Last week UMass Boston held Fest-of-Us on campus as a way to kick off the new school year. Food, music, dancing, and booths from different UMass offices were present. Fest-of-Us drew from the UMass community various educators and administrators to, once again, give all that they can (next to their jobs) and lend a hand in the event. A better way of saluting the administration and the students of UMass would be to hold a more organized festival. The event had good intentions, but seemed to lack proper organization and focus. With a clearer more defined objective, Fest-of-Us could have been far more successful.
The organizers of Fest-of-Us should know their audience a little more than they appear to. Last year, the festival included a huge balloon-like trampoline for people to jump on. This year, the only identifiable effort toward relating to students was the Jamn’ 94.5 tent in back of the Campus Center.
Laser-tag and horseshoes were among the festivity’s diversions–along with a table for temporary tattoos… Are they kidding? There were no children present on the grounds, although the activities seemed catered towards the K through 7 crowd.
For these reasons, a board of student advisors is needed, and should be appointed to aid in the planning for Fest-of-Us, or any other festival. This will be an opportunity for the planning committee to learn what students want and what they can relate to. Students need to show some initiative and get involved as well. Fliers were posted and club centers and coordinators were notified over the summer. Club center heads and coordinators need to do their jobs in representing their fraction of the student body.
An example of apparent lack of organization was the timing of several events. Chancellor Motley was scheduled at 2:30pm for his convocation speech to students, and had to deal with a time wrinkle due to some miscommunication issues and an unprepared band. This could have been a result of poor planning and also could have been avoided. Many of the problems may stem from the event not being centralized. Food was served in front of Clark Athletics Center, while a voter registration drive and bands happened in front of the Campus Center, with the idea of drawing students getting off the buses. This gathering would have been more effective if the students and events were in closer quarters, instead of being scattered at opposite ends of the campus. Keeping it in one area works better, so people don’t end up roaming around.
On the plaza, students were greeted by friendly faces and various information booths, which were key to making Fest-of-Us go off half-well. It was refreshing to see faculty and administrators so involved. Their belief in what they were doing carried Fest-of-Us.
The odd scheduling and its lack of focus hurt the festivities. It’s important to know the audience–what moves them, what issues effect them, and how to relate to them. The concept of an on-campus festival is excellent but, like most community events, months of planning are required. But time and effort mean nothing if the planning committee has little idea on how to go about it. Time, energy, and money are wasted in that way. Fest-of-Us should be an event that students look forward to, not as something to just breeze through for free food. If better organization is in place for next year, Fest-of-Us might be more interesting and inviting for the rest of us.