Forgive the criticism, but announcements should really come out earlier. I realize that a number of things might have conspired to cause for such short notice, but promotion of an activity is very important.

I had some experience with this running some activities as a Resident Assistant. We were to have our first set of promotional information out no less than a week ahead of time, two was preferable. We were also informed that we should find seven different types of promotion, each time you see a different piece of promotional material, the more likely you're to remember the specifics of the activity and wish to become involved.

Create a couple of graphics, design a few pretty HTML emails, perhaps creating an associated webpage that will display the pertinent information, IM people and have them pass the word on also, announce the competition on the message boards, perhaps use one or a couple of your graphics there to draw some interest.

I don't mean to be critical, and I don't mean to be lecturing. These are some basic principles that I found to be rather valuable. I personally have performed at both ends of the spectrum as an RA. I had a couple of horribly attended programs early in my time as an RA and I had some moderately successful programs, which were true successes when one considers that I had an upper-class male hall in a university known for a somewhat apathetic student body . . .

I had heard that the OHC wasn't as popular as some had hoped, I thought part of the problem was having less than 42 hours between formal announcement and commencement of activities. Thanks for reading, and I hope that a few of you find this to be helpful.