Where’s the free stuff??

As you may have noticed, for a site about freebies on and around campus, there has been a definite lack of, well, actual freebie postings. Here’s the skinny: the past few months have been a bit of a trial run, both with regards to setting up this site, and with exploring avenues related to finding free stuff and deals. In the meantime, the intention has been to connect with the students and everyone else who has come to read the site. These postings about social media and Web 2.0 are meant to not only inform readers about these topics, but to include them in the journey of setting up this site.

So, to everyone reading this, thanks for checking out the site now and through the past few months! And please keep reading. Free On Campus will be expanding in the next few months, and will soon become the fully-reliable source of free stuff and cheap deals it is meant to be. Stay tuned!

“A Piece for Peace”

Freebie alert!

Where: Monday, November 8, 12:00-2:00 at the entrance tables in the SUB

What: The Jewish Student Association (JSA) and Israel on Campus (IOC) are giving away free pieces of cake in the SUB building. Why? Because the club seeks to bring together Jewish students and lovers of peace in a socially accepting atmosphere where things like peace and life can be discussed. Also, Irina wanted me to tell you to “come out to support a message for peace with cake, a button, and an info for a free (and inspirational) movie screening that evening.”

Also, these groups have a FREE BAGEL giveaway EVERY TUESDAY in the SUB! Come if you are interested in learning more about these clubs, or if you are interested in connecting with the Jewish community on campus.

Thanks Irina and Carrie for the scoop!

Free food . . . AND yoga!

Just saw someone putting up this sign on the University Centre wall . . .

That someone was Jenny, who runs the UVic Yoga club. If you go for the yoga, stay for the food!

If you are interested in the UVic Yoga club, but you can’t make it to the SUB tomorrow, you can email Jenny for more information: yoga@uvic.ca

UPDATE (Wednesday): If you can’t make it today, the yoga club is having a bake sale in the ECS main lobby tomorrow. Not free, but cheap baked goods! The proceeds are going to Kidsport, a local charity that provides extracurricular actitives to underprivileged children. Go support!

Fight the fall chill with a “free” blanket..

Saw this in the SUB building today:

That’s a nice blanket! It looks so warm and I especially love the way it deftly covers that pesky Mastercard logo underneath. That’s my heads-up for you; if you love it enough, feel free to sign up for the “free” blanket, complete with inflated interest and a big headache when another bill starts showing up. The table is right beside the Michelle Pujol room (which is hosting a career fair right now).

It really is a nice blanket, though.

 

What is the cost of “free”?

As the ball begins to roll with this blog, and connections are developed to make this site a more effective place to find all the best deals, the next few posts will be about how the realm of social media is changing, and how you, the student, can make the most of new developments. This first post will address the cost of “free,” and will be followed by a post with a couple of early leads into free and cheap things to find both on the UVic campus and around town.

Okay, let’s talk about what it costs you to get a freebie. It seems too obvious to get into the discussion about the perils of signing up for a credit card just to get a free Salmon Kings t-shirt (don’t do it!), but it is important to understand the nature of a giveaway. Some freebies come obligation-free, or require only your presence (such as the freebie smorgasbord at the recent UVic lip-dub event). Some generous givers ask for an optional sign-up to get a freebie (I’ve attended a few free pizza giveaways by student societies who are simply looking for potentially interested new members). There was also a free hot dog giveaway this summer by a group who were looking for signers to support a higher education program for first nations individuals.

Most of the free things you’ll find, on this site and on your own, will require little or no commitment on your point. But here are some things you may be asked to offer up:

• Your name
• Phone number or email address
• Your time (this is probably the most likely price)
• Your social insurance number, a vial of blood, and your firstborn child

The last one is a stretch, though it is not unheard of to be asked for a SIN number. Here is a short passage from an about.com article on protecting your privacy with regards to freebies:

http://freebies.about.com/od/notbargains/qt/privacy-and-freebies.htm

Of course it’s up to you to decide what you are willing to give up in exchange for something free. But be aware that the more precious the information, the less worthwhile the freebie is. The best free things are those that attract attention or publicity to a group or event, not those that treat a freebie as a trade for information and/or your highly valuable time.

Who wants free pizza?

Every fall, students are surrounded by giant posters that offer things like “free pancake breakfast in the SUB building!” or “Free ice cream . . . everywhere!”. Usually, these signs are put up within a day or two of the actual giveaway. I imagine that regardless of the brevity of these advertisements that at least a few students show up.

If the name of the game is to attract people to whatever event/gathering you are holding through free food giveaways, then you want a lot of people to see your signs, right? Often, given the time constraints, there are just a few big banners thrown up in high-visibility areas; a big sign offering free pancakes is probably the best strategy for generating some quick interest.

A problem arises, though. Let’s say that poster goes up on Monday morning, for a Wednesday morning pancake breakfast hosted by the engineering students’ society. Students have two days to see the sign, and decide whether to wake up early for some pancake goodness. But what about the students who miss the sign? They might not only be interested in pancakes, but in engineering, too.

This blog is intended to become a place where students can check regularly to find out all the free giveaways, be it food, t shirts, concerts, or whatever. This will require me putting my feelers out into the campus groups, organizations, and clubs, and reporting back with the things I’ve found. This blog will also be a place where these groups, organizations, and clubs (and students!) can post if they hear about something I haven’t. I’ll be spending a few months building up this blog, working out kinks, and documenting my progress. The eventual goal is to fine-tune it into something that can be launched as a dedicated domain website sometime in the next few months.

Along the way, I’ll make postings about the evolution of this blog. Eventually, I’d like to add an RSS feed, so that students can receive notifications of giveaways on their phones. My ultimate goal is to make this idea catch on on other campuses, and build an online community of college and university students. When this happens, who knows what this site will look like?

So this is the official launch of my “Free On Campus” blog. Stay tuned, while I go out this week and start finding the freebies!

Oh and while I’m looking, here are a few local sites that might have some good giveaways (you should already know them):

• Craigslist Victoria freebies: http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/zip/
• Used Victoria (if not free, then cheap!): http://www.usedvictoria.com/
• Times Colonist freebies (the ol’ fashioned way!): http://victoriatimescolonist.oodle.com/