Noonsong's favorite school event is the Cheongpa festival and, so far, she has enjoyed the Cheongpa Festival every year. However, she was very disappointed that the Cheongpa Festival was held online in 2020 due to COVID-19. So, with no expectation, she participated in the 2020 Online Cheongpa Festival. She expected that she would not feel the same emotions as when she participated in the offline Cheongpa Festival before. On the contrary, the online Cheongpa Festival was very fun using the strengths of being online. She enjoyed the Cheongpa festival while eating delicious food at her own comfortable place. After the festival, thinking about the advantages of online festivals over offline ones, Noonsong cannot wait for the upcoming online 2021 Cheongpa Festival.
The festival that Sookmyungians LOVE
Going back to the 2020 Cheongpa Festival, it was held in a chaotic situation due to COVID-19, but there were various programs using non-face-to-face channels. 'Tutorial: be myself' was the slogan of the 2020 Cheongpa Festival, and its meaning was the time of looking at "me." In other words, throughout the whole online Cheongpa Festival, students could concentrate more on "themselves" than "others." The main programs of the 2020 Cheongpa Festival were 'Tutorial: Choose a Character', '2020 Cheongpa Festival Online Booth', and 'Cheongpa Festival Tutorial Stage Emoti;con'. In 'Tutorial: Choose a Character', there were four emotional characters, each of which were uploaded to Sookmyungians' personal SNS accounts to represent recent feelings. This event was intended to create time to listen only to the feelings of "me" in the tired period of COVID-19. In the past, the Cheongpa Festival was held every year on the hill of the Myungshin and Sunheon Buildings. However, the '2020 Cheongpa Festival Online Booth' was held online through the smart store website. Various product groups had been prepared, including candles, posters, and other goods. Last, the 'Cheongpa Festival Tutorial Stage Emoti;con' was held in the following order: 'Healing Song to You Stage Version', 'Club Performance', 'Let's Empty the Gallery', 'Music Talk with Jaurim', and closing. 'Emoti;con' is a combination of "emotional" and "concert," which means that a healing stage was held with stories about one's feelings and experiences. In particular, 'Music Talk with Band Jaurim' was a program in which the singer 'Jaurim' appeared as a guest to play songs that match each story sent by Sookmyungians and give warm consolation with advice for the students' stories that had been collected in advance. In a difficult situation, the 2020 Cheongpa Festival took advantage of the online situation to encourage students to take the time to find "me" in everyday life which can easily be obscured by "other people's" emotions.
Following the 2020 festival, the upcoming 2021 Festival will be held online from November 3rd to 5th. It includes opening/closing ceremonies, stage performances, alumna talk shows, games, etc. Unlike previous festivals, which simply focused on inviting celebrities, the 2021 Cheongpa Festival will be organized around the alumna who shined at Sookmyung. Also, the emergency committee would like to hold a successful online stage performance on November 5th. While the club stage performances were not allowed in 2020 due to COVID-19, the 2021 Cheongpa Festival will hold them at the closing ceremony. Especially, they are planning to hold the closing ceremony for the 115th anniversary as a grand event for Sookmyung. The Cheongpa Festival is a representative festival of Sookmyung Women's University that has been enjoyed yearly by Sookmyungians for a long time. As a medium for communication, it is expected to enhance the bonds and solidarity between alumna and enrolled students.
[Tutorial : Be myself] was it successful?
Before the 2021 Cheongpa Festival, SMT conducted a survey to find out the satisfaction level of the previous online event. According to the survey, 40 out of 52 (77%) did not participate in the 2020 festival.1) Among them, 39 out of 40 responded to the reason for their absence. 12 out of 40 (30.7%) were freshmen students in 2021, so they couldn't participate in the festival. 10 out of 40 (25.6%) answered that they did not know that the festival was held. 7 out of 40 (17.9%) respondents said that they had another appointment at the same time. 9 out of 40 (23%) said the contents were not interesting. SMT interviewed one anonymous respondent who did not participate in the 2020 Cheongpa Festival. She said that "the festival is meaningful as Sookmyungians enjoy and make it themselves, but in 2020, she thought there would be only a few people who participated and enjoyed it." So, she felt skeptical about attending an online festival. Other anonymous respondents who also did not participate said "an online festival is not as fun as an offline one." As the 2020 Cheongpa Festival was held online, there were 20 out of 39 (51.2%) who did not participate due to the promotion and the contents. So, it seems necessary to take measures to encourage more participation online.
