Wanda serves tea and scones at our London Fog pop-up event. Increasing Engagement Through Pop-Up Events Ginnie Dunleavy Executive Director Auxiliary Services Rhode Island School of Design dining points are a key part of meal plan utilization. With safety precautions necessary during the pandemic, we were forced to make several major pivots. For example, we closed our intimate cafés and utilized grubhub to provide contactless service, thus limiting the amount of pointfriendly options offered. Even with the addition of a virtual market, moving all of our vending to accept dining points usage was an ongoing concern for our team. Our students were also missing out on much of the social college dining experience, so we looked for a solution that would engage the students. Our team brainstormed a wide variety of ideas, landing on hosting popup events around campus. These events allowed us to engage closed venues in order to provide a more complete dining experience. Pop-up events included providing local donuts and cider or made-to-order cookies and coffee milk (a Rhode Island favorite), featuring local restaurants, and offering late-night sushi. These dining-points-only events happened throughout the year. social media was effectively utilized to build excitement. Inspired by popularity, we are scheduled to roll out a regular late-night concept called Cereal stop. This student favorite pop-up will provide a fun late-night snack option and an opportunity to socialize while watching classic cartoons. Town and gown opportunities were realized by engaging local restaurants as students weren't able to explore the city as much due to the pandemic. during Black History Month we partnered with black-owned businesses incorporating Zoom chats to showcase local talent. Points usage was not an issue at the end of the year. Our team had the opportunity to be creative and engage our students and community-a win that added a little bit of fun to an otherwise very difficult year! gUEsT INTERACTION | CAMPUS DINING TODAY 31