Club Expo is a place for the community to discover and dive into new and old passions together, and it is an annual tradition at Concord Academy. This year’s event took place on Friday, September 9. Clubs and affinity groups lined the Stu-Fac with tables, with a few extending onto the patio, too. The function was booming with music, overlapping chatter, and a strong sense of community for students and staff alike!
Many clubs utilized different ‘marketing’ strategies to attract prospective members, ranging from raffles for a self care basket (Self Care Club) to cute sticker merchandise (Medical Club, Plant Club, etc.) and baked goods and candies (Lawrence Concord Action Partnership, Head Tour Guides, and others.) Students would sign their name onto a club sheet or even help fund the club by buying merchandise designed by the students. Olivia Kim ’26 described Club Expo, saying, “It was super fun—really crowded, but not overwhelming. There were lots of fun booths on display.” Generally, students seemed to enjoy purchasing club merchandise the most, and a majority of students signed up for an amount of clubs too large to remember.
Many people chipped in to help prepare for Club Expo. Big Data, Brain Science, and Sensational Club co-head Irene Jiang ’24 explained, “The planning process wasn’t very difficult because I was only in charge of the poster-drawing and food-shopping tasks.” However, she also mentioned how other club’s co-heads and her fellow co-heads made the extra effort to cook, design merchandise, and keep track of calculations and applications. Irene said, “Overall, I think it [Club Expo] went pretty well. I was just a little socially awkward at the beginning because my second Sensational co-head was missing and this was my first time as co-head [...] However, after this experience, I feel like I would be much more comfortable at next year’s Club Expo!”
Others who helped make Club Expo possible included the Student Head and Vice Head of School Jay Talwar ’23 and Katie Tran ’23. When asked about the preparation process, Jay said, “Overall, the planning process went really well! The main components in the planning phase were organizing the clubs in the map, ensuring that clubs had the necessary items from the kitchen, and finalizing the times [... All-School] Council and club co-heads all arrived on time, [so] the process went smoothly!” Katie agreed, adding, “Cleanup [...] went especially well! Jay and I had planned to take 45 minutes for cleanup, [but] everything was almost cleaned up after only 25 minutes, which was amazing!” They also wanted to thank Dean of Students Grant Hightower and Student Life Office Assistant Jacquie Diffley for their help in coordinating this Club Expo.
Both Jay and Katie agreed there were improvements from last year’s event. This year’s Club Expo lasted shorter than previous years’, which helped keep energy levels high. In addition, students had access to the map with all clubs before the event started, which helped them plan where to go, and the music was quiet enough that people could hear each other.
Increasing efficiency is another goal for future improvements. Bernie Mattox ’26 suggested that Club Expo should start earlier, as many day students were leaving school past 10 p.m. Jay also suggested implementing a digital attendance process, which would have reduced time spent waiting in line to enter.
When asked about their favorite Club Expo activities from this year, Jay said, “I personally liked the way in which [South Asian Student Society] coheads were willing to do henna designs on your hand—very interesting!” Katie loved Book Club’s book recommendations, Green Club’s air plants, and SASS’s henna, too. She enjoys when clubs have activities that are collaborative and personal.
Club Expo was highly fun for the student body. The event brought the community together through a fun and well-planned night and also helped students form connections over mutual passions!