Setting a record. Amidst all the school work, the college fair gave the members of the Loyola Schools an opportunity to come together as a community. Photo by Kitkat S. Lastimosa
A-Fair intended to promote community spirit
DESPITE BEING shelved two years ago after it failed to garner support from the Sanggunian Central Board, the Ateneo College Fair (A-Fair) pushed through last January 13 and 14 after more than a decade of absence.
The fair, intended to be a community-building event, had gone through three rejections from the Central Board up to November 2010 before it was revived as a non-Sanggunian project last June.
Logistics Committee Head Jone Asug said that the event provided another chance for the community to come together aside from the celebratory bonfire for victories in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
“We’re trying to get every part of the community to [be part of it], from the faculty, staff, everyone,” Asug said.
This is the first time since 1994 that a college fair had been held in Ateneo. There had been three previous fairs held on campus: a three-day fair, dubbed “Fair-st Love,” held from February 2 to 4 in 1990; a 1993 university-wide fair and the 1994 college-level fair.
The fairs for 1991 and 1992 were cancelled, the former due to the Gulf crisis and austerity measures, and the latter after the Associate Dean for Student Affairs voted against it due to calamities and energy crises.
Booths and activities
A-Fair formally opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Red Brick Road, led by University President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ and Vice President for the Loyola Schools John Paul Vergara, at 12:30 PM last January 13. Classes were suspended from 12:30 PM onwards on the first day of the fair to allow students to take part in the activities.
The fair grounds stretched from the Gonzaga parking area to the Red Brick Road. Stalls selling clothes, food and other items lined the road, alongside game booths manned by both students and non-teaching personnel. A white elephant sale was also held to raise funds for Racky Villa of the Central Purchasing Office, who suffered an aneurysm last December.
Co-Project Head Reg Guevara said that the game arcade sponsored by World of Fun at the Colayco Pavilion was a popular crowd-drawer. There were also inflatable rides and games fronting the cafeteria, such as the mechanical bull ride and the jousting arena. The main stage in front of Schmitt Hall featured acts and demonstrations by the Ateneo Capoeira, Judo and Arnis teams, as well as Kimika Mahika.
Tents between Gonzaga Hall and SEC-A served as the venue for Blue Banchetto, which featured stalls offering a wide variety of food. Maintenance personnel and staff members also manned a drinks booth, which janitor Leonardo Buquirin said was intended to raise funds for other staff members in need of medical assistance. Faura Hall technician Rey Corpuz said that the staff worked in shifts to man the booths while some were on duty.
A highlight of the event was the Unity Dance, touted as an effort to break the world record for the most people doing the “shuffle” dance, currently at 250 people. Project head Frances So said that they expected a maximum of 1,500 participants, with 500 dancers expected to join. Organized with the help of the Company of Ateneo Dancers, the activity began at 4:30 PM last January 14, with 320 students participating in the dance.
Various activities capped off the evenings on the two fair days. A free Picnic Grill Night was held at the Matteo Ricci field on Friday, while the “Once in a Blue Moon” concert was held at the Covered Courts on Saturday. The free variety concert, organized for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Sendong, featured fashion shows, A-Fair Idol, and performances from Up Dharma Down, Never the Strangers and Itchyworms.
Novelty
The scale of the project and the range of activities featured during the fair required much planning and effort, something that the fair organizers acknowledged as difficult, given that it was the first time in nearly twenty years that the fair was held in the college.
Office of Student Affairs Formator Erica Paner and Student Affairs Professional Rem Casiño said that difficulties came from the project’s novelty. “It’s a new project and the organizers are planning this for the first time, trying to effectively implement the project, so there is no momentum yet,” Casiño said. Both agreed that given its magnitude, it might have been a better idea to push the date back further to allow for more efficient planning.
Unity dance project head Frances So said that they were supposed to begin work in August instead of October, but was confident that they could still be productive. “Two months seems [like a short amount of time], but it’s a lot of time. We could have done a lot,” she said.
Another issue they had was the lack of guidelines for the fair due to its eighteen-year long hiatus. “Unlike [the Orientation Seminar] and Blue Roast which has been going on constantly [with] a manual that has do’s and don’ts… we had to work from scratch,” said Asug. “We had to look for a location for the fair. We had to go through the several different offices to ask permission if this is possible.”
Projections
As the fair involved the whole Loyola Schools community, the fair committee had to consult several offices, including the Facilities Management Office and the Vice President’s Council. The approval by the latter allowed for the Friday half-day suspension, a strategy Casiño said was meant to promote student participation in the fair.
A-Fair Publicity Head Tommy Tomelden said that they expected some 6,000 people to attend the fair. “Since it’s free entrance, we assumed that more or less on the first day, [there would be] at least 3,000, or majority of the school, in general.” After the fair, Guevara said that there were around 8,000 attendees, including faculty and staff.
Since the fair was not a Sanggunian project, it received no financial backing from the student council. The target budget was pegged at P600,000 to P700,000. Funding came chiefly from sponsors, with Smart Communications listed as the fair’s partner, along with other corporations. “We did not get budget from the student government or the administration, although the Office of Administrative Services [gave] us some subsidies for our venues,” said Guevara, adding that they relied much on alumni and outside sponsors.
For the organizers, money was not an indicator of the fair’s success. Any income from the event went to recovering expenses, with 80% of the surplus going to the fair’s partner non-governmental organization (NGO), Pathways to Higher Education, while the rest of the money was to be allotted to a seed fund for any future fair.
“[From the surplus of the fair], we could raise around P100,000,” Guevara said.
She added that they picked Pathways, an Ateneo-based organization that helps prepare underprivileged high school students for college, as the NGO fit the community-building aspect espoused by the fair.
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