Penn Chalk Marketing Society Holds Inaugural GBM

"Do you ever see sidewalk chalk advertisements for events and auditions and think, 'damn, I wish my club members cared that much'?" So began the first general body meeting of the University of Pennsylvania Chalk Marketing Society. At the meeting, which was held on Tuesday evening in Huntsman F95, chair and founder Jonah Meier (W'19) spoke about his vision for the new club to a rapt audience of seven.

"I'm sure you've noticed a bunch of chalk drawings all around campus at this time of year," said Meier, referring to the countless student government and event advertisements scribbled on Locust. "I was like, what if you don't have the time or talent to make these sick, eye-catching block letters? That's where our club comes in."

Aiming to fill an unattended niche in campus life ("We're not just another a cappella group," Meier interjected proudly), the Penn Chalk Marketing Society (or PCMS) will provide chalk-based advertising to other Penn clubs. In this way, Meier hopes to level the playing field of campus groups. "I feel like there's this hierarchy of clubs here at Penn, and that's absolutely reflected in the quantity and quality of each club's sidewalk art," he explained. "We hope to change that."

The issue goes deeper than just club culture, Meier insists. "This problem even affects our student government. So what if a candidate doesn't have the time, resources, or friends to effectively campaign through sidewalk chalk? That shouldn't affect the outcome of the election." Meier seemed to be unaware that this was already the case.

"We're kind of like an arts, business, and community service club all in one," said Allie Wei (C'19), a Visual Studies major and vice chair of PCMS. "Thank god I can put that on my resume." The club is currently accepting applications for its Chalk Artist and Club Partnership committees.