It’s that time of the year, folks. Penn State’s virtual Involvement Fair is set to kick off on Tuesday, August 25 to bring clubs and organizations together to market themselves to potential new numbers.

However, we won’t see a large sea of poster boards this week. Instead, there will be 30-second videos from clubs, updated pages on OrgCentral, and even a YouTube livestream where clubs will have five minutes to pitch themselves to eager students.

It can all be confusing, especially if you’re a freshman and have no idea what to look for. To help make your trip to the virtual Involvement Fair a bit easier, keep these tricks, tips, and links in mind this week.

OrgCentral

OrgCentral is the center of the virtual Involvement Fair. Here, you can find all of the clubs and orgs that are offered at Penn State. Also, you can browse some of the events going on in certain clubs, what time they are, and where they are located. If you see something you are interested in, you can mark it on your calendar and reach out to the club.

There are a lot of clubs on OrgCentral, and it can possibly be as overwhelming as the regular Involvement Fair. It’s best to come into the search with a theme in mind with what clubs you’d like to join. Do you want to be involved with THON? Narrow your searches to THON orgs and committees. Do you want to do something in connection with your major? Look at academics-related clubs. Interested in student government? Focus on political clubs and orgs. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

There are so many options available, it may be too much to keep track off. So go in with a focus if you can. And if you have no idea what you want to do, that’s completely okay too. Just make sure to pace yourself when going through all of the clubs.

FlipGrid

FlipGrid is where clubs recorded their 30-second videos to showcase their club. At the time of writing, 361 clubs have recorded a video. There are 19 different categories that people can choose from when looking for clubs.

Like OrgCentral, it’s best to have a few ideas in mind before heading into FlipGrid. This tool is nicer in that it isn’t nearly as overstimulating as OrgCentral, as just a third of clubs choose to use it.

Not all of the clubs are represented on FlipGrid, and you may find that there isn’t a club that interests you on there. But the fact that you can hear from people in the club talk about it rather than read words on a page is something that is much more helpful, and more reminiscent of a traditional Involvement Fair.

YouTube Livestream

Not every club will be represented on the YouTube livestream, but it is a very cool way to hear from a club that may be of interest to you. The Involvement Fair released a schedule of which clubs will be on the ivestream, so it will be easy to pick and choose who you’d like to see.

The livestream will take place over a span of three days and will be recorded if you can’t attend. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 25, 26, and 27. Since there aren’t that many clubs that will be showcased, it isn’t the best option to solely rely on. However, if one of the clubs you are interested in is speaking, you should definitely plan on watching the stream for that specific club.

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It’s going to be a different experience this year, but the Involvement Fair will still be exciting and informative. Everyone will have a chance to find a new group of friends or a new adventure — two things we could all use these days.