We hope you are excited to be joining us, we can't wait to welcome you home to UEA! Your first week at university is so special and we love hosting a variety of fun, inclusive and exciting events for all of our members to enjoy. However, every year we see unofficial freshers’ events pop up on Facebook and across other social media sites. While starting university is incredibly exciting, it can also be nerve-wracking, and we don't want our members to have the added stress of not knowing which tickets are real and which are fake.  It is important to know that Welcome Fest events run by us (your Students’ Union) are the ONLY official events, and so we’ve written this short guide to give you the tools to spot which events are official (run by us!) and which events are fake. 

So, why are unofficial events so bad? 

• Many of these events are completely made-up, meaning that you are paying out for nothing! 

• These events may not be exclusively for students, and are not necessarily legal or safe 

What are the key signs that an event is fake or unofficial? 

• Unofficial events will often use phrases like ‘nearly sold out’ or ‘70% sold’ to induce panic and to try and persuade you to buy a ticket 

• There will be no uea(su) logo 

• They will use stock images of people clubbing from random nights out 

• Often these events have no specific location, just “Norwich”, and are likely to change the location a lot 

• They will use language that we don’t. For example, companies running the events might use swear words or words like “initiation” 

How will you know if the event you are signing up for is official and run by the SU? Here’s what to look out for... 

• We will always use the SU logo. We often partner with bars and clubs in the city to host events as well and even these events will still have our SU logo on them.  

• Look out for common SU slogans such as ‘Welcome Fest’ or ‘Welcome Home’. Our events will not use the phrase ‘Freshers’ Week’. 

• Does the event state that it is ‘official’ and match the pre-existing marketing you have seen from the SU 

• Was the event made by the uea(su)? Check who the host is.  

• We will not use phrases like ‘nearly sold out’ to induce panic. While we do encourage you to buy your tickets early, we want you to have a fun week and don’t want you to feel stressed about getting tickets. As your Students’ Union, we want to be transparent in our ticket sales so we will provide specific ticket numbers left. Also, be sure to check if ticket sales posts match our marketing  

• All of our events will have a dedicated time and location 

• Our events will have the ‘Good Night Out’ logo, this is our scheme to ensure students have a good night out without experiencing sexual harassment. You'll spot this logo usually in the corner  

• You might have seen our Welcome Week 2 event, it is in partnership with Union Promotions. Whilst the marketing looks a little different from out week one marketing, it still has our SU logo and ‘Good Night Out’ logo. See below an example of what our event posters look like and take note of the logos in the bottom right corner! 

 

For all the information on the OFFICIAL uea(su) ‘Welcome Fest’ events, join our official Facebook Group and the official Event Page so that you can enjoy your summer knowing that you won’t be buying fake tickets.  

If you are unsure, please do not buy any tickets unless the event has been verified by us. Unfortunately, we cannot get your money back if you have bought a ticket to a fake event.  Feel free to contact us via our Facebook page or our website with a link to the event that you are unsure of and we can verify it so that you and your fellow freshers don’t lose out! 

We can’t wait to see you soon and welcome you home to our wonderful community here at UEA.  

For any more information on the above, please do contact us at [email protected].