When Ads don’t add up

Asuccessful event requires proper promotion, both on and off campus. The Farmwalk would have been better attended if it was better advertised. This event was a main and important event that should have had a high headcount. A lack of mass-spread advertisement caused there to be fewer people.

With two events in one day, the Open House/Beyond Farmwalk on Sunday, April 17, didn’t seem to feel crowded even though there are more than 21,000 students enrolled this semester.

Pierce College celebrated it’s annual spring semester Farmwalk, which is a way to allow the community to learn about the rich agricultural history of the college. However, this year’s traditional event was different, adding an Open House at Rocky Young Park that showcased the programs and services the college has to offer. With the addition to the Open House, some people were unaware of one location or the other. We should have distributed the funds we received this year more effectively. The budget for the Farm Walk this year was $85,000, and marketing was $27,000, according to Public Relations Manager, Doreen Clay.

The school spent approximately $21,000 on commercial ads on the radio station KIIS FM. Why couldn’t we expand to other stations, why focus on one radio station? Some students and faculty use bus transportation and didn’t get to hear the commercial ads or listen to different stations, so how are those people suppose to know about it if doesn’t reach to them?

Like the summer and fall semester ads we see on bus stops and the commercials on television, creating any of those would have brought in a bigger audience because more people would see the ad.

The flyers that were placed around campus should have been sent to students mailboxes to inform them prior of the event. This would’ve allowed students to invite family and friends in advance.

More advertising in local weekend newspapers or other college newspapers would have been a good way to reach to a larger audience.

Students are constantly checking their emails, sending the ad to their Los Angeles Community College District emails would have been another cheap alternative to promote the event. If enrollment was down this semester, we should’ve used more funds to organize a better promotion plan for the Open House/Beyond Farmwalk to get more student to enroll.

With 113 community colleges in California, it would have been useful to send out flyers or emails to some of the campus’s around Pierce to bring in students from other colleges to see what Pierce has, that their campus does not.

The community has been

RANDI LOVE Staff rlove.roundupnews@gmail.com

Festival activities, a corn maze, a haunted house and trail were all featured at the last Halloween Carnival at the Pierce Farm Center in 2014. Last year we did not have a Halloween event, which left the surrounding neighbors without the family activities it had for over a decade.

According to an article in the Daily News from 2014, the Farm Center had drawn thousands to its yearround produce stand, pioneer village and annual Halloween Harvest and Christmas festivals. It was ordered to shut down the day after Christmas and to vacate the campus by April 15, 2015.

If the Halloween Carnival comes back to make an appearance, thousands of children and adults will have a fun and spooky place to go to. It could also bring money to both the farm and the school.

The article also mentioned that the school could not afford to continue having the festival every year. If ticket, food, ride and attraction prices were lowered, more people may be inclined to come and spend money.

More money could be earned by the festival if souvenirs were sold.

If campus clubs, departments and organizations volunteered their time to earn money for their clubs, it could save money over hiring outside people to run all of the stands, events and attractions.

Using biodegradable food containers that can be recycled, allow for another way to bring money or reuse a product. People of the community and surrounding areas looked forward to the family fun that

Photographers: was provided at the carnival and other events held through the Farm Center. coming to the traditional Farmwalk for the past 40 years because it’s one of the only places in the valley you can get up close and pet farm animals.

The carnival was one of the only events in the San Fernando valley that catered to families rather than couples, teenagers or people that wanted to be scared rather than just entertained.

Parents with small children, along with some teenagers and other people may not want to go to theme parks or local haunted houses. Theme park Halloween events are not designed for youth, or the faint of heart.

According to that same article in the Daily News, officials of the Farm Center and the Foundation for Pierce College, former partners in the “agritainment” venture, said the center never cost the college a dime. They said it had contributed $2.1 million to the school.

If the agricultural entertainment brought money to the school without the campus having to spend any, then the event should come back and provide the community with fun and safe entertainment.

I think we should most definitely bring back the carnival. It was a great add to the community. It was an event that brought the local people together to have a good time on Halloween. Our school has very few public events thorughout the year. When we took the Halloween carnival away, it left that time of the year, empty for the community. Let’s bring it back.

Sometimes change is good, but if the Farmwalk was successful before, why add the Open House? If the goal was to bring in more students we should have promoted both events more than the previous years.

TANYA CASTANEDA Staff tcastaneda.roundupnews@gmail.com

The Halloween Carnival that took place every year at Pierce was a fun way for the community to get a little more involved with the school. Many people enjoyed the pumpkin patch, and spirit of the carnival. Recently, however, the carnival was taken away, and there have been no signs of Pierce trying to bring it back. I think it would be a bad idea to rekindle the tradition.

Although there are many benefits to the Halloween Carnival, there are also many consequences. One of them being the current drought the state of California is facing.

Since most people simply drive by every October, they fail to realize just how much water is being used to keep the carnival open. With more water than I can even imagine being used, you begin to wonder just how much these carnivals were costing the school, and if they made enough profit to make up for the money spent. What about the tons of water already used? Could that have potentially been water we could have saved to help prevent the severe drought? Possibly. Also, with not much else going on in October, the month is usually dedicated to costume parties, where everyone can get together and have a few drinks. The party-goers have the right to drink, and normally, that would not be a problem in the comfort of their own home. However, what happens when someone mentions the idea of a corn maze at Pierce? They end up at the Halloween Carnival intoxicated.Picture this: A group of drunk friends show up to the carnival on a Friday night. Almost immediately, they begin acting inappropriately, making sexual remarks and cursing excessively. All while children run around them, picking pumpkins. publicity releases, poetry or other such materials as the Editorial Board deems not to be a letter. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. the Sunday prior to the issue date.

How would you feel witnessing this?

The idea of allowing the carnival to be open to anyone, doesn’t seem too fair to the kids. Considering the carnival is on the property of a college, once the night reaches a certain hour, college-aged students are expected to flock in. One might argue that the parents should take their kids to the pumpkin patch earlier in the day, but what about the working parents that have limited hours to do such activities with their children? By keeping the carnival closed, it increases the chances of parents taking their children to a smaller pumpkin patch where Pierce students are less likely to go while intoxicated.

Violence can be a consequence of the carnival. Unfortunately, most view breaking the rules as a rush. More likely than not, after a few drinks in their system, most are more prone to do things they will likely regret because they are not in the right state of mind. Whether it be breaking the law in order to get that rush it is they are seeking or becoming aggressive and fighting. With a lot of different activities going on during the carnival, there are many opportunities for people to stir up some trouble. All it takes is one person with bad intentions, or even a misunderstanding to cause problems. With many negatives to this question, I do not think the Halloween carnival should be brought back. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Editorial Policy: The Pierce College Roundup position is presented only in the editorials. Cartoons and photos, unless run under the editorial masthead, and columns are the opinions of the creators and not necessarily that of the Roundup. The college newspaper is published as a learning experience under the college journalism instructional program. The editorial and advertising materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, are the responsibility of the student newspaper staff. Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by the virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.

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JOSE HERRERA Staff jherrera.roundupnews@gmail.com