Association invests in new website, conference and application
A combination of savings and profits from this year’s frosh events allowed the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association (CASA) to re-allocate its funds. The money was invested in a new website, the development of a student-life app, and a trip to the National Business School Conference for almost all CASA executives in Winnipeg, which happened this past weekend.
According to Tristan Lessard, CASA’s vice president of finance, budgeting and spending at frosh in September “has been the best financial performance in years.” The five day Shrek-themed events cost CASA $161,000, falling under their budgeted $170,000.
Lessard credited “shaking things up” in making this year’s frosh events popular, as the attendance was significantly higher than last year’s three day frosh event. “We had to plan the money better because we had to plan events that had never been done before,” said Lessard.
The net revenue from CASA’s frosh was $125,000 instead of their projected $100,000 revenue. Lessard said the $35,000 profit is from their budget savings and higher-than-expected revenue. With that money, CASA’s website got a $6,000 renovation, according to Lessard; CASA also spent $500 on the frosh events’s website.
The idea of creating a student-life app was brought up before frosh, but was not seriously considered due to its cost, said Lessard. However, CASA’s savings allowed them to invest in the app.
“The goal is to increase student engagement, […] to give people an easier way to access all the information they need from CASA and from the school,” said Lessard. The cost of the application is $23,000, which is being paid in installments, according to Lessard and this year, CASA will pay $10,000. Lessard consulted with HEC Montréal as they have a similar app, and decided it’s a lucrative investment, since the association will make money from the sponsors of the app, which may include banks.
The rest of the money from frosh’s revenue allowed for all CASA executives to attend a business conference, which cost $11,000, according to Lessard.
“The goal of the Shrek ears was really to hype up the event,” said Lessard. CASA spent $917 on 950 pairs of Shrek ears, in accordance to the Shrek theme. The association also spent close to $1,400 on a giant inflatable Shrek, almost 20 feet tall. Although CASA President Karina Bosca thought it was a silly expense, Lessard convinced her it was for marketing purposes and would bring many people to their event.
“As surprising as it sounds, McGill is renting it for one of their events in January,” said Lessard. “So we’ll be getting back money at the end of the day; it ended up being a super good expense.”
As for the foam at CASA’s beach day during frosh, the machine and the staff members running it cost roughly $1,300. “The foam was something new this year,” said Lessard. “But it wasn’t as cool as we thought […] sometimes you win some you lose some.”
Graphic by @spooky_soda.