To find out the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the 2020 Cheongpa Festival, SMT also surveyed those who participated in the festival. 2 out of 15 (13.3%) and 7 out of 15 (46.7%) were very satisfied and satisfied respectively with the festival. When SMT asked why they were satisfied with the 2020 festival, 7 out of 12 (58.3%) answered that they liked the talk concert with 'Jaurim'. Also, respondents said that they were satisfied with the festival being held online in consideration of COVID-19 and were satisfied with the varied program (41.6%). 4 out of 15 (26.7%) answered generally satisfied. According to the survey, even in unavoidable online situations, it can be a satisfactory festival if interesting programs are conducted. Only 2 out of 15 (13.3%) answered that they were not satisfied with the festival. Overall, there were many respondents who were satisfied with the 2020 Cheongpa Festival. Meanwhile, from a survey of the unsatisfied respondents, 3 out of 5 (60%) said that the reason for their dissatisfaction was it being online, 1 out of 5 (20%) did not want to hold the festival and 1 out of 5 (20%) was dissatisfied with the program. According to the survey, 9 out of 15 (60%) answers either "satisfied" or "very satisfied," but the survey also shows an evaluation of dissatisfaction. It is difficult to get everyone's satisfaction, but online festivals would be the best way based on social situations and students' preferences.
Things that Sookmyungians imagine
SMT also investigated students' expectations for the 2021 Cheongpa Festival, which will be held with the alumna. 8 of the 52 respondents (15.4%) answered that it is "very anticipated", 21 answered "anticipated" (40.4%), 17 answered "normal" (32.7%), and 6 answered "not anticipated" (11.5%). And then there were specific opinions as to why the festival was not anticipated, which were from some students who chose "normal" and those who chose "not expected." 20 students responded to this question, and 17 out of 20 (85%) students answered that it is an online festival. An online festival has limitations in feeling all the joys that can be felt in an offline festival. In this situation, one student opposed the festival itself. She said, "I hope they don't use the school budget to prepare for the festival online, but rather distribute gifts to students with that money. It's a waste of money used for an online festival." And 3 out of 20 (15%) answered that it was because it is an alumna-centered festival. Rather, some students expected a spectacular festival inviting celebrities. SMT delivered the results of this survey to the emergency committee and listened to their stance. They said, "The reason we planned this year's festival centered on alumna is to promote the bonds and solidarity of Sookmyungians. And the goal is to make sure that Sookmyungians who are unable to go out freely due to COVID-19 and spend most of their school life online can find new fun without getting tired in their repetitive daily lives. In addition, the contents of the festival have already been decided, so there is no possibility of change." Although no more details could be given because preparations for the festival are underway in secret, the emergency committee will provide opportunities for students to make new relationships and make good memories through this online festival.
Meanwhile, there were free opinions on what students hoped to improve at the 2021 Cheongpa Festival compared to 2020. First, 9 out of 52 (17.3%) expressed their wish for more active promotion. One student said, "Not only was there a lack of publicity, but last year's festival was not accessible and difficult to participate in." In offline festivals, if posters promoting the festival are posted on campus, it can naturally be promoted a lot. But in online festivals, there is a limit to the promotion method. Another student said, "I hope there will be an event where people who don't use SNS can participate." One of the festival goals of the emergency committee is to "create an easily accessible festival to attract many people's participation and communicate with each other through it." The 2021 Cheongpa Festival needs to be careful about using successful promotion. In addition, 11 out of 52 (24.2%) expressed their wish that various programs would be opened for students to participate in. So SMT asked them for specific program ideas. First, there were opinions that the online market, which was held last year, would be held again this year. And opinions on the diversity of product types were also added. Some students said it would be nice to have an online flea market. In addition, there were many students who wanted talk shows with famous alumna, emotional celebrities, and book concerts. However, most of all, what most students hoped for was that various events were created for students to participate in. Most of them suggested various online games such as 'mafia' and 'room escape'. They also said it would be more fun to give prizes to the game winners. And there were students who wanted various performances by students such as dance clubs, cheerleaders, and orchestras. One student said, "It would be fun to have time to celebrate students' personal talents." Other than that, there were students who wanted the festival to be organized at various times, and students who wanted many celebrities to perform. In response, the emergency committee said, "We are able to confirm that the contents of the festival we have prepared and the needs of the students are generally consistent." Sookmyungians may be able to enjoy various programs they want at the 2021 Cheongpa Festival.
You are the stars of the festival
Since the Cheongpa Festival is an annual festival unique to Sookmyung Women's University, many Sookmyungians look forward to it. However, due to COVID-19, it will be held as an online festival this year following last year. This may feel quite different from the festival Sookmyungians have imagined and experienced before. However, many people are gradually adapting to non-face-to-face daily life due to the unexpected and prolonged pandemic. Therefore, if Sookmyungians are also actively interested in the 2021 Cheongpa Festival, it will be possible to enjoy this special festival. It will be worthwhile to pay a lot of attention to the 2021 Cheongpa Festival from November 3rd to 5th.
1) The total number of students enrolled is 12,596, with a survey participation rate of about 0.4%
Kim Seol Yunha / Reporter
smt_syh@sookmyung.ac.kr
Oh Song Minyeong / Reporter
smt_smy@sookmyung.ac.kr
