicemen performing their jobs successfully.
