Written by Caitlin Burnet
Joining the SRC and planning events on campus has been the best experience ever! I would highly encourage everyone in the upcoming SRC nomination period to consider getting involved.
I am currently studying for a Bachelor of Animal Science and a Bachelor of Veterinary Biology/Bachelor of Veterinary Science on the Wagga Wagga campus.
I joined the SRC at the start of 2023 after wanting to get more involved with campus life, I had no experience with event planning but have since learnt a lot.
This year I am the Vice-President and one of the event organisers along with Caitlin Boode. My favourite event to plan this year was Back 2 Skool.
It is an annual event held at the start of Session 2 every year at the Wagga Crow Bar and is one of the biggest on-campus events for the Wagga Wagga Campus.
The first steps of planning started back in April with the first decision being choosing the date.
This simple task can prove difficult as you want to avoid clashes with other events and factor-in external events happening that people might want to watch like the State of Origin.
The next step involves putting a budget together for the event – with support of the Student Representation Clubs Officer, we worked on estimating ticket numbers and rough costs for the night.
After a couple of quick emails and a committee meeting, we locked in those details and got to discussing one of the most important details for the night: the music.
The good thing about working within a committee is you don’t have to make all these decisions yourself – you also have support from the university.
Since it is a larger event we knew we wanted a bigger artist.
The first decision was establishing a vibe for the night (was it more of a band or DJ night?) and then before I knew it, we were locking in DJ Havana Brown as our main act of the night. She is someone we knew everyone would be excited to see.
Around June it was time to plan the smaller details, such as support acts, establishing a run sheet and finer details like what colour the wristbands should be.
After a couple more meetings, we locked in all the essentials of the night including a club to run the BBQ, drink specials, a photographer and a photo booth ready to capture the night.
All we had left to do was sell tickets!
After a fantastic number of ticket sales due to the hard work of the social media officers, Emma and Ava, it was now the big day.
With everyone helping out on scanning tickets it was now time to relax and enjoy the night.
Although the planning process feels lengthy at times it pays off when you see everyone enjoying the night.
When I first joined the SRC I had no experience in event organisation and now I can confidently plan events.
It has also helped with keeping on top of my university work and has definitely helped me nail my organisational skills.
I would highly encourage anyone thinking about it to just jump in and give it a go. It allows you to gain experience and contribute to campus life.
Interested in learning more about joining the SRC?
Nominations are now open, and close on Wednesday 31 July. Nominate yourself Want to hear another student voice?
