UNFORUM

Life has been so crazy busy these past last weeks of the semester. But even though I've been swamped with final exams, graduation, and prep for the South Pacific study abroad, I knew I had to make time to recap my favorite event from my year as an Executive Director in the BYUSA Activities area.

PASS THE TORCH

Guys, I used to not like BYU.  

But this year, I have grown more than ever to love and appreciate this wonderful university that has given me so much. Because I am a BYU student I have been able to gain a phenomenal education in the Marriott School of Management, rub shoulders with incredibly talented individuals, develop my own talents, strengthen my testimony, explore the world... the list never ends. 

I never thought I would feel this way but I am beyond proud to be a Brigham Young University cougar. 

ROTC Military Ball

Men in uniforms. I faint at even the thought of it! The talented Rachael was asked to plan BYU's ROTC Military Ball this year. Which, of course, means I'm her right hand gal for the night. We have this unspoken agreement between the two of us that when we aren't busy planning our own events, we are dedicated to helping each other with theirs. And it always works out so perfectly because Rachael and I bring such different strengths to the table and man, we work extremely well as a team.

The Halloweenie Monster Mash

Oh Halloween! I have this theory that Halloween is one of those holidays where it is fun during different phases of your life. Well at least that is how it has worked for me. To me Halloween is a lot like a pair of overalls. Overalls were all the rage when I was a child, totally uncool when I was a teen and have made their comeback during my time as a college student. As a child I looked forward to Halloween, I mean free candy right? In Jr. High and High School, Halloween turned into that awkward holiday where I was too cool to dress up, too old to trick & treat and at that point, no one really knew how to throw a good party. 

First Flight

First of all I love Lydia and I love fancy-spancy events! For those reasons, and others as well, I have been stoked to plan the Homecoming Formal since July. A lot of factors went into this event and considering BYU's Homecoming theme of "Take Flight", Lydia and I made the decision to do a 1920's themed dance. Our inspiration came from the Wright brothers "First Flight". The 20's is such a fun time era and this theme made the event enjoyable to plan.

True Blue

True. Blue. 

Let's address how my hands were stained blue for days after this event. I was practically a member of the Smurfs family! But can we also address how incredibly FUN this event was!! True Blue is a huge event due to its high attendance, popularity and scale. This event is unlike any other BYUSA event and I feel so lucky to have been in charge of this one. True Blue pushed me as an event planner in many ways. Since True Blue is so unique I had to deal with crowd control, risk management and grounds issues that I normally never have to face. Luckily I had Rachel Swendsen as my Event Lead and she was AWE-SOME. Seriously so on top of things. Not once did I have to send her a reminder, she always had everything done before I even knew it needed to be done! Because of her hard work, True Blue was a huge success and ran so smoothly. 

This year we were able to do three slides instead of two. We created t-shirts to hand out to the first 350 students in attendance. The shirts were white with white printing on the front with a logo spinoff "Do The Blue" inspired by Mountain Dew. We wanted to do the white on white printing so when students slid through the blue foam the shirt would dye blue and reveal the secret message. The shirts were a hit and everyone loved the creativity. We had around 1,500+ students at the event, everyone enjoyed the blue dye! I know my favorite part was being able to play in the foam with all the volunteers before we had to clean up!

xx,

m. 

Location: Helaman Fields

Provided: 3 blue foam slides, DJ, 350 free t-shirts, water station, shower station

Light Up The Night

Event planning. It's what I do and a huge part of who I am. This year I am an Executive Director in Activities with BYUSA. Basically... I plan parties for the entire university. This outdoor concert, Light Up The Night, was my first event of the year. I have been so excited about this event, I mean who doesn't love outdoor concerts!? The event was so successful and well attended. There were 750+  students not including general public. The event ran so smoothly! It's funny because my friends commented at how calm I was during the event. But what it comes down to is that this entire event just came together so nicely that there wasn't a whole lot to stress about. 

Hailey Billiat was my event lead for the concert. Hailey was phenomenal and incredibly easy to work with. She was always on top of things and made sure everything was in place. Because of her hard work we were able to secure the Riverwoods for our location, schedule 3 amazing bands (Foreign Figures, Furies and J.Wride), give out free caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, handout free glowsticks and a have a bomb Photo Booth. Hailey also made advertising a breeze, something I typically dislike doing.

So huge shoutout to everyone who came, the amazing bands, Hailey Billat and all the volunteers that made this event possible!

Good music, good company, good vibes. 

xx,

m.

Location: The Riverwoods                                                       Bands: Foreign Figures, Furies and J.Wride                                   Treats + Gift Basket: Caramel apples c/o Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory                                                                        Photo Booth: All Occasions Photo Booths                                   *All activities free including glowsticks