I'm not entirely sure, but it appears as if informal recruitment at Cal State University Long Beach is just that, informal. Usually the chapters that are under total hold their COB events at the beginning of the spring semester. Though, one chapter last year did informal recruitment almost immediately after formal recruitment in the fall.
The eligible sororities advertise their own events. So, yes, PNMs have their choice of events to go to during any given week or night. No rounds of parties, no cutting. You just go and you're offered a bid or not.
Usually it's only 1-3 houses that want to have informal recruitment. Now, every once in a while, all of the seven sororities end up wanting to (or are eligible to) participate in informal recruitment. In that instance, Panhellenic sets up an "Information Night" where all of the houses have a table set up. This way, the PNMs have an opportunity to hear about all of them. Otherwise, they'd just go to events based on which flyers they happened to see! Then, from info night PNMs can attend whatever events they want in whatever order they want.
I like this because it's totally no pressure. You don't have to sit through a party for a group you feel uncomfortable with. On the other hand, I remember having difficulty deciding how to go about visiting all of the various groups. The trouble was that one sorority wanted me to attend ALL of their events...and so did another! I didn't know how to say "Uhm...thanks...but I *did* want to go to other houses as well."
......Kelly