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<font size="2">What many see as the best way to reach students is sometimes the most difficult (and depending on how you do it, embarassing and fun). Simply stepping outside on campus with your leadership team with materials that attract students (free food, shiny objects, or simply a smile and a wave) can get your group noticed better than anything else, but it takes courage and a creative mindset. Many groups fall into the pit of fliers, posters, and telling people what they're all about. I'm sure any student has experienced this, bustling from class to class, trying as hard as you can to cold-shoulder all the fliers and "excuse me's" coming from people on the sidewalk. Instead, focus on asking questions. People inherently love to chat about themselves, and when it comes to student I&E, talking about themselves is exactly what prospective group members need to do.</font>
<font size="2">Atin provided some fantastic insight into this subject. Through his work with University of Maryland's student innovation core '''The Academy'',' he learned a lot about what it means to cold-call on campus. He and his colleagues found the most success by putting their efforts into something very out of the ordinary, and allowing people to come to their own conclusions about the group and if they would be a good fit. They did this by dressing up as what they cleverly named 'White-board Walkers' (after the ruthless species the 'White Walkers' from the popular HBO series ''Game of Thrones'')''. ''They would travel from corner to corner on campus, donning white-board material from head to toe, and asked people what they were passionate about. People would respond with anything from 'human trafficking' to 'the implications of Rennaisance art in modern society,' and write it on the white-board clothing. Atin and his team would then begin to talk to them about how they hope to make changes in that field, and see what sort of burning ideas they might have. Eventually the passerby may come to realize that their passion fits right in with any other when it comes to need for innovation, and they would ask for more information on ''The Academy'' and how it worked. </font> == <span style="font-size:large;">Events and group fairs: creativity is king</span> == <span style="font-size:large;"></span>
