On Saturday, August 27, our chapter participated in the Student Activities Fair along with more than 120 other student organizations (one of which, we're happy to say, is the brand-new campus chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy) at Case Western Reserve University.

With so many other groups vying for attention, of course, with most passersby we had only seconds each, if that. So we whipped out our schwag (and a cheeseburger!):

The books (from left to right: End the Fed and The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul; The Empire Has No Clothes by Ivan Eland; and Common Sense Economics by Gwartney, Stroup, Lee, and Ferrarini) were quick attention-getters; they also gave those already familiar with them a quick idea of what we stand for.

In the end we generated a good bit more buzz this year than last, with election season surely a contributing factor.

We were stuffed in the back of the tent in which the tables were set but this almost seemed like an advantage for us; new students passed by the Case Republicans and Case Democrats before reaching us and expressed their relief at finding an independent alternative.

And finally, as something we considered afterwards and think other chapters could benefit from, too, we noticed that an awful lot of visitors to our table were suffering "email-list overload." Even some that were interested in the chapter just flat-out didn't want to sign up for yet another mailing list.

So next time around we'll be sure to have "chapter business cards" on hand with contact info and URLs (and heck, a QR code -- who can resist scanning one?), and we encourage other chapters to do the same.