It’s that magical time of year…

Winter is a Magical time of year in Armidale. Temperatures plummet below freezing, water solidifies in our pipes, the trees take on a resolute if somewhat gothic feel and the hope of snowfall permeates the cities consciousness.  Then the campus of UNE comes alive again as the students trickle back into town to commence Trimester 2.

Any trepidation at returning to the hard slog of lectures and assignments, however, is soon swept away by the collective anticipation for their respective student society’s night of nights as the UNE Life Clubs and Societies Ball Season gets underway.  Months of hard work and planning by the fervent students who volunteer their time as Presidents, Treasurers, Secretaries and Social VPs for their respective societies come to fruition as their member’s thoughts turn to find the swankiest suit or the perfect dress and snapping up a ticket to their preferred happening.

But as entertaining as the various balls, dinners cocktail evenings and charity socials are, it is in the opportunities afforded to those dedicated UNE student club executives in the planning and management of these events that the true value of these enchanted evenings can be found.  Real life event management skills can be honed and put in to practice in areas such as venue and menu selection; design and decoration; marketing and sponsorship; function pricing and ticketing; graphic poster design and risk management and patron care.  It is in encountering the duty of care that the planning committees and club executive have to their attendees that the greatest prospects for professional development and growth occur. What started as a brief to provide a fun and festive evening for their members soon becomes a steep and at times daunting learning curve that requires tackling alcohol safety and patron welfare as well as implementing safeguards to protect the reputational integrity of their University.

Scaling the heights of successful event management and successfully planning a gathering that lives up to the expectations of patrons, University stakeholders and indeed the Armidale community at large requires perseverance, dedication and most of all support. UNE Life acknowledges this need, as well as the importance of providing these proficiency building opportunities to our students and consequently, provides a dedicated team of event experience rich staff to help our students through their planning and implementation challenges.  Training session are held in the Clubs and Societies department each year in the areas of networking, event organisation, social media marketing, leadership, risk management, responsible bystander skills, and teamwork. In addition, our staff are available 24/7 to answer any pressing need that may arise. Our emphasis though is the successful building of capacity, competence, and confidence in students that take on club executive roles.  Skills that will land them in good stead in negotiating interview questions and securing gainful employment upon graduation.

Balls, Dinners, and Socials can be a highlight of a student’s University experience. They bring often disparate students together and can ease the feelings of isolation that can permeate a tertiary campus.

They are a chance to let loose, relax, socialise and make lasting memories- perhaps even bring together future life partners from different faculties who may have never crossed paths in their times at UNE.

But as Ball season commences the take-home message to remember is that Co-curricular activity involvement, committee service, and indeed major event planning participation is ranked by employers as one of the highest aptitudes that a graduate can possess.

The Following Balls have been orgainsed by UNE Life Student Club executive.  I wholeheartedly recommend all students and faculty to attend at least one of these fantastic events and keep these skill development opportunities for our students alive and thriving and adding to a vibrant and enticing campus culture here at UNE.

• UNELSS Ball: July 19^th Armidale Bowls Club
• UNESTS Social School July 20^th Boolominbah
• Farming Futures Industry Dinner July 26^th The ‘Stro
• ASPIRE Red Party August 1^st The ‘Stro
• UNEISA NAIDOC Dinner August 2^nd Armidale Bowls Club
• UNESNS Under the Stars Ball August 16^th    Armidale Bowls Club
• UNEMSA Women in Medicine Cocktail Evening August 24^th The ‘Stro
• UNE Zoology Ball September 1^st Armidale Bowls Club

For Ticketing Information please contact Clubs and Student Experience Manager, James Hudson
Jhudso32@une.edu.au

0407914662