If you’re the head of a student group or organization, there’s a good chance that you are occasionally called upon to plan a weekend trip. These trips, which may occur a couple times a semester or just once per year, usually involve travelling as a group to a campsite, ski resort, tourist attraction, or major city within driving distance of your school. The weekend is a time to grow and strengthen as a group while having fun in the process. It is also an opportunity for students to get away from the college routine – both mentally and literally – and to momentarily stop worrying about the stresses regarding work, classes, and loans for school that go with it.
Planning such a trip usually involves a good deal of logistical coordination, much of which is based upon circumstances unique to your group. But regardless of the nature of your organization or of the college which you attend, there are certain commonalities and goals that are shared by any weekend trip. The commonalities include a diversity of students and interests, while the goals probably have something to do with stimulating group cohesion and excitement.
Here are a few tips for dealing with and achieving, respectively, these common issues and objectives:
-Pick a moderate travel distance. If you choose a destination that is too far away, there’s a good chance that you will dissuade group members from making the trip. But if, on the other hand, you pick a location that is too close to school, you may secure a higher turnout but not achieve a sufficient sense of distance so as to promote greater cohesion. The solution, of course, is to find a destination somewhere in the middle – usually a place that is reached with 1-3 hours of driving.
-Explicitly emphasize the unity theme. Most student leaders realize that it’s impossible to satisfy everybody at all times. No matter how hard you try it’s likely that some members of your group will not be enthralled with the weekend plan. They may not like the people assigned to their car or tent, and they may think it preferable to skip the trip altogether. While you can’t force people to come, you can address such issues by emphasizing unity – by strongly stating that the weekend is all about molding group cohesion. Then, keep this theme going throughout.
-Don’t over-plan. Student leaders often have a set agenda for every and any event. They want to discuss, practice, fundraise, and plan.
May 18th, 2012
Tushar Mathur
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