Name: Rachael Addy
Year: Junior
Major: Nursing
Favorite Movie: 50 First Dates
Favorite Candy: Reese’s
Celeb Crush: Jeremy Allen White AKA Lip Gallagher
Favorite Professor: Dr. Auxier
Favorite place on campus: River campus
What do you do as a dance coordinator?
As dance coordinator, I’m in charge of contacting vendors, working with on-campus resources, setting up ticket sales, coordinating marketing plans, and making sure UP students have the time of their lives. None of this would be possible alone, so thankfully I have an awesome co-coordinator and a CPB team to work with. The tasks for dance coordinators are endless. We do everything we can to ensure the night runs smoothly.
What’s an average day for you as a dance coordinator?
Typically, an average day mostly consists of lots of emails and making sure we’re prepared for the night of the dance. The job doesn’t get too hectic until the week of the dance. And then it becomes a constant commitment to ticket sales and night-of prep.
What was the process for planning the two dances?
My co-coordinator Kelsie and I started out by picking a theme for the Fall Dance (Escape to Space!) and then started emailing tons of different people so we could secure our DJ, transportation, rentals, photo booths, catering, etc. It’s pretty much the same for both dances, minus the theme, since DOD is always the same.
Which dance do you prefer, Fall Dance or Dance of the Decades?
This is an impossible to answer! Although they’re both school dances, they’re so difficult to compare. I loved fall dance because we had the opportunity to make a theme and decorate it how we wanted. But Dance of the Decades is a classic, and can’t be compared to anything else…there’s nothing like it!
What part did you play in releasing the RTB artist at DOD? And what are your thoughts on the reveal?
The release was amazing. I didn’t do much other than support Kaity and Connor through the process. The two of them pulled off an awesome surprise, and I think it was pretty creative that they utilized the dance to release the artist to such a large population of students. And how about those confetti cannons!?
What was your favorite memory from your time planning dances?
My favorite memory was seeing such a great turnout at the Fall Dance. Kelsie and I had never done anything quite like this before, and we weren’t entirely sure how it was going to go. With that in mind, we were pretty surprised and thrilled to find out that the dance was sold out and we had a record-breaking number of students in attendance.
What would you want to do differently next year?
I don’t have any set ideas in mind, but I just want the dances to get bigger and better each year. We’ve got a lot of flexibility with fall dance, and I would love to incorporate some new ideas that will attract even more students who wouldn’t typically go to a school dance. Also, I hope to make the card reader/ticket sales process a bit easier and more up to date, so I plan to work with the administration to figure out a better plan for the next dance.
Any ideas for future themes?
There’s a world of possibilities. I’ve always thought a Masquerade dance could be fun, or maybe even a beach theme? I’m open to suggestions, so if anyone has a creative idea that they’d like to make happen please let me know!
What would you say to the people who’ve never attended a campus event or dance?
I know I’m biased, but I definitely think you should take advantage of these opportunities. It’s a fun and safe environment and I’ve never heard someone say they regretted going to events like these. Have fun while you can, college only lasts so long, and CPB wants to cater to as many UP students as they can.