The 80s called, they want their prom back
In January of 2019, I started a position as Date Night Chair for Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, of which I am an active member. I am responsible for planning once a month events for members and their dates. My tasks include everything from finding a venue to booking music to being on call the night of the event in case of an emergency. As a Sophomore in college, I had some experience in my wheelhouse that had prepared me for event planning. I was on Student Government in High School in a similar position so I was not thrown blindly into this role. One of the best things about being Date Night Chair is I have complete freedom to plan any event I want.
For my Date Night debut, I organized an 80s Prom night made complete with a polaroid photographer as well as a "Silent Disco". I rented out Silver Dollar, a local venue in downtown Athens. Silver Dollar is a great space with both indoor and outdoor spaces and plenty of room for all attendees.
I rented the headphones through a company called Silent Events who mailed me the headphones along with three transmitters that controlled the music. The headphones had three channels that went along with the transmitters and you could switch channels via each individual headphone set. The evening of the event I was responsible for setting up and taking down all the headphones/transmitters as well as making sure everyone returned their headphones.
For the photos, I was connected to a former Alpha Chi Omega member who took photos at the event and then printed them in polaroid style format on photo paper. The photographer then gave me the printouts which I passed out to members at our weekly chapter meeting.
My first event was an enormous success and everyone in attendance had a great time. I am looking forward to planning many more events in the future.