In Conversation with Serena Saxena
Lusia Austen
On October 25th, a beautiful sunny day, F@B hosted one of its most popular events of the semester: the annual Fall Fair. Tucked away behind the Ratty on Patriots Court, the fair brought together both student and local vendors, all selling a range of different things—from upcycled clothing to thrifted shoes and handmade jewelry to elaborate costume pieces, there was something for everyone. I had the opportunity to speak with F@B E-Board member Serena Saxena (‘27), who works on the Events team, about her experience with the Fall Fair this year.
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LA: So overall, what are your feelings about this year’s Fall Fair?
SS: I think it was an incredibly successful Fall Fair! This is my second Fall Fair that I have been at, and what was really special, I think, about this fair was that a lot more of the ownership fell onto the younger members of the Events team, because we’re working on that transfer of ownership. I thought that it was a really good opportunity for us to take the reins on that project and I really appreciate everyone’s efforts coming together. I know we do this every year, but every year we see something new come out of it. New vendors will come up to us at the end and thank us for the event, and say that they had great sales and they love being a part of this community, so it’s super rewarding on that front as well. And I just love walking onto the Green, seeing all the vendors setting up, and seeing all the students and community members engaging with these local businesses, which is really exciting.
LA: Was this your first year coming to the Fall Fair as a F@B member, or were you a member last year as well?
SS: I joined F@B my first semester of my freshman year, and I went directly on the E-Board, because the Events team is only E-Board members. I think last year was a lot about watching, learning, and observing, and, as I mentioned before, this year is a lot more doing, which I love, and it’s a lot more hands-on. Last year I worked the Fall Fair and also the Spring Fair, but again, I took more of a backstage role on those events, and this year I worked to spearhead it.
LA: That’s really awesome! I was kind of curious about what the process is for you guys on the Events team when you’re choosing all of the vendors that are going to be at the Fall Fair?
SS: Yeah, I could speak a little bit about how we did it this year. A lot of it comes from the connections we’ve acquired previously, but we have essentially a spreadsheet of vendors who have been at our previous events, and then we reach out to others in a certain geographical region and distance around us. Then we email all of them and say, “Hey, you’ve expressed interest in being part of F@B events, and we think that you would love this one that is coming up. Please let us know, and fill out this form if you can apply.” There’s also a fee that these vendors pay on their end, and then usually they do make enough money at the event to earn back that amount and still make a profit. That’s just because we also need to raise funds as a club to contribute to our other events, so that’s one of our means of doing so. And, on that form that we send out, there’s also a question that’s like, “Do you have any other friends, or know any other vendors or people that we can reach out to that might want to attend as well” so in that way we’re also growing that list of connections.
LA: And these are mostly local Providence thrift shops and other small establishments, right?
SS: Yes, they’re all very small vendors. A lot of them are actually very close by; you have Old Bag Vintage, which is near Wickenden, and Pop-up PVD, which often comes to campus. What I also love is that there’s a lot of student vendors, people who have Etsy shops or do it as a passion project, and they are actually able to sell their goods and interact with their friends.
LA: How does the space-sharing work with the student vendors versus these more professional retailers? Do you reach out to them separately? Are you trying to fill the extra space from the bigger vendors with students?
SS: We give the table number after we’ve confirmed the number of vendors, so it’s definitely not like we’re trying to push to have a certain amount. Obviously, we want the Fall Fair to be filled, and we want it to be fun, but otherwise the process for students and vendors is the exact same. They both fill out the form, though the fee is different for students—it’s a lot lower, because they’re students, not professionals. I think there’s something special that happens when you put local vendors, who might have more established stores and companies, with students—there’s actually an opportunity for an exchange of knowledge between them, and also a space to create these connections. So, I know some students who have jewelry businesses, and they were tabling next to bigger stores, and they got to have partnership talks, or conversations about potential modeling work or collaboration. These connections are really great.
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LA: That’s really awesome. I was also thinking about the event itself. Would you guys ever consider expanding the Fall Fair, and inviting food vendors, or maybe making it more of an interactive experience?
SS: Yeah, that’s definitely a possibility. The biggest thing, on our end, is the regulations we have to face through the University, as well as the funding that we have. This event is one of our easiest in terms of logistics, because we’ve done it for so long, so adding food would just add another layer of complexity. Not to say we wouldn’t want to at some point in time! We definitely have had talks internally about F@B selling merch, or maybe having a photo booth, or a similar type of exhibition. But again, we’re a little tight money-wise. Maybe not this year, but definitely something to look forward to!
