I hate videos more than skits.

I pledged early ;70s. We had a skit day (3rd day if I remember right). My chapter did KD Hades some years and Wizard of Oz other years depending who was our rush chair and which skit they preferred.

DaffyKD

Oh HELL yes. Not to mention the philanthropies that do not lend themselves at all to a craft. It would be nice if the rushes and sisters could all just get together and build a house for an underprivileged family, Amish barn raising style.

Agree 1000%. The craft idea was a good way to "encourage" Philanthropy Day round way back in the 90's when it was mandated but its time has passed.

When I took over as HCB president in 2006 we found stuffed in every available closet
from the guest suite on bags and bags of "Boo Bears" Wash cloths made to look like bears. We undid the bears and donated the wash cloths to a homeless shelter. (we told them they needed to be washed first) I imagine they are still handing out those wash cloths today. We couldn't bring it upon ourselves to just dump them. I hate the videos, too.

I'm disappointed about skits being taken out. They're fun and light. And as was mentioned, a good break from the monotony of constant talking and shouting over everyone and losing your voice.

I agree about the philanthropy craft. Hate it. Pointless, waste of time, energy and money. And many chapters throw their 'crafts' out.

LOLOL! German Beer Garden!

To me, "no frills" = no fun.

Videos are goofy as well. Most of them are made by the same company in town and all look very similar. Which is why I am always amused when people talk about one being better than another.
There is only so much blown glitter, helium balloons, fountain dancing, and drone shots of the house/ philanthropy event that one can watch.

The Chapter I advise got rid of them several years ago. They were relieved. They thought the skit was fun but the lack of practices and late night/early morning set ups was worth it. They had way more energy, were more focused on conversation and connection and the videos can be a cute way to replace that dynamic.

I thought for sure they would pitch a fit because skit night was always their strongest night and a big seller but they ended up being perfectly happy.
This is also a school that does deferred recruitment with it happening during classes and only having one small room to stage everything in so I guess it's not a surprise they enjoyed more time/freedom/space.

I can see both sides of it. As a senior, though, I was relieved that I would never have to practice the can-can at 1 AM again.

I'll preface my comments by saying that I COB'd at a school that only held informal recruitment (when I joined back in 2004). However...

I understand both sides: not wanting skits/crafts because they're lame and a lot of work, but also wanting to break up recruitment week with a day where you don't need to start a conversation with "What's your major?" and hope it takes off from there.

I'm not saying this would work at every school, but... what about a game night? It could be board games, or larger group games. I went to an insurance industry Christmas party this past year for work, we did something similar, and it was a ton of fun. We had 8 groups of 6-7 people (all of us being randomly put together from different insurance carriers and agencies so we had to make new friends), and all the teams competed against each other in quick little games. Most of the challenges were simple, too (in that there was little to no prep, and they required few materials). At one point, each person was given an Oreo cookie, you had to put it on your forehead, and when someone yelled 'go!', without using your hands, everyone had to try to move the cookie down their faces and into their mouths. First team to eat all of their cookies was the winner.

Interestingly, things like that can also show you who is really supportive, who is competitive, who is impatient... and who is downright mean. :p I didn't really come across the impatient and mean people when I did this, but ya never know!

My school had two skit days when i attended. As a rushee, I thought they were so dumb and couldn't wait for them to be over. I couldn't figure out how the skits had anything to do with life in a sorority (and still can't). As a collegiate member, I hated the dancing but did enjoy all the AOII songs we had from all those skits. A lot of our chapters have very few songs or chants anymore because the skits went away in the 90s.

I never went through formal rush as a rushee, but I sure hated them as a sister. lol I wish we'd spent more time on conversation skills than rehearsing and decorating for a skit. The craft idea is still good, but if I was an active, I wouldn't cry over no more skits. :D ASTAlumna's idea of Scrabble sounds fun and can be a good ice breaker.

videos>skits
 

We got rid of skits years ago (over 10) I was thrilled. Skits took so much time and they were beyond stupid and outdated. Videos on the other hand take less then 10 minutes and are a great way of showcasing your chapter and their members. We have never done a craft thank god.