By Brandon Leblanc – Contributor

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” -Wayne Gretzky

That’s the exact kind of thinking it takes to reach out to sponsors for Orientation Week; you never know who’s willing to be a part of the biggest event Bishop’s has to offer.

Some of them come from all over, including the boroughs of Lennoxville, Magog and even as far as Montreal. We, the Student Representative Council (SRC), like to hit the ball running early when it comes to reaching out to sponsors. As soon as we get our theme in mid-May to early June, then it’s go time! This means sending out sponsorship packages by email, having frequent phone calls with previous sponsors and reaching out to potential ones, even using the occasional in-person used-car salesman pitches to try and get anyone on board.

After that, it’s a series of trying to figure out what’s the best option for the sponsors and confirming what days they would like to be present at O-Week events. Sponsorship packages include different options of levels of monetary support. Depending on their selected package, sponsors can add their merchandise to O-Week packs, be named prime sponsors for chosen events, and have their logos featured on O-Week t-shirts, the banner and a variety of communications throughout the week.

It’s like gardening, if you want your plants to grow and come back the next season, you have to treat them properly and nurture them. The same thing goes for nurturing relationships with sponsors. You want to be as communicative, accommodating and thankful for their participation as they’re part of the reason it’s even possible to have an O-Week.

The SRC is a non-profit organization, which means any money we make goes right back into the student experience.

The way we’re able to fund a majority of O-Week is through every first year’s students’ fees. They all pay a one-time orientation week fee which is put directly into the budget for all the O-Week activities, equipment and supplies. The idea is to use all of that money and break even on the event; the more money we have, the more we can offer to the first years and add to that memorable first impression. 

Once the dust settles from all the sponsorship commotion of getting everything confirmed and booked for the week, we move into the nitty gritty of planning where everything is going to be set up and brought to life. At the heart of it rests The Quad.

The SRC wants to wish all the first years a wonderful welcome to the beautiful campus that is Bishop’s University!