Call to eliminate recruitment skits

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by Hayzelle

ok, I am wondering if skits are as asinine as these over the top "recruitment videos"?
We had videos and slides during a party to show our activities during the year....and while each scene appeared, we could talk to the rushee and thus we accomplished two things at once. We entertained and we got to be one on one with our future sisters!

Meanwhile, I go over to You Tube and cannot believe the ridiculous and EXPENSIVE videos I see...and most are just 'here we are doing awesome things, air balloons, fancy beaches, blowing bubbles..." Again, one on one in our chapter house really opened up new rushees so we could learn about each other..

How do others feel ?

The videos are taking just as much time as skits to prepare, if not more, and they're getting completely overblown and competitive...because they're often public and other groups can see them. So, it's turning into an expensive game of one-upmanship. The videos are rarely contributing to Values Based Recruitment.

[Hayzelle]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

The videos are taking just as much time as skits to prepare, if not more, and they're getting completely overblown and competitive...because they're often public and other groups can see them. So, it's turning into an expensive game of one-upmanship. The videos are rarely contributing to Values Based Recruitment.

non
I totally agree as I have looked at a variety of videos today on You Tube and more than ever, they are looking the same....friends happy, friends doing fun things, a glimpse of their chapter house, but none really show any real reason for selecting one over another, And THEY ARE PAYING PROS TO DO THESE VIDEOS...EACH HAS A CREDIT FOR THEIR PRODUCTION.

The only sisterhood element I could find is that some actually do voice overs about their sorority/fraternity and deep thoughts about why they pledged.

[33girl]

I find the fact that these videos, or any part of rush, is on display for everyone on earth to see beyond disturbing. It's not about how it looks to guys or how many thumbs up it can get on YouTube. Plus couldn't you say this is a rush infraction? If they don't take down the previous year's video down, you can see girls who might now be rush counselors. I know that's reaching but I find these videos 10x worse than any skit.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Hayzelle

non
I totally agree as I have looked at a variety of videos today on You Tube and more than ever, they are looking the same....friends happy, friends doing fun things, a glimpse of their chapter house, but none really show any real reason for selecting one over another, And THEY ARE PAYING PROS TO DO THESE VIDEOS...EACH HAS A CREDIT FOR THEIR PRODUCTION.

The only sisterhood element I could find is that some actually do voice overs about their sorority/fraternity and deep thoughts about why they pledged.

The recruitment videos I watch online often have very poor voice-over quality. Either the background music drowns out voices, or the mic is poorly placed and misses the vocal sounds.

In more than a few videos members will speak too fast, and their important message is lost. The women are not supposed to be professional speakers, but a little forethought and practice can more successfully bring across their message.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I find the fact that these videos, or any part of rush, is on display for everyone on earth to see beyond disturbing. It's not about how it looks to guys or how many thumbs up it can get on YouTube. Plus couldn't you say this is a rush infraction? If they don't take down the previous year's video down, you can see girls who might now be rush counselors. I know that's reaching but I find these videos 10x worse than any skit.

Slightly off-topic, but involving rush: I really enjoyed the fun Washington State University "Recruitment Guide Reveal" video a few years ago (removed before the next recruitment and no longer on youtube ). It was also posted on GC and involved two to five Guides from the same sorority briefly describing why they went greek, then their sorority's door chant being shown. Then the next sorority's guides would state their "Why I Went Greek" moments, and that group's door chant was shown. For fun I tried to guess which women belonged to which group before their door chant was shown.

[dukedg]

The videos the chapters show during recruitment are still bound by rules, but these videos, often released before recruitment for "PR" purposes would be hard to control. These videos are just one extension of social media, like tumblr, twitter, instragram, etc. Would Panhel monitor all of these outlets year round and how could they attempt to tell the chapters what image to portray of themselves?

I much preferred skits. I've only been involved with videos as an adviser, but when we did the skits, it really brought the chapter together in a crazy, hectic, bonding moment. These videos don't seem to do that (at least from what I've observed).

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by dukedg

The videos the chapters show during recruitment are still bound by rules, but these videos, often released before recruitment for "PR" purposes would be hard to control. These videos are just one extension of social media, like tumblr, twitter, instragram, etc. Would Panhel monitor all of these outlets year round and how could they attempt to tell the chapters what image to portray of themselves?

I much preferred skits. I've only been involved with videos as an adviser, but when we did the skits, it really brought the chapter together in a crazy, hectic, bonding moment. These videos don't seem to do that (at least from what I've observed).

If more campuses reverted to skits, would there again be multiple Sorority Skit Videos posted on youtube?

[LionTamer]

The chapter I joined did one that was so different from the other sororities' skits that it cemented for me that this chapter was a good fit. The other skits were mushy and sweet, where ASA's was really funny. Which was a good fit, because these were noisy, funny girls, and I would NOT have fit in with mushy and sweet.

But yeah, more time actually talking to PNMs is probably a better use of time.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by LionTamer

The chapter I joined did one that was so different from the other sororities' skits that it cemented for me that this chapter was a good fit. The other skits were mushy and sweet, where ASA's was really funny. Which was a good fit, because these were noisy, funny girls, and I would NOT have fit in with mushy and sweet.

But yeah, more time actually talking to PNMs is probably a better use of time.

+1

A general, narrated musical slide-show about Greek Life was presented for all rushees during my mandatory Rush Orientation years ago.

Only one house presented their own music-backed slide-show for PNMs during first round/Open House. NO ONE was watching the slide-show; instead, it was the NOISIEST home with LOTS of conversation/house tours and the BEST experience I had during first round.

A second house featured their musical, narrated slide-show during third round. I recognized more than a few of the same slides from orientation; the Panhellenic President was a member of the second house.

[carnation]

Do any schools still do skits?