My Experience as SCIA’s Director of Marketing
By: Tamanna Sood ‘24
One of my favorite orgs that I chose to be a part of this year was USC’S SCIA (Southern California Indo-Americans). I applied to be on E-board as on a whim at the beginning of the semester because I wanted to join a club that would connect me to my culture. I really didn’t know what to expect when I had interviewed for the position, but I had enough marketing experience from a previous job that made me feel comfortable with the process. The interview went really well and I was given the position.
Our final meeting + senior sendoff :,)
Before I joined SCIA, I really didn’t know what exactly the club did and operated because my Freshman year was entirely online and I was experiencing the club world of USC first-hand. From the looks of it SCIA seemed like a fun social club, but through my experience being on e-board, I got to learn that it was so much more than that.
Brunch with the girls!
Being SCIA’s Director of Marketing taught me a lot about marketing and engaging a crowd. I had worked in marketing before, but it was mostly for products or books. Having to market events was a whole new ball-game. Not only did flyers need to represent the event and the Desi community, they needed to be engaging enough to get people to come to the event. I was able to learn about design and social media marketing. It also taught me the importance of word of mouth marketing.
I was also able to make a really good group of friends through the E-board. Some of my closest friends are through the E-board. We met together for at least an hour a week for the entirety of the past year. I was able to meet people across different majors and classes that I would have not been able to meet or interact with otherwise. Being able to have junior and senior friends to talk to and get advice throughout the year was really helpful for me.
After a successful Holi~!
I also learned how difficult event management can be and how hard it can be to please a crowd. SCIA is known to throw large social party-like events for the Desi community. These events can garner up to 100 or 150 people in a night. The e-board who plans these events is only comprised of ten people. Without proper planning and execution, these events can crash and burn because of the sheer size of these events. Being on SCIA’s eboard taught me a lot of skills on how to go about managing events and what is the best way to keep people engaged.
Though the year was tough and some of the events SCIA threw failed, being on E-board taught me a lot about the power of passion. If I didn’t see how hard people behind the scenes were working or if I didn’t have the same kind of passion or dedication, being on E-board would feel like a-lot of work with not much reward. However, knowing that you’ve created a safe space and fun event for a community is something that I find really rewarding.
All in all, I would highly recommend any incoming Trojans or current Trojans to put yourselves out there and take a risk sometimes. It might lead you to some really great friendships and a fun time!
A pic with the besties!
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