Club Expo is a well-loved tradition where students explore and learn about the many clubs at Concord Academy. It allows the clubs to kick off the year with fundraisers and advertisement, helping them recruit new members and supplying funds to last the year. This year, Club Expo took place on Friday, September 13 in the Stu-Fac. Throughout the whole event, both floors were filled with lively chatter as club co-heads urged passerby to approach their tables.
While the event actually opened at 7:00 p.m., the preparation for Club Expo began long beforehand. During the week before the event, club co-heads made and executed a variety of plans—designing merch, baking sweets, and drawing posters. On Friday, the day of Expo, Council members helped move all of the chairs out of the Stu-Fac and arranged the tables in the correct setup. At 6:30 p.m., co-heads arrived in the Stu-Fac and arranged their merchandise, posters, and activities at their table. Finally, at 7:00 p.m., students began streaming in, eagerly browsing through the endless line of clubs.
As typical of Club Expo, the most common type of merchandise sold was clothing. To name a just few options, student could buy shirts from The Scallion, sweatshirts from Period Coalition, shorts from Volleyball Club, and hats from Business Club. There was also no shortage of food and baked goods—boba from the East Asian Student Association, cookies from Pitches, empanadas from Alianza, and samosas from the South Asian Student Society. Besides clothes and food, there were other fun sales going on, including tote bags from Ceramics Club, stickers from Outdoors Club, and a raffle for an Apple Watch from Big Data Club.
Club Expo’s excellent organization this year was evident in the map that was sent out to the whole school for convenience. The tables, as usual, were grouped by the type of club, which allowed for easy navigation. They also helpfully remained in their traditional positions, for the most part, despite the lack of outdoor space due to the risk of the Triple E virus. Returning students knew to find affinity groups near the back doors, STEM clubs in the freshmen Pit, and Tour Guides and the Centipede right at the entrance.
One past concern about Club Expo was clubs ordering a huge excess of merchandise, leading to an abundance of waste at the end of the night. This is partially due to a common misconception that clubs are supposed to sell merchandise at Club Expo—especially clothes. Head of School Malik Traore ’25 addressed this in an email sent out during the planning process for co-heads, encouraging clubs to be mindful of what they were selling and how much they were ordering. As Malik noted, clubs are not required to fundraise; in fact, Council is able to help fund activities for newer clubs who choose not to. This year, there was certainly a positive difference in waste production, as many co-heads decided to only order the merch after Club Expo to ensure they did not buy.
Overall, this year's Club Expo was a highly successful event. There was a huge turnout, with plenty of fun and delicious sales from a wide range of clubs, both new and old. Additionally, clubs were more considerate of their environmental footprint while producing merchandise. Club Expo is always a fantastic way for the community to bond over shared interests and connect with new people, and this year did not disappoint!