Canadian Organization of Campus Activities

Education Sessions

Education

Education Streams:
  • Events & Programming
  • Student Clubs
  • Marketing & Design
  • Esports
  • Professional Development


Programming & Events 101

This introductory-level session strives to have information that can be applied to various streams. It will cover basic planning steps: from conceptualization to execution of events. Topics include booking venues, managing budget, strategic planning, managing a team on site, ticketing, crowd management, and more.

Live Programming

This session aims to cover several topics about working with booking artists and working with agencies. How to engage with artists and agencies, the art of negotiating, the science of group booking with other schools, finding artists that align with your campus, and more will be touched upon in this session. It will also address the basics of production and technical set up for live performances. 

Risk Management

This session covers a basic understanding of risk and risk prevention, touching on defining different types of risk. 

Multipurpose Venue Programming

Examine how to use various venues to their fullest potential and determine which type of venue is best for your event. Taking into account low-cost, high engagement in various formats, this session will also compare small group events and activations with larger events, while focusing on acquiring deep engagement at all levels. We will explore different levels of programming, how they appeal to different student crowds, and how to improve engagement based on venue.

EDI Programming

Create programming that is culturally competent – taking cultural awareness into consideration and applying a sensitivity and understanding in order to address any potential prejudices. Examine actionable vs. performative allyship when it comes to programming, noting the difference between acknowledging biases and practices in place vs. taking action to make positive changes in favour of diversity and inclusivity of various cultural groups. This will also touch on ways to attract audiences who want to learn about EDI concepts in programming.

Brandy Identity: Developing Your Brand Voice

This session aims to touch on learning how to recognize a brand voice and why it is important. Attendees can practice developing a brand voice, while seeing and creating content written in a brand voice. It can also focus on defining and differentiating your brand voice from other professional voices, and tips and strategies to teach your design teams to recognize and work within your organization’s brand voice.

Visual Storytelling: Engaging Audiences Through Design

Learn about how to use design, on multiple platforms, to reach audiences on a deep, compelling, and lasting level, while including all of the relevant information you need to. This session could also touch on using branded templates, creating mobile content in an effective and timely manner, and being engaging and informative while working within existing parameters.

AI in Marketing & Design

This session aims to examine how AI can be used, responsibly and effectively, as a tool in every stage of the design process, highlighting the positives (e.g. time optimization) but without replacing the creative process. It will touch on the ethics of AI use in design (e.g. originality, intellectual property, bias, accessibility, etc.) as well as some current major pitfalls and deficiencies with AI design and how they can be addressed. This session can also look at how AI prompts can be structured to match the aims of your branding, i.e. how you can make the language commonly used by AI work for your brand voice.

Building Promotions / Street Teams

This session covers recruitment, management, training, and best practices for team functionality, including blending personalities, assigning work, assessing performance, and establishing responsibilities and workflows. It will address functional day-to-day operations, such as tabling versus being mobile, keeping your team motivated, and making your team stand out. This session will also address ways to get team members to contribute to promotional strategies, based on their needs as a student, and touch on brainstorming sessions, facilitating pop-ups, and differentiating between general promotion vs. specialized (e.g. Days of Significance).

Developing an Annual Communication Strategy and Workflows

This session explores identifying what key messages are for a campaign and being able to identify members of a project team that need to be involved in key message development. It can also touch on making informed decisions, recognizing notable dates, strategies for collecting/documenting content, formulating outcomes, and remembering the “why” for programming that is being marketed.

Interactive Marketing Campaigns: Engaging Audiences in the Digital Age

Learn how to create interactive content for your SU/SA (e.g. polls, surveys, etc.) and how to use analytics to develop better outreach and impact with your audience. We want to look at various types of marketing campaigns (e.g. experiential vs. email campaigns) and discuss how schools can use information gained from data to personalize content most effectively for their student body.

Clubs 101

This introductory session will cover “everything” beginners need to know about clubs and student groups, touching on the differences between colleges and universities, funding, events, marketing, etc.). It will talk about registration and maintaining membership and engagement, as well as club collaboration (internal, such as club-to-club, and external, such as club to community) and event planning for clubs.


Club Department Events and Initiatives
This session will talk about how you can enhance your department with events specific to clubs (e.g. executive meetings and trainings, club fairs, club conferences, etc.) and explore strategies for incorporating departmental initiatives into your semesterly and annual planning, working with club coordinators to execute these events. Different schools would be encouraged to share their best practices and strategies, keeping in mind participant numbers, budget, and student interest, and give feedback on different club management software being used.

Dealing with Club Conflicts

Tackle various conflicts that exist within and between clubs, as well as externally (e.g. with the college or external partners). Share your experiences and strategies and talk about when it is best to mediate or to get assistance from your Student Rights and Responsibilities departments.

Navigating Workplace Conflict / Building Community

How to navigate difficult conversations in the workplace. This session will explore strategies on building resilience and normalizing healthy conflict. Recognizing healthy and unhealthy conflict and knowing when to involve mediation (or HR). It will also touch on enhanced conflict resolution skills, improving communication, and strategies for fostering positive workplace interactions.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Effective Leadership

This session will look at what emotional intelligence is and look at how emotional intelligence at work can improve relationship building and conflict resolution. It can offer strategies for building and improving EI within and between various levels of management, including the five key elements: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

Time Management in Leadership: Balancing Responsibilities and Delegation

This session will offer strategies for time management in the SU/SA environment. Touching on tools and strategies, including proactive prioritization, reducing distraction, setting boundaries and learning to say no, breaking down tasks, and utilizing tools and software to enhance overall productivity and improve efficiency.

Work/Life Balance & Burnout: Management, Strategies, and Resources

Focus on understanding the characteristics of a healthy work-life balance, recognizing the symptoms of burnout and fatigue, and exploring different stress management strategies. This session should acknowledge that people have individual needs and offer ways to cater self-care practices to specific persons, perhaps offer a strategizing or tool-building “kit” for creating self-care routines and practices.


MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!


© Copyright 2025 COCA.  All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • Education Sessions
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software