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LA: What really stood out to you personally about this year’s fair as opposed to last year’s? Was there anything you noticed that was particularly stand-out?
SS: I think our reach this year was stronger. A lot of times, we have the fair on Patriot’s Court, which a lot of upperclassmen know about, but it can sometimes be hard for students who don’t frequent that area to find it. It was also during Parents’ Weekend, which I thought was a really great idea because not only did we have students walking though, but they also came with their family or their friends, who really got to see Brown in action. That was something that I hope we can keep up in future years, because it’s a great opportunity to have more people be able to buy and sell clothes. I would say that the other thing I think we did really well this year was that we streamlined the logistical process a lot better. I think we were really good in our consistent communication with the vendors. I was handling a lot of backend emails, and just making sure that everyone knew when to arrive, and how to set up. Facilities was also great in getting the tables there earlier than the vendors, which in the past has been a bit of a problem, where they arrive at the same time and there’s a wait.
LA: Besides that sort of logistical process, were there any sort of differences that you personally would want to see in like the Fall Fair? Anything that you would consider changing about it for next year?
SS: There’s not anything I would change, but as we were talking about, I would love to add. I think doing a photobooth would be a lot of fun. I know that there are flea markets and farmers markets that happen downtown, but those are often summer events that close down pretty early in the semester. Perhaps we could collaborate with them, and open up to the broader Providence community. I feel like more of a social media presence and more awareness about the Fall Fair would make it a bigger event, and we might even be able to find ways to have it more often.
LA: The Fall Fair is one of F@B’s best known events on campus, which is super awesome because it’s a very cool thing that we have. I’ve also noticed that it drums up a lot of interest from the student body. Is there a way that you guys are taking advantage of this, and trying to entice people to join F@B?
SS: It definitely is one of the ways that we do so. We always talk about how we can share our club’s message and help people understand that F@B is just about creative and artistic expression. I will say, I think that is another area where we could improve, because a lot of people walk past the fair, and think, “This is a great event, but I don’t really know who runs it,” or, “I don’t know what club this is for.” We have a little sign that has the F@B logo on it and everything, but that connection is not immediately clear to people, so I think that is another area we could work on. But people who talk to us, and there are a lot of people who talk to us, and say something like, “This is so cool, I didn’t know this was something F@B did.” Then we get to have that conversation of, “You should totally join F@B.” We do have a huge general body, and I like that our fair is one of the ways that we can bring all of the members together and make sure that there is a community there.
LA: Are there any other similar events this semester, or upcoming in the beginning of next semester, that you would want to tell people, “Hey, if you were interested in the Fall Fair, come stop by this thing we’re doing.”
SS: Well, there’s the Spring Fair, which is pretty much the exact same as the Fall Fair. Maybe this year we will consider doing a couple of the more interactive activities. Talking about other events this year, we have a huge shift in focus towards more professional and career networking-related events, because a lot of students are actually interested in going into the fashion industry professionally, or are at least thinking that it might be an industry of interest for them. I think that next week or two, we will have a session with TJX, which is the brand that owns Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Homegoods, and they will be coming to talk about career opportunities. We also had the acting CEO of Net-a-Porter on campus a couple days ago. All of these different events that we’re doing, like those talks, they’re all posted on our Instagram, which is the most updated course of communication. And then we have our Fall Exhibition, and I’m super excited about this. It is going to display all of the looks from our Fall Photoshoot, which is going to be happening soon. That’s also another way to get involved, if you’re interested in modeling—we had a model call, but if you are still interested, we have multiple forms that you can fill out to get into that as well.
LA: The Fall Fair this year, just to be there in that space—Patriot’s Court might be out of the way, but it’s a really great location.
SS: Isn’t it pretty? That’s why we kept it there, because the seclusion also paints a really pretty backdrop.
LA: I agree, and having it on Parent’s Weekend is the best thing, because I think the parents also all enjoy being there.
SS: Yeah, well, it’s a really great event!
This year’s Fall Fair was an absolute success—both for the F@B community and Brown as a whole. There is so much more to look further to from this event in the future and, for those that are interested in contributing next year, there are many opportunities as well.