On October 11th, 2019, we, along with Jakarta Street Kids and Surf Aid hosted the Swimdonesia event of 2019. This event went considerably better than last year, as we were more prepared and improved on our mistakes from last year. However, there were still issues and problems we faced. To reflect on this, we can use the SWOT Analysis or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
Strengths:
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- A lot of people showed up, including a few middle and high schoolers which are quite unusual for such events as many students in this age range, mainly high schoolers, are not as willing to give up time to support a service event even if it involves something really fun like a giant obstacle course. Also, this was in spite of the quite short advertising period which I think was about two weeks.
- Sold some surf mud (more sustainable sunblock cream)
- A lot of young kids, mainly primary school, showed up to go on the destroyer and play in the water play area from, and there were still about 20 people who still wanted to go on the Destroyer (the obstacle course) at 7:30. So it was very popular. When we started the event, almost a hundred kids ran to wait in line and that was exciting to see
- Our GC helped a bit in food stalls and we sold a lot of pizza and a few drinks as well as other food.
- The Swim for Life went well as always.
- Regular announcements as well as publicity on our cause and why we are hosting this event
- Lifeguards and no one got seriously injured.
- Quite a few people stayed back to help clean up.
Time was utilised effectively by cleaning up early
Weaknesses:
- Almost no one came to our stall to buy our stuff and I don’t think we sold anything. Also, the only thing we could sell was Surf Mud (a zinc cream that is more sustainable than regular sunscreen). So from that perspective, we couldn’t help our GC or NGO (Gili Eco Trust), however, the sales from the tickets were really good.
- Not enough water safety people
- Not everyone from our GC showed up or couldn’t make it (or perhaps skipped)
- The lines were sometimes ridiculously long and it kept a lot of people waiting, this caused people to try and cut the queue.
- The event was not targeted to parents, adults and older students (although some came)
- Perhaps not everyone understood the cause despite the announcements, which could be because of the Destroyer is a big part of the event
- Although most of the Destroyer and stalls were set up, we were not as prepared as we could be, for instance, our banner was in the wrong place, it took a while for the event to start rolling and took a while to get the hose in place.
- The bands would sometimes fall off in the water
- The was sometimes problems with checking the wristband (ticket) as there are parents who just need to pick their children up and it could be causing confusion who get to pass and who isn’t.
- We didn’t have that many opportunities to interview the swimmers because they were hesitant and they said no to us
- The instruction for some roles were not clear-for instance people doing water safety didn’t really know what exactly to do in the water (or even where to start in the first place until asked a teacher) Additionally some roles were also assigned to people in our GC and another GC, communication was lacking in that there was overlap of roles.
- An excess of sugar for the candy floss machine – not estimating consumption well enough?
- Switching roles-sometimes hard to find the next person after the 1-hour slot is finished
- Wristband check seemed redundant because they were already checked by wristband sales
- Most people were only there until 4:30 to take the activities bus
Opportunities:
- For food sales, collaborating with sustainable food distributors
- Advertising to parents, using it as an opportunity to educate them on issues relevant to GET → spread it to the community through them
- Communicate better with other GCs
- Selling other products, finding other successes like Surf Mud
- Starting advertising earlier so it is fresh in people’s minds at the beginning of the year
- Perhaps the last meeting before the event can have all the relevant GCs meet together to clarify
- As an MC we are allowed to hype up the event and keep everyone’s energy going.
- Merge the food ticket and entry ticket stall
- Roles should be distributed to GC’s as early as possible, so that extra manpower can be calculated and games can be planned ahead of time with all variables in mind.
Threats:
- Not everyone from our GC could attend and that could be because they were willing to, although a few came. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think its a good idea, or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.
- Some events happened on the same day as Swimdonesia such as Friday Night Lights and other sports events, as well as regular activities. Also, MUN (Model United Nations) had a conference on that day.
- Only the near school community are allowed to join (due to Singapore regulations)
- Unable to do all the activities we had hoped because of the short time frame.
- Some disorganization around sessions before the event (G10 and G11 3-way conferences caused confusion)
- Need more merchandise to sell
- We had to work very long tiring hours, we stayed for the whole event which was a bit boring because we didn’t have much to do.
- Didn’t communicate enough with other GCs – unorganized distribution of roles through time, as sometimes too many people (until 5) and then not enough (later on) – especially Water safety
- The destroyer was the biggest attraction- if it rains almost no one will show up.
In order to improve we need to:
- stricter rules and make sure everyone in our GC comes
- Get of class earlier to help set up
- Make sure we have more time to prepare, advertise and be ready for the event during the weeks leading up to it.
- Have more time to prepare for other activities to cater for more people
- Include activities and amenities that will attract a larger audience so more donations and proceedings going to our NGOs and cause.
- Be more organised
- Have a line system organised and more activities so the lines don’t have to be so long.
