Thoughts On Tabling (And Free Rejection Therapy)

Just this past Tuesday (it's Thursday now as I write this), I got to experience a classical tradition of most campus club officers — tabling. This time though, I wasn't doing it for an org I was an officer for, just one I was associated with and had won various awards in, to promote and inform students of the amazing experiences and opportunities I went through with the Meloy Program.

Going into it — setting the tables and flyers up with some of the other fellows — I had the notion that we would be engaging with underclassmen and giving our insights and experiences to them.

Well, I was quite wrong about this.

Instead, I got some free rejection therapy, and I saw how customer-facing roles especially need thick skin for being ignored. It was still an enjoyable time talking with the other fellows I was tabling with, but I definitely have some thoughts for ways to improve the process.

First of all, from my experience through traveling — especially places with heavy tourist traffic like in Japan — what I realized is that people just need something they can see and hopefully go: "Ooh, aah" in response. Something that sparks the initial curiosity of the passerby.

My favorite example of this was in Haneda Airport, where there was this long line of stores, all with interesting and eye-catching items… but which one got all the attention?

Figure 1. Papabubble @ Haneda Airport

Imagine, if you will, a colorful store with a big glass box and a lady with a crew inside rolling and cutting hard candy while giving fun commentary on their process. This dramatization of creating their candies hooked the onlookers’ curiosity and converted into many times more sales than the stores surrounding them.

But anyways, back to tabling.

Next time, I'm just going to bring a sign that says:
"They Paid Me $10,000 to Stand Here."