Speed Reads

Hi Everyone

In the past there have been so confusion about Speed Reads. Last semester I wrote another post about them-mostly about using the First Book Website. Check it out here. Headquarters has been nice enough to go ahead and register each chapter on the First Book website for this year! I will be sending the login information to each VPP in an email. For this post I really wanted to do a interview with a few chapters that really excelled at their Speed Reads last year. Here is what they had to say (I asked all of them the same questions):



Chapter 1

Emory: What did your chapter do for its Speed Read Event
Chapter 1: Our chapter did our speed read with our annual Mr. Pi Phi pageant. Contestants did the speed read in the middle of the competition while the judges calculated the scores. It was a perfect way for the contestants to relax during the stress of a competition and thoroughly entertaining for the audience to watch.



Emory: How were funds raised?
Chapter 1: There was an entrance fee for any spectators that watched the competition.



Emory: Who were the competitors in your Speed Read?
Chapter 1: The contestants for the speed read were the men in Mr. Pi Phi, which were all fraternity boys



Emory: How did you spread the word on campus about your event?
Chapter 1: We made posters and posted them all around campus with our picture and information about the event.



Emory: Any other tips you might have for a successful event
Chapter 1: Have fun with it!! It’s really funny watching them and as long as you are having fun they will too.



Chapter 2-I am not going to type the questions again...just the answers

This past year we hosted for the first time Arrowspike, an outdoor volleyball tournament. Instead of a coin toss, the team captains would compete in a speed read for first serve. This was a very successful tournament for us. We had lots of donations in equipment and food, so majority of the money raised by entry fees went towards our philanthropy.



Chapter 3

-This year at our Grass Bash volleyball tournament we held our speed read contest
-Money was raised by donations and entry fees
-The competitors were the referees of the volleyball tournament
-To spread the word, we put an ad in our school newspaper, had members announce the event in the Free Speech area by our student union building, spoke at different sorority and fraternity houses, and talked to several businesses and our families.
-I think a reason we are so successful with our Speed Read is because we hold the event right before our large philanthropy event for the semester. That way many people are excited to come to our volleyball tournament and see the speed read before the tournament begins.

Chapter 4
Emory: What did your chapter do for their Speed Read Event?
Chapter: For the Speed Read, school athletes from a variety of teams were invited to our annual Spaghetti Supper held at our chapter house and asked to participate in the Speed Read. Mid-way through the dinner, the athletes were introduced and the contest began. Through various connections and even our own athlete, 8 athletes came, enjoyed dinner, and participated by reading the classic Dr. Seuss book 'The Cat in the Hat'. Not only did they have a great time, but the other guests at the Spaghetti Supper did too! The number of words read by each athlete in 15 seconds were recorded on a poster hanging behind the 'stage' to keep track of the winner!

Emory: How was money raised (entry fee, take bets on readers, etc.)?
Chapter: The money we raised came from, what you may call, betting pots. Colored gift bags were decorated with pictures of each of the athletes, their team, and jersey number. These bags were placed out the week prior to the event and chapter members were encouraged to place their bets on the athlete they thought would win. We also held a dollar dress-down chapter the Monday before where members were encouraged to use their dollar to bet. The same decorated bags were placed out on the Speed Read informational table and guests attending our Spaghetti Supper were encouraged to bet, knowing the money would go straight to First Book.

Emory: Who were the competitors in your Speed Read?
Chapter: The competitors in the Speed Read were 8 University athletes from the softball, soccer, golf, and football teams.

Emory: How did you spread the word on campus about your event?
Chapter: To promote both the Speed Read and Spaghetti Supper, fliers were posted across campus the week prior. A banner was also hung on the front of our chapter house with all of the information pertaining to the event during the week before. On Monday evening, teams of two and three girls were sent out to each of the Greek chapter houses on campus to make an announcement during their informal dinner times about the event and sell tickets. Our members were also encouraged to sell tickets to friends, family, and community members that each held all of the necessary information. Local news broadcasters and radio stations were invited to help promote our event and newspaper writers came to the event! Borders Books, another First Book sponsor, helped us out by promoting in their local store. They also donated a variety of door prizes to the event that were raffled off during the evening.

Emory: Any other tips you might have for a successful event.
Chapter: We would love to make this event bigger and better! I think the best part of our plans were that we incorporated the event into programming we already had. This meant we did not have to create a separate program but were able to take a fun atmosphere (the Spaghetti Supper) and add a little of excitement into the event. Also, it helped to promote Pi Phi's literacy initiatives by making apparent how important it is to know how to read, but in a fun, goofy manner.