Clubs Fair Tips: Tabling

Last updated: ~~TBA~~August 5, 2026

Feeling unsure about tabling at Clubs Fair? Read through this guide to learn some new skills!

Tabling

Most of us who are members of student groups have been to Clubs Fair and seen tabling happen in person, and some of us have even tabled ourselves. Tabling can seem daunting and challenging if you’ve never done it before, though. It can be hard to talk to so many different people, while also trying to sound interesting, engaging, and pitching your group’s value. So in a sea of tables, how are you supposed to grab people’s attention? Definitely not by soliciting!

Soliciting

Per the Clubs Fair Operating Guidelines, no monitor is permitted to approach other patrons at Clubs Fair in order to promote their service, unless approached first. In other words, solicitation is prohibited during Clubs Fair. So what counts as solicitation? This list isn’t exhaustive, but you cannot do the following:

Calling out to passersby
Shoving pamphlets in people’s faces
Walking through Clubs Fair with a sandwich board or flag and being disruptive
Airdropping advertisements for your group to people’s phones or other devices

If an attendee comes up to you and says hi, this is your chance to start a conversation! Not sure where to start? We have three great steps for this: Ask, Respond, and Conclude, also known as the ARC Method.

ARC
Method

Ask: Learn More and Listen Actively

Asking open ended questions helps you tailor your recruiting efforts to the person in front of you. Learning more about the potential member can help you figure out if they’re a good fit for your group, too. Consider questions like these:

What drew your attention to our table?
What do you want to gain from this year?
What year are you going into?
What are you looking forward to from your university experience?

Active listening goes beyond just hearing what someone is saying. It also covers paying attention to non-verbal cues from yourself and from them. Make sure your body language is open and inviting when you’re tabling so you can have an engaging conversation with your potential members. Remember the acronym SOLAR:

Sit/stand squarely
Open posture
Lean towards the other
Appropriate eye contact
Relax

Respond: Answer Questions and Provide Information

Once you know a bit more about the person and you’re both comfortable, you can provide responses that fit what they’re looking for! Try to be clear, concise, and connect your response back to what the person told you. If you are talking to a first year student who is looking to make friends, make sure you emphasize the social aspects of membership and how they can last throughout their degree. If they are an upper year student who wants to volunteer more, talk up the service opportunities you provide and discuss how it can fit into their schedule as they finish their degree.

They may even respond to you by asking YOU questions about your group. Sometimes, people have tough questions. It’s helpful to plan in advance and come up with answers to frequently asked questions and some that may be harder to answer for your regular members. Here are some potential questions you can prep for:

What is this club about?
What is the time commitment of joining this group?
Are there membership fees or other financial obligations?
Do you offer leadership opportunities?
What kinds of activities do you do?

Conclude: Collect Information and Follow Up

Students have a lot of things going on in their lives. They might be interested in your group, but then the chaos of syllabus week carries them away! You should always ensure you can contact every single person that was interested in your group. Invite them to leave their contact information, and be sure to contact them in a timely manner and with details about how to get involved so you stay on their mind!

Whether you are collecting emails for a mailing list or asking people to commit to being a member on the spot, you need to keep privacy laws in mind. When you invite people to provide you with their information, you must ensure you tell them what it will be used for, how it will be stored by the club, and how long the club will use the information. These details should be written down for students to make it easier for them to understand. For example, if you are using a Google form, include this in the opening description.

As per the University of Alberta’s Information and Privacy Office (IPO) on Campus, you should only collect, use and access the least amount of information to perform your duties. Ask yourself, is this something I “need to know” or is it something “nice to know”? For example, if you only need to know if a student is an undergraduate or graduate student, collect that instead of their year of study. There are also some things you simply cannot collect, such as healthcare numbers, social insurance numbers, or student ID numbers.

Tabling is a fantastic way to get more members for your student group, and by preparing in advance, you can set your group up for success!

~~Make~~

Tabling sureWorkshop

We know that tabling can be quite challenging, this year we are offering student group leaders the opportunity to attend a workshop to give you ~~have~~the ~~everything~~skills you need byto ~~reading~~get ~~through~~the ~~our~~most ~~prep~~out ~~checklist~~.of ~~See~~your ~~you~~time at Fall Clubs ~~Fair!~~Fair.

The workshop will take place on August 31, 2026 at the Orion room, located on the lower level of SUB and will take place from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM. Sign ups for the tabling workshop will be accepted until August 17th, 2026.

Tabling Workshop Sign Up